Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > December > 09 > Entry
W Austin Hotel & Residences Sneak Peek
Those who insist on standing outside the W Austin Hotel & Residences — never to enter — will inevitably ask of the sleek, gray, articulated slab: Is it Austin?
Through and through, the W picked up on Austin’s obsessions with sustainability, casual comfort and cultural omnivorousness. The ingredients at Trace are purchased from local and/or organic suppliers. The portraits on the wall are of wide range of Austinites, not just celebrities. The art was chosen — although not always placed — by local trendsetter Anne Elizabeth Wynn.
During a sneak preview on Wednesday, members of the media also found out about the multi-lounge mix of DJs and live music and a room completely dedicated to a McIntosh stereo system.
There’s the indoor/outdoor restaurant — pretty intimate — for fresh-looking chef Paul Hargrove. (We tried some savory bites.) The emphasis in these ground-floor facilities is drink with food (rather than food with drink), because “W is a cocktail brand,” I heard again and again.
(The compulsive branding thing could get old, but I understand the impulse.)
The restaurant and lounges, done up in what I’d call “baroque mod,” opened earlier today, despite the presence of an army of hard-hatters finishing out the place last night. The first hotel guests will fill the stunningly chic and spacious rooms later this month, followed by the Away Spa and pool deck.
ACL Live at the Moody Theater, located on the south side’s Willie Nelson Boulevard, opens Feb. 24, around the time the first residents will fill the condos, which will be finished out from the lower floors to the higher.
Despite its polished finish, this W is Austin to the bone. It’s going to be transformative, especially for that quadrant of downtown, once parking and traffic are smoothed out. Imagine hundreds of hotel guests and hundreds of residents, plus thousands of visitors to the Moody Theatre swarming the neighborhood day and night, not to mention the additional retail slated for the western and northern facades.
I predict people will long to meet each other in the hotel’s lounge areas. (The tall boutique establishment is kinda like Hotel St. Cecilia on steroids.) Hey look, I understand the Old Austin/New Austin split. But I think both sides are going to warm to this hot, cool social space.
CORRECTION: Heather Plimmer’s name was misspelled in an earlier post.
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By ryan
December 10, 2010 12:15 AM | Link to this
awesome. Austin is such a cool city and other than a handful of overrated boutiques (san jose) it has lacked a great, cool hotel. can't wait to stay there!