We had a two night weekend planned, which ended up being a three night weekend when our flight home was cancelled on Sunday afternoon due to weather and we couldn’t get rebooked until Monday afternoon. Oh well, there are certainly worse places you can stuck for an extra night!

We took our short Southwest flight to Austin on Friday morning and arrived at the Four Seasons well before check-in time.  Our room was ready less than hour later but we decided to walk to South Congress Avenue, which has many eclectic shops and boutiques.  After a little retail therapy we caught an uber ride for lunch to one of my old favorites, The Shady Grove.

We were on the 3rd floor so our view wasn’t all that spectacular but the room was comfortable and the bathroom was updated with a new walk-in shower, which was quite nice.  As usual, the Four Seasons has an extremely comfortable bed with high quality linens and duvet cover.  The A/C in the room was excellent and kept the room ice cold (the way we like it), which was great with the summertime heat.

My favorite thing about this hotel are the common areas and the location.  It’s right in the middle of downtown and is located on the banks of the Colorado River so you have access to the hike and bike trails on one side and all the action of downtown Austin on the other.  You can walk to a variety of bars, restaurants and music clubs within only 5 to 10 minutes from the hotel.

On our second day we went to the hotel pool which is small but has a good variety of sun and shade, comfortable loungers and great service, including sun glass cleaning, ice cold waters, suntan lotion and drink/food service.  We ended up spending a few hours alternating between swimming, reading and napping until we decided to get ready for a late lunch and head out again.

In the evening, they lobby lounge has live music and a relaxed atmosphere – perfect for a margarita or glass of wine before heading out to dinner.  There is also a full service restaurant on the first level of the hotel, which does an incredible Sunday brunch.  It’s actually one of my favorite brunches in town and they offer bottomless mimosas (with good quality champagne) and bloody marys.  They also have a big variety of lunch and breakfast items and a massive dessert selection.

Our usual M.O. is brunch here on Sunday and then maybe a little walking around before we head to the airport.  The Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons is excellent and I highly recommend.  It also includes bottomless mimosas or bloody marys in the $48 per person price.  It has a huge selection of both lunch and breakfast items, including a carving station, smoked meats, salmon, crab claws, eggs benedict, pastries, a dessert bar and all kinds of salads.  We thoroughly enjoyed our brunch before we packed up and headed to the airport. Brunch photos below (I was so busy loading up my plate that my pictures aren’t the best!).

Unfortunately for this trip, we spent a few hours at the airport wrangling with a cancelled flight and getting rebooked for the the next day.  I ended up getting a very last minutes (and cheap) booking at a new hotel located in the new, super hip “Rainey Street” area of downtown called the Hotel Van Zandt, which is named after music artist Townes Van Zandt.  The hotel had a very chic urban, industrial design.  The room was quite small but for only $150 a night, the rate couldn’t be beat and everything was brand new. Oh well, we finally got rebooked on an afternoon flight the next day so we made the best of it.  I’ll post a few reviews of some places we ate in my next post.  After that, I am off to Colorado for a few days!