I'm coming to Austin in late May and was looking for some advice on where to stay. I made reservations at the Hotel San Jose and at the Omni. We were thinking of maybe spending a day at Barton Springs. Which is a better location?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hey Nola,

I live in central Austin so I thought I'd throw out my 2 cents. It's hard to answer effectively without knowing a little more about what you are interested in doing while in town. However, since you mentioned Barton Springs, we'll start there.

The hotel San Jose is definitely closer to them (no more than a mile), but both hotels are within 2 miles, so it's sorta negligible.

If you like Tex Mex food for lunch, breakfast, or dinner, it's tough to beat San Jose's location on South Congress St. There is a very famous stretch of restaurants (the TexMex Mile)as well as a lot of cool shops on this street. The whole South Congress area has a hip (even hippie in some cases) feel to it, so it's quite unique for this part of the country.

You could easily walk from SJ to Town Lake which wraps around the beautiful Zilker Park and it's terrific Hike and Bike Trail. Also, you are still less than a mile or so from the famous 6th Street and the whole downtown area which has tons of great clubs, restaurants, bars, and live music.

The Omni puts you right smack in the middle of downtown. You could easily walk to most of the aforementioned options on 1-15th Streets as well as to our beautiful State Capitol (which you may even have a view of from your room at SJ since it's due North).

In the Spirit of Austin being a unique, artsy, and altogether charming town--I personally would go with the local San Jose Hotel over the towering corporate Omni. The location at SJ is better if you're hoping to get a feel for what Austin is all about. But if business or pleasure will keep you in the downtown area a lot, the Omni is certainly in the thick of it.

Check out www.austin360.com for more info on Austin. It has great reviews on restaurants and is very current with festivals, music, and other events of interest happening in town. Feel free to email me: [email protected] for more recommendations or specific questions.

Hope that helps,
Paul

Thanks, thats the kind of info I was looking for. It sounds like the San Jose would be the better choice.
Paige

Be sure to go down to the Congress Ave bridge at dusk to watch the bats fly out.

You may think this sounds silly but trust me. They've even been featured on more than one television program.

My husband and I stayed at the Hotel San Jose in '2001 and absolutely loved it! I have never slept on a more comfortable bed in my life. The guest rooms and the ambiance are so cool. Two thumbs way up on this property!

Hotel San Jose is a WONDERFUL place! Great outdoor wine/beer/snacks service in the courtyard, Excellent coffee shop in the parking lot (Jo's), great location, cool decor, funky little pool to cool off in....can you tell we enjoyed it?!?!