From the glittering Fairmont Austin and JW Marriott Austin to the edgy Native Hostel, Austin has welcomed over a dozen hotels in the last five years. Few have garnered as much excitement though as the Line Austin, opening today in the Texas capital. As is the case with the L.A. and D.C. Line hotels, Sydell Group hospitality firm has reinvigorated an old landmark, in this case the 1965 Crest Inn, which languished for decades as a tired Radisson. Despite its mid-century architecture and prime location overlooking Congress Bridge and Lady Bird Lake, the hotel was for a long time somewhat of a downtown blemish. Its rooms were corporate, its lobby dominated by Texas kitsch, and its food and beverage—a TGI Fridays until 2014—was woefully out of touch with the capital’s renowned dining scene.
A top-to-bottom overhaul that includes expanded guest rooms and new public and meeting spaces not only rescued the institution, but also reconnected it to its Austin roots. In the meticulous hands of designer Sean Knibb, the brain behind the original Line Los Angeles, and local architect Michael Hsu, spaces now honor the hotel’s greatest asset, its setting. “We were inspired by beautiful local memories like the geology and greenery of nearby Hamilton Pool, our Hill Country sunsets, and the aquifer rivers flowing beneath us,” says Hsu….Click Here To Keep Reading