How I want to use all the cliché terms and not sound too much. This place is an oasis in the middle…read moreof the world city. SoCo is just a few metres away, the destination for live music bars, restaurants and high end stores. Yet, when you are in your cottage it feels like you're on an island with the courtyard garden and pool giving off a chic look that only a lifetime of investment can pull off. Everything in the cottage has been painstakingly assembled. We surprised ourselves by playing 1970s Monopoly (U.S. edition) that was kept in one of the cupboards. Keeping with the 'keep it weird' theme Austin lives by, you'll find a magazines dedicated to chickens, chandelier hanging from the tree, an old camera on a tripod (manual hanging from it) being used as a lamp and much more. The daily breakfast is made from scratch and is always a pleasant surprise as it varies everyday. That with a garnish of conversations with Shakti is always a great start to the day, as she is a repository of tips to make the most of your visit. This was like staying at one's aunt's place; it's not perfect but that's the point!

We are not B&B people, in any way, but we took a chance on the Park Lane Guesthouse on our trip to…read moreAustin because of the promise for vegan breakfast every morning. We were not disappointed! The breakfast was incredible! I'm vegan and gluten-free and Shakti specialized every breakfast to my restrictions. Incredible food! The environment of the b&b is just as amazing: calm fountains and blooming roses outside of our private cottage, pillowtop beds and rustic stylings. This place is a sanctuary of peace (with high speed internet) to return to after a day of exploring! Highly recommend if you're vegetarian/vegan and staying in Austin.

We had a great visit here. Our room was clean and comfortable. The breakfast the next morning was…read moredelicious. I would definitely stay here again. Close to downtown but quiet and free to park.

Just spent 3 days at Brava house - we had the Fitzgerald and Garbo rooms. Absolutely enchanting -…read morehistory sings in this gorgeous Victorian home. The beds are fabulous. Every accoutrement available and at the ready.

Austin is such an amazing city and the lodging options are endless and it can be overwhelming. I'm…read morehere to tell you to look no further than Hotel Urban. Whether you're in town for a sexy sweaty sex cruise, a music festival, or even a Wolfpack wedding Hotel Urban is your best bet. E.J., the owner and general manager, provides a level of hospitality and attention to detail that will blow your socks off. Do you need a tropical rainforest shower? Or maybe a champagne shower is more your speed? Either way E.J. has you covered. If gaming is your thing there is almost always a rousing game of Catchphrase to be had. Sometimes it gets a little heated so bring your A game. Beer pong is available 24-7. And if watching games is what you enjoy then you'll be happy to know the DVR is always stocked with Jeopardy! eps. If all of this still isn't enough for you then don't worry, there's more. E.J. always--and I mean always--provides his guests with a carefully curated YouTube sesh. Sometimes I just tell him, surprise me. There's truly something for everyone at Hotel Urban. Oh and don't worry if you accidentally leave something behind because there's a lost and found and I know you'll be back soon. Very soon.

Um, wow. This place is stellar…read more After a grueling trip from San Francisco, I landed in a room I reserved (not at the folk house) and found that it was flea infested. I couldn't find a new apartment to rent at that very moment, I just needed a place to sleep that night. It was late at night, I was tired, and sad, and my husband booked me at the folk house after I called him crying from the side of the road in a bad part of town. I got to my room at the folk house, plopped down on the beautiful bed and cried tears of joy. It was only the next morning when I woke up to the sweet smell of cinnamon and coffee that I realized how cool this place was. Amazing coffee, great staff (I arrived after breakfast was over and she immediately offered me left overs!! Awww.) great video selection, great (austin guide) books. I thought that my austin trip was in shambles after the flea place! But now here I am, on the free wi-fi, sitting bare-foot outside on their porch, eating a homemade cookie and watching the sunset. Glorious. For this price, I'm never going to stay anywhere else.

I booked a room at Austin Folk House (the owners also own Star of Texas a few steps away) the day…read moreof my arrival as I was going on a very last minute trip. This was my first B&B experience, though I've previously lived in Austin. My favorite thing about this place is that is puts you in the heart of West Campus (where UT students live and play), which is my favorite part of town. It's an easy walk to just about anything you need (like CVS), bars, great places to eat, etc. It's within a mile of my favorite places: Spider House, Toy Joy, I Love Video, Wheatsville Co-op, Mellow Mushroom, etc. I stayed in room 9, and my only complaints were that the shower head didn't work (so I took a bath since it seemed pretty clean) and I had to lug my large suitcase up some narrow twisty stairs. But the house itself is charming, and I loved waking up to the smell of bacon. Breakfast was tasty, but quiet; there weren't other guests when I went down around 9 (breakfast is 8:30-10:30). My room was $110 + tax, which is cheaper than a lot of other nearby places. Definitely worth the price for the unique, homey experience and can't-be-beat location.

I arrived at the Austin Greyhound station late one Monday night, called some guy named Connor to…read morecome pick me up. Fifteen, or so, minutes later, he rolls up in an 80's tan, striped, Dodge Ram van. Already, Austin was living up to expectation. I had no idea where we were headed, I just knew I was along for the ride as he conducted an informal meet-and-great driving along I-35. Having traveled some distance to Austin, it was great to have such a comfortable place to shower and crash. The follow morning, I awoke to an omelet and freshly brewed coffee. The following evening, everyone at the house piled into the Ram and Connor took us out for a night on the town, featuring donut burgers, blues music, two-step dancing, and half-priced Texas beer. Over the next two weeks, I enjoyed impromptu barbeques, bonfires, and living room concerts, and met a rotation of interesting people: a young man working his way across the States selling children's books door-to-door, a culinary queen from upstate Wisconsin, a friendly cab driver visiting from Long Island, a lighthearted deckhand on leave, a Dutch mother-daughter team enjoying a Texas-style holiday, and the British people... who charmed us all! The hostel is in a great location. There are coffee shops, co-ops and natural food markets, bookstores, bike shops, convinces stores, and local restaurants all within walking distance, and it's a short bus ride to get downtown. Best of all is the FREE, warm, spring-fed neighborhood pool nearby. Uber Sleeper Hostel & Breakfast is the epitome of what a hostel should be! If you are looking for a laid-back spot from which to discover Austin, share good meals and good times with open-minded people, and experience true Texas independence and hospitality, whether your stay is long, or short, then this alternative lodging community is the place to be. Thanks Connor, for creating good times and friendly communion, for all the creative encouragement and inspiration, and for a memorable stay!

I took a room at Freeman's Place for my last business trip through Austin because of ease of…read morelocation and the promise of a relaxing Austin-style experience. Now I don't consider myself a picky person and in fact enjoy all kinds of out-of-the-way "quirky" places and therefore often enjoy the trouble of "living without basic necessities." This place wasn't worth the trouble. My room wasn't so much a bedroom as a storage area for all of the owner's "roommates stuff." The bed was small and crammed in a corner and the room was stuffy from lack of air conditioning. There were none of the standard features of a bed and breakfast. I never received a wake up call, in fact I had to rely on my phone for an alarm. The internet was inconsistent. The coffee was weak and ineffective. For breakfast, there were no eggs, only some suspect fruit that had been sitting around for a few days. The "lawn" - if you want to call spurge and goosegrass a "lawn" - hadn't been manicured for the entire season. The bathroom had boxes of unmentionables crammed behind a hideous orange curtain. Some cats mating kept me up every single night. Mr. Freeman kept harassing me after I'd get home from meetings asking me to "hang out" and "what I wanted to do". What I wanted to do was get some sleep and prepare for work the next day, but instead I had to endure failed grilling experiments and banal conversation over lukewarm Lone Stars. As if all of this wasn't enough, when I returned one night I discovered Mr. Freeman getting a late night haircut from a busty woman in the kitchen. The next morning there were still hairs all over the linoleum. I guess you get what you pay for, particularly if you're dealing with people too cheap to even be hipsters. Hospitality fail.

If you want the assholes at Austin Express Towing to tow your car and charge you $193 to get your…read morecar out you should stay here. Obviously there is an issue with running a "youth hostel" out of a duplex which is only assigned 2 parking spots with a vulture towing company preying on clueless guests!! What a disaster, honestly. A $50/night stay ended up being a $250/night stay! And meeting someone at a coffee shop without first disclosing the location of the "hostel" has red flags written all over it. The address is actually 4800 Southway Drive, NOT 1008 Waller St, Austin, TX 78702. Connor greets you at a coffee shop on South 1st and escorts you over to the shady apartment complex! He essentially runs a business out of a rented apartment. A week after he realized I wrote this review he kept harassing my boy friend to tell me to take it down. When my boy friend asked him to send us a check for $200 for the towing fee and I would take it down Connor stopped harassing him.

This place is an illegal ran hostel ran out of an apartment. When first arriving the host, Conor he…read morewas very inhospitable, scatter brained and organized. When I would ask him questions he was very vague and irritable. The other guest there were more helpful showing me where I would sleep, gave me a tour and showed me where the towels and blankets were. If you are a young attractive female, watch out, he gives creepo vibes for sure. He can be very controlling and overbearing when it comes to socializing making things very uncomfortable. There were several occasions when he was very judgmental and disrespectful to other guest. Because he runs this hostel out of his home it seems like he expects the whole world to revolve around him. Very unprofessional and rude. There was a situation were the toilet backed up and I asked him if he had a plunger. He said no and that I was stressing him out and why did I back up the toilet? and what was wrong with me. Also, the last straw was when he told me I had to move out of the room I was already in and move into the mens dorm. I told him I was uncomfortable with that so he told me to move my stuff in the closet and wait in till something comes up. I told him I was tired and wanted to relax so I asked if I could hangout in one of the private rooms for a couple hours while I waited. He told me to quite back talking him and that I was being unreasonable and crazy. I figured this is time for me to get out. I packed up my stuff and left. I tried to get my refund back but he only gave me half. Please dont stay here if you want to lose your sanity. The guy is a crazy and delusional.