The W Austin is a hard hotel to review. We stayed there for a week for a convention, and our initial impressions were not that positive. First off, this hotel is -incredibly- pricy for what you get. We paid in the neighborhood of $400/night for an incredibly tiny room that had just enough space for a single queen size bed, a small desk, and a bathroom area. The bathroom in our room was just crazy too, as there's no door. The toilet is basically in a closet, but the entire sink area as well as the bath tub is just out in the open. Very odd, almost like the hotel was designed by an interior designer who just went crazy prioritizing form over function.
Another thing that struck me as very strange was how worn the carpet is in this hotel. As mentioned, the initial impression you get when you walk in through the front doors and walk across carpet that looks like it's about 200 years old doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the decision to spend so much on a hotel. Even more puzzling is the elevator carpet, which is completely obliterated. I can understand not replacing the entryway carpet, but the elevators? I mean the little square of carpet in there is probably 15-20 square feet at the absolute maximum-- Not a substantial investment to, you know, get it revitalized especially since American etiquette seems to dictate looking down while riding.
I know it seems weird to harp on such a small detail, and believe me, if I came to Yelp and saw some dude going on at length about the status of the entryway carpet, I'd be like "Really?" ...But when you're paying a premium, it's the details that make a hotel like the W feel $350 a night better than the Best Western. The fluffy towels, the high thread count sheets, things like that which make you feel like your stay is some kind of carefully crafted experience for your comfort. Every single time you walk in to the hotel, your first thought is "This carpet, what the hell." This thought continues as you stand in the elevator. It's like renting a Lexus for your trip that only has a tape player. Sure, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, but it's just weird and is entirely out of line with the rest of the car.
The hotel staff is incredibly helpful here, we brought out dog who became the star of the show, and they were more than happy to watch her. Though, when we checked in we weren't told about any of the pet benefits the hotel had, which would have been nice. Maybe they were just having an off night. Once the concierge saw our dog they went over EVERYTHING they do, but it seems off that they wouldn't give you some kind of listing when you check in since you very deliberately need to make reservations and fill out a form when you've got a pet. But, whatever.
Overall, if you've stayed at a W, you know what to expect, and this one isn't really much different. Expensive rooms that always seem to have something strange about them, expensive WiFi access and an overall aroma of yesterday's party's spilled drinks masked with disinfectant and air fresheners. read more