Austin, Texas has a long history as an epicenter of live music — even earning the title “Live Music Capital Of The World.” With the city hosting its famed annual SXSW, curated events and parties, Austin City Limits, and rotation of warehouse-style raves, Austin is truly a city that lives up to its reputation as a haven for music lovers. Because of that, people from around the globe flock to Austin to get their dose of great music, great food, and even greater accommodations.
Austin’s newest hotel, citizenM Austin Downtown, provides it all. Deemed “the pioneer of affordable luxury hotels,” citizenM’s goal is to create affordable luxury for the traveling music fans of the world and accommodate what it calls its “mobile citizens” as they conduct business, party, and explore world offerings.
Started in 2008, the Netherlands-based hotel chain has since opened and operated 34 hotels across North America, Europe, and Asia. With 14 within the United States across nine cities, it was only a matter of time before it would set up shop in Austin.
WHY IT’S AWESOME
The hotel is located deep in the heart of Austin, allowing guests to have direct access to the best of what this city offers. Better yet, they flex to your schedule — you have the option to check yourself in without needing to wait in line at the check-in counter. You can stroll straight into the second-floor lobby at 2 am to get drinks and snacks at its signature canteenM, and personalize your room to your own aesthetic. This hotel isn’t for relaxing, it’s for socializing and it is buzzing with creative, trendy travelers who operate at their best at night.
Did we say that you can personalize your room? Just making sure you didn’t miss that bit.
While many hotels offer a slew of hotel rooms to choose from – sometimes leading to decision paralysis – all of citizenM Austin Downtown’s rooms are identical and designed for two adults to share its XL king-sized bed. While I’m not usually one to geek out on ultra-tech aspects, the included iMac allows you to easily personalize the “mood” in your room with colored lights, blinds, and even mood-enhancing music. Activating the deep red lights for solo sexy time or the cool blue for a light and airy atmosphere with a friend can certainly impact the space.
Another thing that directly stood out to me was the incredible array of art. Scratch that – this whole hotel is a work of art. As soon as you walk in, you shimmy your way up a chrome red wide spiral staircase that leads to two open floor separate living spaces that are adorned with European-styled art, eccentric furniture, and color palettes. I can’t ever recall a time when I actually wanted to spend a lot of time in the lobby area of a hotel, except here. In fact, I opted to eat my 2 am dessert from the canteenM in one of the living room areas instead of my room just because it felt so inviting and almost natural to bask on the red couch, prop up my feet, and listen to a record that I put on.
FOOD & DRINKS
The hotel hosts its signature canteenM in the heart of its second-floor lobby. You can find warm “light bites” until 11 pm each night while cold food, snacks and drinks are available 24/7, allowing you to satisfy any late-night cravings. Draught beer, sweet treats, wine, coffee, spirits, and aperitifs are aplenty here.
This is where you also pay for your breakfast in the morning, if that’s your thing. With breakfast offered until 11 am, you have plenty of time to sleep in and then start your day with an anti-American breakfast. Why anti-America? While it’s still self-serve, you’ll find a fresh assortment of eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes in red Le Creuset cast-iron pots. There’s also lox and cream cheese, capers, cheese, European and French breads and pastries, and actual fresh berries and fruit to choose from. According to my tastebuds, everything about the breakfast solidifies citizenM’s Netherlands-based influence over almost everything in the hotel, which is a good thing.
A few highlights of canteenM:
- Crispy Chicken Dumplings: Comes with five decently-sized dumplings, making this a full-blown dish. The ponzu sauce was a great complement.
- Crispy Tempura Shrimp: Again, this could be considered a full meal if you wanted it to be. It comes on a bed of crisp arugula so it’s almost like a shrimp salad!
- Crab Cakes: Ordering crab cakes in Austin could be considered out-of-the-box, but I just had to. The two crab cakes themselves were huge and moist, but the broccoli kale mix they were placed on wasn’t doing it any favors.
- Jeni’s Ice Cream: Coming across a whole mini freezer dedicated to Jeni’s ice cream is a rarity. But Austin loves Jeni’s ice cream. I loved the wide selection of single-serve cups or full pints to have throughout your stay at the hotel. I’ll be dreaming of the gooey butter cake ice cream forever.
citizenM Austin Downtown also features a rooftop bar (cloudM) to accompany its rooftop pool. Offering the same snacks and drinks as canteenM, it’s a basic little setup with poolside drinks and a small selection of snacks.
AMENITIES
- XL king-sized beds
- 24-hour canteenM bar
- 24-hour gym
- Rooftop pool
- Rooftop bar
- European and Netherlands-inspired art
- Free Wi-Fi
- Colored mood lighting
- Widescreen TV
- Power shower
- Books & records to browse (and try!)
- Stylish living rooms
- In-room iMacs
- In-room fridge and freezer
ROOM TYPES
citizenM Austin Downtown features 344 rooms, all of which are the same. The cool thing about this is that it prevents choice overload or price gauging. Everyone in the hotel is staying in the exact same room as you. The choice is yours on what color mood lighting you want to come back to.
THE BEST THING TO DO WITHIN A 15-MINUTE WALK
You’re in Austin, what isn’t there to do within a 15-minute walk? Depending on when you stay here, you’re about a half mile from the Austin Convention Center where most of the main programming for SXSW takes place. Heading to Austin for Austin City Limits in October? You’re literally just a couple of blocks away. Want to head out on a nature meets city trail? Lady Bird Lake is also just five blocks away.
A direct two-minute walk from the hotel is Sixth Street. Sometimes fondly known as Dirty 6th, you’ll be steps away from Austin’s lively and eccentric nightlife, boasting famous live music venues, bars, and restaurants. A part of the entertainment district in downtown Austin, you can easily walk to see a show at Antone’s or the Moody Amphitheater, eat some authentic barbecue and watch a live performance at Stubb’s BBQ, and more.
While I’m not big on politics, it’s worth walking and taking a self-guided tour of the Texas State Capitol. It is an iconic landmark after all, surpassing the size of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The beautifully landscaped grounds and gardens make it worth the walk. Should you decide to take a self-guided tour, there are plenty of photo opportunities within the grand marble hallways and ornate staircases.
At the hotel itself, walk yourself to the elevator and head to the 17th-floor rooftop pool. I will say there were less than 10 chairs up here when I went so they are scarce, but if you can secure one, it provides a refreshing “work from home” view.
THE BEST THING TO DO WITHIN A $20 TAXI RIDE
Because the hotel is in the middle of downtown and doesn’t offer any parking, taking an Uber or Lyft to get around outside a one-mile walk is definitely encouraged.
Boasting over 350 acres of land, Zilker Park is beautiful to spend a day at! You’ll find an abundance of green space to walk, bike, or picnic in. The city’s natural spring swimming pool Barton Springs Pool is also located here. I loved renting a kayak for two hours and going out through Barton Springs into Lady Bird Lake for amazing views of the city.
Zilker Botanical Garden is a great way to wander through some really beautiful flora and fauna. Austin is already a green and lush city but there’s something about peaceful garden trails and Japanese gardens that just hit different.
If you’re looking for something a little less chilled out, Congress Avenue Bat Bridge is seriously so cool. The Congress Avenue Bridge is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony. Between March and November, approximately 750,000 Mexican free-tailed bats roost beneath the bridge and emerge in a mass exodus flying out into the city at dusk.
Pro tip: If you don’t have AllTrails downloaded yet, you’re missing out. While Austin isn’t a mountainous city, there are some pretty great hiking trails at McKinney Falls State Park. Located just 10 miles from citizenM Austin Downtown, you can explore 700 acres full of waterfalls, limestone bluffs, and regional plant and animal life.
BED GAME
Each room is outfitted with an XL king-size bed pushed up horizontally against the back wall. I loved that it was right up against the the wall-to-wall window, allowing you to lay down and look out to the city skyline (unless you like to sleep like a vampire with the blackout curtains shut tight).
The fluffiest pillows and European down cotton sheets certainly made it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Because it is flush up against the wall, you do only have one bedside table, so unless you’re traveling solo, this could pose a problem for a lot of people. It also raises the question of just how this bed was made by the housecleaning staff.
If you are sleeping with someone and they are trying to get past you in the middle of the night… well… you’re going to face challenges.
Rating: 6/10
SEXINESS RATING
The personalized mood lighting in each room was very sexy. As a solo female traveler, I very much enjoyed having the room to myself and settling into my own sensuality with the deep crimson red lighting and the calming energy of the lush green. The sexiness rating could’ve been higher if they made the shower see-through into the rest of the room, but I suppose if you’re traveling with a friend that would be less than ideal. (Depends how fun your friends are, obvi.)
Rating: 7/10
THE VIEWS AND PHOTO SPOTS
The 17th-floor rooftop pool, accented mood lighting with a full body mirror, and European-styled living rooms and furniture lent plenty of space for Instagram-worthy photo spots and city views.
Rating: 8/10
BEST SEASON TO VISIT
This depends on what you’re looking for. March if you want to be a part SXSW, the world’s biggest music, tech, and business conference. October if you want a full-fledged Austin music experience at Austin City Limits. It’s probably best to avoid Austin (and all of Texas) in the dead of summer due to three-digit temperatures.
IF I HAD TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ONE THING
I’ve had this complaint in other hotels and it still remains: stop making showers over complicated. I consider myself a pretty smart and savvy person, but the shower was overly complicated to figure out how to get hot water. I literally took a cold shower the first night because I thought the hot water just didn’t work.