At&T Hotel & Conference Center At The University Of Texas

“A five-star review with a few caveats”

The AT&T Hotel & Conference Center has long been one of Austin's best hidden gems, which I say as a former local: I say that as a former professional hotel critic, prior to the internet killing most traditional journalism. I've also stayed there numerous times and had a superlative stay every singl… more

The AT&T Hotel & Conference Center has long been one of Austin's best hidden gems, which I say as a former local: I say that as a former professional hotel critic, prior to the internet killing most traditional journalism. I've also stayed there numerous times and had a superlative stay every single time. Or at least that was the case until my most recent stay: despite being placed in a literally nearly new room – the hotel's undergoing its first major renovation in a decade, and at least at this writing, this site doesn't even have photos of the new room designs yet – the construction noise *from* said renovation was bad enough to drive me out after a single night. Perhaps most bizarrely, I had spotty wifi throughout my stay – in a property literally run by one of the largest, richest wireless companies AND internet providers in America. But yes, I still gave them five stars. I'll explain. The property's definitely rather unique: I can't think of any other phone companies that run a hotel on the side, plus it was built in large part to cater to affluent UT alumni back in town for various conferences. (Obviously including ones at the hotel itself, but also stuff like SXSW.) It's also one of the few hotels designed by Lake Flato, the state's top architectural firm and arguably the best in the entire Southwest. It's situated directly adjacent to UT, with its iconic tower only three blocks north, and in stark contrast to most standard-issue four-star Hiltons and Hyatts and the like, it has a few aspects more associated with five-star properties, including a fine-dining restaurant on-site and a much-appreciated lack of cookie-cutter design. I mention all of the above because this was literally only the second time – in a period of 25+ years, including over 800 total hotels – I've encountered an upscale hotel that was being renovated in such an extreme fashion that the noise from it seems audible throughout the entire *property*, including a piledriver sound in my room. To be clear, this schedule is not how the hotel industry functions in general. Hotels typically make a point of isolating the noise so that almost literally no one staying there can hear it. How? Closing off the entire floor above & below one being renovated is how some do it. Others do a "vertical slice": focusing on a given small set of rooms on every floor, but also a piecemeal process. I suspect that the hotel would've otherwise closed for the renos – it's not like they need the money, plus they have an additional problem of a new skyscraper going up across the street on the hotel's north end. But I think I know why they may have felt they had no other good option: as it so happens, the Austin Convention Center is in the process of being rebuilt, so nearly every hotel in town with conference rooms is trying to pick up a lot of the slack by reinforcing their own offerings. All that said: I'm not docking any stars because the property admittedly makes quite a point of noting the possibility of noise disturbances, plus its cumulative rating is only 4.3 stars at this writing. It's not THAT bad, so I'm grading up a bit. Also, the renovation work is scheduled to be completed in the next couple of months – after already being delayed for nearly a year due to various issues – so those reading this after August 2026 likely won't have any of the same problems. Finally, this mistake was my own, but one side of the property can have an unusual amount of road noise, and is best avoided at any time for those sensitive to it: the south end of the hotel faces the road and gets a fair amount of police & ambulance activity at night, at least if there's a lot going on in the vicinity (and I was there over Memorial Day weekend). This can be easily avoided solely by requesting a room facing the interior courtyard, and those are whisper-quiet. (Without renovations underway, at least.) To recap: the north end of the hotel faces a construction site, and it won't be done until 2028 or 2029 -- definitely best avoided for noise-sensitive folks. Ditto the south end, which faces a major street. The side facing University Avenue is fairly quiet, and the courtyard-facing rooms are borderline monastic in their lack of noise. While even the hotel's current design doesn't seem particularly dated, the new one is a nice, and clearly upscale, refresh, with custom-made cabinetry & woodwork, and the addition of some subtly nice wallpaper. But if you're at all concerned about noise, I'd advise checking with the hotel about the renovation situation prior to booking, at least if their website indicates that it's still underway. Even as a heavy sleeper it was loud enough to wake me up, as were several ambulances. P.S. I have no explanation for the laggy wifi, but it's also anomalous in my experience, and it could definitely be due to all the construction still going on.

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