The LINE Austin

Character and identity

A 1965 modernist landmark on Lady Bird Lake, reborn under the Sydell Group as a 428-room (108 suites) design hotel that has pulled this quiet downtown corner back to life. Honeycomb concrete facades, hanging plants in gold planters, a hand-carved wooden bar and a tribal-feeling fireplace set the tone in the lobby. Rooms reference Central Texas through dry-riverbed headboards, firefly light clusters, and more than 500 commissioned works by local artists. Dining anchors on Kristen Kish's Arlo Grey, with Veracruz All Natural tacos, lobby coffee at Alfred's, and rooftop P6 looking across Congress Bridge. Service is efficient rather than effusive.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What sets this hotel apart is the marriage of a restored mid-century building with a serious food-and-art programme, not the polish of the service. Book it for Arlo Grey, P6 at dusk for the bat flight, and the lake-facing rooms. Spring for a suite or a higher-floor water view; the standard rooms are good but the setting is the splurge.