If you’re interested in staying in the Austin area but you want to experience something a little bit more remote (but not too remote) then the AC Hotel by Marriott Austin may be a great choice for you.
It’s a modern hotel, reasonably priced, and a property that comes with some unique amenities like a beautiful rooftop terrace and outdoor patio area.
In this review article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the AC Hotel by Marriott Austin.
Table of Contents
Booking the AC Hotel by Marriott Austin
We booked two nights at the AC Hotel by Marriott Austin with 45,000 points total, which in my opinion was a pretty good redemption considering prices were around $200 per night.
Other AC Hotel reviews:
Location overview: Southwest Austin
The property is located in Southwest Austin, about 20 minutes from downtown.
For us, it was the perfect choice because we were still close enough to downtown to get there relatively quickly but the hotel was still secluded enough to offer a more relaxed feel to our stay.
After staying in cities the past several days on a two-week long road trip across Texas, it was nice to experience something a little slower.
Since the hotel is so remote you don’t have a lot around you but there are some things nearby.
There is a movieplex (Moviehouse & Eatery by Cinépolis SW Austin) and a couple of restaurants in the neighboring area (CARVE American Grille) but not a whole lot going on other than some corporate offices.
Behind the property, there is a sidewalk that looks like it will eventually lead to some sort of connected pathway, perhaps to other business centers but I’m honestly not very sure.
Check-in
After making the short drive from the Westin in San Antonio and stopping at Buc-ees for a little while, we arrived at the hotel around 3:20pm so early check-in was not needed.
Since this was mid-December, the hotel was decorated for the holidays and the lobby area along with surrounding areas were pretty beautiful.
AC Hotels have a distinct scent (which I really love) and I’ll say that the scent here was really pumping in the vents — it was the strongest I’d ever encountered at an AC and maybe just a tad too strong.
The property has just opened up so this type of thing is honestly expected and I’m sure they will level out the scent at some point.
One thing I did want to point out is that all of the staff members were extremely personable. Out of all of the AC hotels I’ve recently stayed at, this property had the best service by far.
The room
We had a pretty basic king room that had all of the standard AC features.
If you’ve never stayed at an AC property before, you’ll find that these properties are very consistent in what they have to offer, especially with the rooms.
The bed was very comfortable and I did not have any issues getting some good sleep.
One side of the bed had the phone along with power outlets and USB ports while the other side had more power outlets and USB ports. It’s never difficult to keep your devices charged in these hotels which is something I really like.
Related: Should You Use USB Ports In Hotel Rooms? (Stay Away!?)
We had a good-sized TV screen in our room with a cushioned bench below that I always just assume is for luggage or random needs like getting dressed?
Next to that was the classic AC minimalist workstation.
The room also had a little seating area that had a view towards the Hill Country which was nice. I usually avoid hotel furniture but because this was a new hotel I didn’t feel bad about taking a rest on it.
Near the room’s entrance you’ll find all of the standard AC in-room amenities like the iron and iron board, safe, coffee maker, and smart fridge (with two free bottles of water in the fridge).
The hotel also has a hydration station upstairs at the rooftop terrace so you can fill up jugs of water which is something I really liked.
Like most of the AC hotels I’ve stayed at, the bathrooms were on point. They were very clean and I always like the dual showerhead found at the AC.
The bars and tapas
The hotel has two separate bar areas.
One is on the main lobby floor and is a more compact bar with around six chairs. Here you will find some of the more “standard” on-brand drinks and cocktails. In case you did not know, AC Hotels have a signature gin and tonic, which is a pretty refreshing drink.
They have some additional seating nearby so you can also relax and enjoy your drinks/tapas or get work done because there are some outlets in the floor.
The second bar is a rooftop bar called Salt + Stone.
This is a much bigger space with lots of seating and some pretty sweet views looking out to the Texas Hill Country and city of Austin. It’s a great spot to catch a sunset. If it’s cold up there, there are heat lamps and even blankets on standby.
The bar upstairs will have a more extensive selection and you’ll likely find drinks of a local variety up there. Apparently, the bartenders have more of a creative license up there so if you are really into cocktails and mixed drinks that’s a spot to be.
Although I don’t drink, I still enjoyed lounging up there. It’s also just a really cool looking terrace area, especially when you see it from afar.
One of my favorite features of the AC Hotel brand is that they serve tapas. As a Titanium Elite member, we were able to receive $40 in dining credits which we decided to use exclusively on the tapas bar.
This was the first time we were issued the credits in the form of cards that could be used all at once which was really cool. Typically, I’ve been limited to $10 per day per person but here we could spend all $40 in one setting.
Just note that the credits do not carry over so if you use $20 in credits to cover a $16 bill, you lose out on $4.
In my experience, every AC hotel offer something a little bit different in their tapas which keeps things interesting. On our stay, we tried the roasted cauliflower, prosciutto and cheese, meatball, and crispy potatoes.
Nothing really blew me away but it was nice to try some different light bites that helped carry us over to the next meal. Plus, the bartender was a lot of fun to talk to.
Breakfast
AC Hotels serve up a European inspired breakfast. This means that you’ll find things like croissants, cheeses, and deli meats for your breakfast selection.
The selection here was a little bit limited compared to some of the other AC Hotels so we just decided to do breakfast on our own but I still did get some good pictures of the breakfast.
So here’s what you can expect:
Gym & Pool
The hotel has a beautiful outdoor patio area with plenty of seating and some massive randomly placed geodes.
We visited on a pretty cool day but they had a fire pit going and it was actually quite nice to relax out there. This is another great spot to catch the sunset and perhaps enjoy some tapas.
Next to the patio area is the pool, complete with a dozen or so lounge chairs. It’s small but well-kept and it looks like a great place to relax in.
The fitness center looked out to the pool area and had a lot of natural light which is always energizing.
It’s a smaller gym but still pretty well equipped with an elliptical, Peloton, and a few treadmills. They also had a little station for free weights and some other equipment. Everything looked very modern so you should be able to get a great workout at the hotel.
Final word
Overall, I really enjoyed my hotel stay here.
This felt like one of the smaller AC Hotels I’ve stayed at but it ended up being one of the most beautiful.
The breakfast and tapas menu was not quite as loaded as other ACs but this hotel had also just opened like one month prior to the stay so I’m not even sure I was able to experience everything that it had to offer.
If you’re looking for more of a quiet stay within the Austin area but want a hotel that still has some nice amenities, I think this is a great selection.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
