The LINE Austin ★★★★

A Sixties Tower on the Lake, Put Back to Work

The LINE did not build itself a tower on Lady Bird Lake. It took one that was already standing on Cesar Chavez, a plain slab from the modernist decades that had cycled through a couple of flags, and reworked it into something with a point of view. The lake sits directly below, the skyline directly behind, and the interiors run to warm mid-century lines, art on the walls and a gallery of the hotel own. There are 429 rooms in it, which is a lot of hotel, and the ground floor spends its space on restaurants and bars rather than on lobby.

Why It Works

The food and drink decided it. Arlo Grey is a serious restaurant by any measure, run by a James Beard winner, and it would be worth a table in this city whether or not a hotel sat above it. P6 on the roof is the bar Austin sends visitors to. Veracruz does the breakfast tacos locals will queue for. Put those under one roof on the waterfront, add a pool deck and a gallery, and the building becomes a destination rather than a place to sleep near one.

Why This Location

Cesar Chavez at the water is the hinge of the city. The Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail passes below the hotel and runs both ways along Lady Bird Lake, crossing the pedestrian bridges toward South Austin. Congress Avenue is a block west, so the Capitol is a straight walk north and South Congress a walk over the bridge. Rainey Street and its bars are east, the convention center and Sixth Street north. It is the address with the shortest walk to the most things in Austin, and the trail outside is the part most guests remember.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Mid-century, lakefront, social, art-led

• Rooms: 429 in a reworked modernist tower, the best of them facing the lake

• Best For: Food-led weekends, groups, travelers who want a rooftop and a running trail on the same block

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: P6, a rooftop bar that used to be a parking garage

• Dining: Arlo Grey by Kristen Kish for French, Italian and Texan cooking, P6 for Mediterranean plates on the roof, Veracruz for breakfast tacos, Cantero for tequila, mezcal and sotol, Alfred for coffee, all-day room service

• Amenities: Rooftop pool with loungers and umbrellas, an art gallery on site, 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, dogs welcome

• Attractions: The Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, Congress Avenue and the Texas State Capitol, South Congress over the bridge, Rainey Street, Sixth Street

Arlo Grey, and the Four Rooms Around It

Arlo Grey is the anchor and the reason people book dinner here who are not staying: Kristen Kish cooking across French, Italian and Texan lines in a room that opens to the lake. Cantero handles agave in its many Mexican forms, tequila, mezcal and sotol, with cocktails built around them. Veracruz, started by the sisters Reyna and Maritza Vazquez, turned breakfast tacos into a citywide habit and now does it inside the hotel. Alfred covers coffee, pastry and matcha in the morning. Between them there is no reason to leave the block before dinner.

P6, and What a Parking Garage Can Become

P6 sits six floors up and was a parking garage before anyone thought to make a bar of it. What that leaves is scale: concrete bones, open air, and a view over Lady Bird Lake most rooftops in Austin cannot match because they face the wrong way. The kitchen sends out Mediterranean plates, the crowd is a mix of guests and city, and the pool deck runs alongside with loungers and umbrellas. Go early on a clear evening, before the lake turns black and the skyline takes over.

Rooms, Art and Room for a Crowd

The 429 rooms lean mid-century, warm rather than austere, and the ones facing south take the lake and the trail below. Art runs through the public floors and the hotel keeps a gallery, which is unusual at this size and gives the lower levels something to do besides circulation. Event space reaches 30,000 square feet indoors and out, so the building absorbs conferences and weddings without the guest floors noticing. Dogs are welcome.