South Congress Hotel

Reviews

• ML

  Michael Lloyd

  Mar 22, 2026
  1.0
  This was a dumpster fire of a stay from the beginning. No offense to the staff as they were all very pleasant. The hotel only has one working elevator and when we checked in it was out of order and I had to carry our bags up the stairs to our room twice as there was an issue with the first room. The lobby furniture is worn and dirty. The pool, although advertised as open, is dirty, sticky and unmaintained. On Saturday they shut down the lobby bar, which also serves the pool, for a private event. We asked for a glass of ice and the blond manager was snarky. We were told us the bar next door would open within the hour and we could walk over there. As the night went on our room vibrated for hours from the wedding reception below and Louis who is nothing more than lip service versus customer service offered ear plugs. Buyer beware, there is nothing that would make us risk staying here again with all of the other options in the immediate area.
• AR

  Avery Rose

  Mar 21, 2026
  5.0
  Shawn helped save our bachelorette trip by fixing our tv! king shawn, great experience!
• AD

  Adrian Dean

  Mar 18, 2026
  5.0
  Amazing hotel that I’ve stayed at many times. I had to cancel my recent trip for a personal emergency and they were more than understanding with waiving the cancellation fee. Great service and will stay any time I’m in Austin.
• JS

  Joseph Smith

  Mar 7, 2026
  3.0
  A very mixed bag here. Was in town for a wedding celebration at this hotel. Check in and front desk service were excellent throughout my stay. I guess “boutique” hotel is code for strange light fixtures that have no obvious switches and bad lighting for the workspace. Others in the group complained about hot water issues which I did not experience until this morning. About to shower before leaving and no hot water. For the price charged this hotel needs to up its game.
• KP

  Kianne Pennesi

  Feb 23, 2026
  2.0
  The South Congress Hotel was once one of our favorite spots. Now I'm not sure we'll be back. My husband and I did a staycation honeymoon at the South Congress Hotel and ever since then it's been our first and last stop on South Congress when we get the rare date night. We loved the convenient garage parking and popping in for a drink and reminiscing about our fun mini moon before heading out to dinner reservations. Then before heading home, doing the same and spending some downtime at the lobby bar before heading home. Our experience this Saturday couldn't be further from what we've previously enjoyed. Cold looks and no greeting from staff when we first arrived. Then on our way back from dinner we approached the front doors of the hotel and were confronted by more cold stares from staff, no greetings and eventually a small bald man positioning himself with his body to block our entry. He asked very confrontationally why were there. We shared our plans and he said the lobby was closed. We asked about taking the elevator to our car and he said we'd have to walk around to the garage entrance and moved at us, to corral us away from the front entrance. The "garage entrance" is a sharp ramp down the parking level with no pedestrian walkway - you have to walk where the cars would drive down and shimmy around the security gate arm. Felt like we were paying a premium for inconvenient parking. Not a great end to our date night and not a great last memory of a place we've associated with happy milestones. Look, I get the hotel was probably hosting a private event in the lobby. But at what expense? Being rude to loyal long-time guests? And could there have been another way to manage that and accommodate everyone? Where was the signage or staff when we first arrived, warning us the space would be closed later? Bad misstep in my opinion. No redeeming service experience from any of the staff, throughout. Even if we're not guests, there are so many other hotels in Austin that would treat us respectfully. I'd rather give them my business. Sad this place is soured for us now.