Great staff, great price, ok rooms
I recently completed two stays at the Austin Marriott South. I visit Austin regularly, and often stay downtown or north of the city, but decided to give this Marriott a try given the great AAA rate that is usually available.
The hotel has a lot going for it.
On the plus side:
- location is not bad, Easy highway access, and only about 4 miles from downtown
- it is a full service Marriott, co-located with other Marriott properties, including a Fairfield, a Courtyard, and a Springhill Suites and a Residence Inn. There is no full service Marriott downtown, although a JW Marriott is just commencing construction
- the staff was helpful and friendly
- free parking
- the lounge has a nice hot breakfast, and a decent happy hour, on weekdays
- the lobby and bar area feels fresh and rennovated
-the room was quiet
On the not so bad but not great side:
- the rooms are small and older. The carpet and beds and so on feel newer, but overall it feels like the 80's. I was on the concierge floor as an upgrade because of Platinum status, but there was nothing special about the room- small, small bathroom, plain white tub with white tiles. The room was clean, though it smelled like someone had just shampooed the carpeting. The only "amenity" in the concierge room was a single robe. Otherwise, it was just a room, and the view looked out over the roof in the middle.
- The gym is relatively small. There are two ellipticals and two treadmills, plus some free weights, but no weight machine circuit like at the Sheraton downtown. There is an indoor pool that looked clean. The gym was never crowded.
Would I stay there again? For the price that was pretty much lower than the Fairfield Inn next door, I would. For a typical full service price, there are better choices.