The Moldy Manor
From the images on the website, we had great hopes for this supposedly budget boutique hotel. But the minute we walked into the musty lobby, with furnishings that looked like something pulled straight out of a 70s time capsule, we knew we were in trouble. 
We arrived late, around 10:00 p.m., so maybe that explaines why one of the two front desk men was asleep in his chair. The other only acted like he was. No greeting, not even a hello. I wasn't expecting The Four Seasons, but a simple "welcome" would have been nice. As we were heading out, the one guy woke up and they both went out, in full view of the guests, for smoke by the hot tub, which was boarded up and topped off with orange cones and yellow tape.
When we arrived at our room, the door mat was covered in black grime. You could sort of make out a pattern underneath it. With that at the entrance, one wonders what we were about to walk in to. We weren't disappointed. 
It smelled of smoke and mold. The rooms on the website looked much nicer than they were in real life. (Kudos to the photo stylist and photographer, BTW.) The artwork in our room was old and worn out, gold frames surrounding indistinguishable graphic blocks of teal and peach, all faded from years of sun exposure. On the bright side, the 80s artwork was a whole decade better than the 70s-style lobby. 
The place was clean, kind of, but it was hard to ignore the black mold on the walls, along with splotches of paint chipping off throughout. The bathtub was in desperate need of calking. The bedspread, well let's just say I'm forever grateful we don't own one of those CSI kits with a black light that lets you see things you wish you never saw in the first place.
The one good thing, there was a wonderful man tending to the breakfast bar. He was cheerful, helpful and sweet. Mind you, there was no way in hell we were going to eat anything that even remotely came from their kitchen, but this nice man got us coffee and was the highlight, the only highlight, of our visit to Hotel Allandale. 
When in Austin, STEER clear of The Allandale. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the cattle reference.)