My husband and I recently stayed at the Four Seasons as a last minute decision the night before Christmas Eve en route from Dallas to San Antonio. We have a 35 lb. dog that just meets the requirements. The front desk greeted us and "Gordy" (they had my dogs name on file) and welcomed us back.

The rooms are always elegant and this Four Seasons has a really wonderful, warm elegant lobby bar area. But, we could not leave our room because we are required to have a doggie babysitter while we leave. (Wish we had been informed of this).

So, we ordered our $100 room service which included an overcooked burger where they forgot the trimmings, a ceasar salad (withouth the dressing) and a very tasty oriental salad.

I LOVE the Four Seasons, but for $100 I wish we had hopped in the car and gone to "Dirtys" a local burger joint. (and the dog could have eaten there with us!!!)

Probably not the best place to bring a dog, still love and will go again, but need to improve the room service food. Otherwise, everyone loved my dog so I was happy.

(Pillows are great here too)

Don't get me wrong, the Four Seasons Austin is still one of the most wonderful properties around. However, it has recently undergone some major renovations and some redecorating and in the process the guest rooms have lost some of their charm. I could never tell you what made these hotel rooms so special, but there was a serenity and simplicity in the rooms that made them ever so comfortable and welcoming. Just as I could not put my finger on what was so right with the rooms before, I can't put my finger on what is now wrong. The property sacrificed the armoires in favor of long, granite-topped dressers with big flat screened tvs. The bedside tables have gone granite-topped as well. Practical, yes, welcoming and warm - no. The old familiar lamps have been replaced with some strange lamps that seem to straddle a wierd contemporary style and traditional. The headboard is padded leather and seems out of proportion to everything else. The art is fine and actually quite nice, but not nearly as suited to the rooms as the previous selections. It is as if the rooms were designed by two decorators who never quite got in sync and kept compromising on second choices. One wanted to keep the traditional look and the other favored a sleeker, contemporary look and they never got the right blend to pull it off. Maybe I will get used to the new decor, but in my opinion, they had it right the first time and while they could have updated here and there, they should not have sacrificed the understated luxury of these rooms for the new look - whatever it is supposed to be.

The front desk and lobby have the look and service of a Four Seasons. Friendly, no problems with check in or out, lobby and bar area is nicely decorated and service in bar area was excellent. Lobby has coffee, bottled water, and apples out in the morning and lemonade later in the day.

The rooms look like any middle of the road hotel. But what is weird is that they look like they are slowing being re-done one item at a time, which looks silly. For example, great, huge flat screen TVs on granite topped table, but the bathroom was still a completely outdated reddish Spanish looking tile that did not go with the rest of the room at all. It was clean, but it was showing its age through a lot of wear and tear -stained grout, etc. Then they tried to semi-update the tub by removing the shower curtain and putting in this weird half shower door thing that only covers half the shower. Just re-do the bathrooms, don't waste money on these half jobs!

After being out of our room all day, we returned at 5pm and our room hadn't been cleaned! That is just ridiculous anywhere, much less a Four Seasons. We had dinner plans and a limited amount of time to shower and get ready. I called and they came promptly, but no apology. So I went down to the bar area and ordered a cup of coffee while I waited for the room to be cleaned. The coffee was lukewarm, and I was starting to think this hotel was complete crap for not cleaning my room and getting me to pay an outrageous amount for a cup of lukewarm coffee that I only ordered because I had nowhere else to go. Before I had a chance to say anything the woman came back with a new cup and said she realized the pot wasn't fresh and she apologized. And there was no charge. So that was ok.

When the housekeeper came she did fold my husband's wadded up clothes though, which no other hotel housekeeping has ever done and that made him pretty happy.

It would be average for a Marriott, but it was disappointing for a Four Seasons.

The view of the lake is great but ive stayed in nicer rooms...Very clean and great service but the hotel seemed to not be worth the money...