We stayed recently while in town for a wedding. This was where a block of rooms was reserved, so many of us stayed here. The hotel was under construction, which we were not told about ahead of time (even though there were many calls up until the day before we went.) There was a sign stating there was construction being done, giving the hours to expect to hear it. I appreciate that notice, but it was still bothersome to hear pounding from 8 am on.

The room set-up was great, and the lobby was perfect for the family to sit and chat. The pool had no water (it was January) but the back patio was still a nice place to sit and get some sun. The rooms all have mini-fridges, which was excellent- we were able to run to the store and stock up on water and snacks. Free parking is an awesome perk! The area is nice, though the shopping is mostly chains you can find anywhere else.

Other than the construction, my main complaint is that things just seemed to keep going wrong for us. We were locked out of our room one morning; it took quite a while to solve this and find out why (3 trips to the lobby to re-key the card before someone came up to check it out, had to call in the engineer)- turns out the battery in the lock died. We were trying to leave to go to brunch with the big group and were delayed, and then we had to leave the engineer there to fix it, which involves a lot of trust and was not comfortable. It was fixed, though, and everyone was pleasant. Then the washing machine wouldn't start- again, had to wait a while for someone to come look at it and then call someone else to fix it. Our phone only worked on and off, as well, and an outlet in the room stopped working, but quite honestly, we no longer had time to wait for people to come and check things out. I get that it's a minimalist concept employee-wise, but the length of waiting time really makes me prefer a hotel with a full staff.

The wedding rate that we had for some of the nights was good, but the nights not on the wedding rate were not worth that price.

We have now stayed twice at the Aloft in Austin. We really love this hotel. The rooms although a little small are very comfortable. The bedding is really good. The bathroom is laid out well and the shower excellent. Parking is extremely easy. Best of all they are a totally pet friendly property! They love pets as guests. Also, directly next to the hotel is a great sports bar with really good food at a fair price.

The room floorplan rocked. The room only had a shower, no bath tub or hot tub for soaking. The bar had a live jazz band that was wonderful. I wish I had ordered something from the lobby cafe, it looked good.

Awesome rooms. Extremely neat. Great shopping in walking distance. Good location. The staff was friendly and helpful. The catastrophic Bastrop fires had begun and people were displaced. Aloft accomodated the families that had lost their homes during this horrible time. I commend Aloft for their helpfulness. I highly recommend the facility and look forward to staying again.