Visiting Austin (Houston, San Angelo, Brady: hotels, taxes, restaurants)

[maggs83]

I'm trying to plan a trip to Austin and I want to avoid driving inside the city. Can anyone share information about hotels near Metro stations? Especially if the hotel is less than $100/night. I'll be driving from San Angelo, if that makes any difference.

Any other tips or suggestions about visiting Austin would be appreciated also (places to eat, things to do, things to see, etc.). I'm a new TX resident and I am visiting Austin just to see what I can see.

Thank you in advance.

[centralaustinite]

What?

Driving in the city is no problem! There is a bit of traffic but nothing that should deter you from driving here if you arriving in the car. We have very limited train service (emphasis on the very) and the buses are pretty good but will take forever, especially compared to your car. If you must, there are a fair number of hotels around I-35/290 that will give you access to the Highland Metro stop and several bus lines.

But seriously just drive your car everywhere you want to go!

[atxcio]

It's not much different than driving in San Angelo. You can get anywhere in Austin without using a highway, too. Plus the highways we do have (except I-35) are fairly small, without the giant mixmaster intersections you might see in DFW or Houston.

That said, if you stayed downtown you'd have access to many bus routes, pedicabs (and regular cabs), plus stuff you could walk to. Forget the train, it runs too infrequently, and you'd just likely get stranded when you realize the last train for the evening left at 4pm or something.

[kiacook]

hotels near Metro stations

Huh? You mean a bus stop?

[CptnRn]

Austin Motel is in a really good location on South Congress Ave, and has rooms as low as $80/night including taxes. It has a good reputation.

Austin Motel Rooms and Rates

The popular Hotel San Jose, also on South Congress Avenue, has a $95 room on weeknights but you share a bathroom down the hall for that cheaper room.

This area of South Congress Avenue is a popular location, close to good restaurants and is on the main bus routes, a short distance (walking distance) south of Downtown Austin.

We talk a lot about how bad the traffic is here, but that is mostly during rush hour. The rest of the day its not bad at all.

I recently drove from Austin to Denver and back, passing through San Angelo. I encourage you to drive to Austin via Hwy 87 to Brady then Hwy 71 to Llano, coming into SW Austin on Hwy 71. The roads were good and traffic light on our trip. A lot of that route is 2 lanes both ways, some is single lane but has lots of passing zones. And it is a fairly pretty drive for Texas. You will pass right by Cooper's BBQ in the North side of Llano, which is a unique Texas BBQ experience if you care to stop for lunch. It is on the Texas Monthly Magazine list #3 on the list of things every Texan should do before they die.