ARRIVE Austin — Hotel in Austin

Honestly not one to really ever write reviews. However this place is super disappointing.

On arrival check-in was fine enough but had to wait a while to see someone which seemed to be the theme throughout the stay.

The place is charming enough - rooms generally clean and to be honest the location is in a vibrant and fun part of town.

However where this place falls down is the service. Lets break it down;

The bar; on arrival i literally sat at the bar for a good 5 minutes before getting served whilst there were two bartenders on duty. This was at roughly 4pm in the afternoon before the rush and whilst the female bartender was making another order she didnt once acknowledge me even when i made eye contact and politely tried to grab her attention. The other male bartender didnt acknowledge me at all (again literally sat there for 5 mins) and instead was talking to another patron about his trading portfolio.

The rooms; I was there for just over 2 days and on both full days my room wasnt serviced once? Surely one day without cleaning is kind of unforgivable? But two? I spoke to the front desk and they were apologetic however no comp or anything offered. Instead an offer of someone to clean it if i went out that evening was made. So essentially offering to do what they should have done for the last two days as standard? Didnt feel like it was an attempt to make up for the inconvenience of the last 2 days. The final point to add here is that this wasnt a one off event - my colleague who was staying there didnt have his room serviced either - so this clearly isnt a one off incident.

When my rooms finally were serviced there was no restocking of the mini bar and just a bunch of towels left on the couch/seating area. Not exactly a high star standard.

The receptionists were nice enough and apologetic however when i wen down to raise the complaint of the room i had to actually end up waving down a bar staff member to find a receptionist for me.

If you dont really care about service and are ok with your room not getting serviced then like i say - a charming hotel in a nice area but theres not much more going for...

I’ve traveled to Austin many times, but rarely stay at traditional hotels when I visit. I chose to stay at ARRIVE Austin based on the attractive photos of the rooms and the reasonable cost for the stay. The location is pretty nice and surprisingly quite, even with construction going on next door. The valet parking (required), was easily to find and the staff was very friendly.

When we continue inside to check-in the employee was very friendly, made us feel welcomed, and even offered a complimentary drink.

The room was very stylish and comfortable. The bed was a big plus - very comfy!

There are a few things that I’d like to point out that made my stay at ARRIVE extra special, and why it truly made this a 5-star review:

Staff was very friendly. From check in and valet.

Free drink offered at check in.

The hotel management texted me the morning of to check in with me and my ETA, offering help if needed to location valet parking. I told them I was already in the area (over 5+ hours before “check-in”). To my surprise they said the room was ready for us! We were able to check in by 10am with no added cost.

I added a note to the booking stating I was celebrating an anniversary with my fiancée. The same person that checked us in personally delivered a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine.

I had an issue with the TV remote and with the conveniente text service to the management they were up to fix it in 5 mins.

Valet, while it costs extra and is a requirement is very well worth it. It’s 24/7 and every time valet had my vehicle ready in under 5 mins. You can easily text to request your vehicle!!!

The only cons - the bathroom could have been a little bit cleaner and the body wash soap bottle provided for the shower was near empty. Housekeeping should check these bottles more often maybe? The other thing was our view was direct construction, but we didn’t spend a whole lot of time actually in the room.

I feel like the staff here went above and beyond and the value of the hotel is great compared to most...

First of all, the good things. The staff was super sweet and I loved the texting service they offered in lieu of having a phone in the room. Being an introvert, I really don’t like talking to people. I also fully enjoyed the showers and full size beauty products available. The towels were super soft and big enough to wrap around me twice!

The room was beautiful. I enjoyed the view. I enjoyed the modern look and the concrete floors. But it’s definitely form over functionality.

Now the reason for my low review...

You have to have a key card to get anywhere inside the building, which wouldn’t have bothered me if the key worked properly. My husband attempted to take the elevators back up to our room and the key wouldn’t work. So he took the stairs. He could get INSIDE the stairwell, but couldn’t open the door to get out because our key didn’t work. He couldn’t get into our room. Because our key didn’t work.

Then, all we wanted to do was take a shower and relax with some TV but the TV didn’t work. When I used the texting service to let them know, the response I got was something akin to “well, it should work”.

There are no coffee makers or microwaves in the room and, going downstairs for a cup of hot tea was impossible unless you wanted to spend $7. Even lower end hotels have coffee makers in the room.

There are no bellmen and no room service. There is plenty of room for a pool, but there is not a pool. I didn’t even see a fitness center, which was disappointing.

I guess maybe I just expect too much when I stay at a hotel, but the only thing I want to do after I’ve been exploring the city is to be able to go back to my room, order room service and get naked while I eat my french fries on the bed while watching TV! I couldn’t do any of that.

I’m hoping they improve. They have only been open about a month, but I don’t see myself being able to convince my husband to stay here again. Which is unfortunate because it has...