Quarters At Hardin House — Hotel in Austin

My wife and I needed accommodation near UT for a conference in late June. We feel we lucked out by finding The Quarters online. First, by staying five nights, we got a reduced rate that was far better than the official hotel's. (The office staff went beyond the usual to arrange for the same room for all five nights, but we did book 5 months in advance.) And parking was free, unlike at the hotel. The breakfasts were definitely above average, with lots of choice beyond the two hot dishes. We thoroughly enjoyed the roomy common rooms on the ground floor. And when we had sessions to attend, it was only a 15-to-20-minute walk even to the furthest building on campus. And shopping/dining on "The Drag" - the Guadeloupe St. area across from the campus, is only 5-to-10 minutes away. Plucker's, a very busy and enjoyable restaurant with the college crowd much in the majority and chicken wings in many varieties on the menu, was just across the street from our accommodation||||On the somewhat-minus side, those walks to sessions and meals were made in typical Texas summer heat. And to counter the heat, the air conditioning at The Quarters was sometimes cranked up too high, especially in the breakfast common area. (We had to take our breakfast into the next room the first morning to keep the eggs and bacon warm!) Nevertheless, when we visited the main desk (in a separate building) with comments about the frigid conditions and also a noisy fan in our room, corrections were made very quickly by a co-operative and knowledgeable staff. Our bedroom was smaller than those in hotels, with two desks and chairs (for winter dorm conditions) taking up a lot of space. Again, having the whole ground floor as a sitting-room area helped compensate for that. There was only a shower in our somewhat sparse ensuite bathroom, but we did have an ensuite, something that not all rooms have. ||||Of course the major negative for accommodation that is handy, comfortable and reasonably-priced is that it is available only when school is out! During most of the year it serves as an upscale private women's dorm. So it's not available from ||August to early May, when the weather outside may be cooler and when your visit to Austin may be taking place. But if you do need a home away from home during the "off-season" at UT, check it out. We're glad we did. (and yes, we did enjoy the evening ice cream available from the...

During the school year, this is a really nice UT women's dorm. So, expect pretty small rooms and air conditioning controlled remotely. The common area is indeed nice, and the place is clean, but we will not stay there again. You can find a Comfort Inn or perhaps Fairfield with bigger rooms and more amenities for the same price, I'm guessing.|| I tried to use the two computers in the common area, neither one worked, and when I called the desk for help, they offered no help. The wifi instructions are on a card in the rooms and the simple editing in of one word would make the directions easier to comprehend for those of us who are tech-challenged.||When we checked in, we then had to sit and wait while the lady at the desk answered as bunch of questions for a potential fall renter, who arrived after us. Seems to me good PR to take people in order of arrival. However, we were there for short stay, not a semester, so I imagine they have to cater a bit more to the longer term renters.||Warning for light sleepers. A garbage truck comes through every other night or so at 3:30 a.m. , so you are serenaded with beeps, bangs, whining machinery, etc. This it not the fault of the hosts, but don't be startled if it happens.||The main advantage I see is free parking if you are going to anything at UT. So much better than circling, circling, circling around trying to find a spot. I thought $134 plus tax to be a little steep for a such small room, but you do get breakfast and parking--but you also get a less-than-motivated staff. Which is more...

We stayed overnight at the Hardin House on graduation weekend at UT-Austin. We were a family of 4 (2 parents, 2 grandparents) and we were given 2 rooms on the 1st floor which shared a bath. One room had 2 twin beds and the other room had a king bed. We chose this place because it is 1 block away from our daughter's apartment and is within walking distance from the venue where the graduation was held. ||||The rooms are small - 11 ft x 11 ft approximately with 8 ft ceilings. Very claustrophobic people for who are 6' or taller. There was a mini-fridge in each room. The building is old and bedroom furniture and fixtures were worn. The linen was scratchy. The pre-fab shower had a slippery floor and we could not find a rubber mat for it. We did not use the common areas.||||We arrived on the first day of the summer season. The building had just been fumigated and there was a heavy pervasive smell of insect repellent all throughout our stay. The central a/c could not be modulated from inside the rooms and despite the cool air, air circulation was bad and the rooms were stuffy. There were no fans.||||Since the graduation started at 8am, we missed the hot breakfast which started at 730am. There was cereal, coffee, tea and yogurt available in the common area but no milk. ||||Considering we stayed less than 12 hours and needed only a place to sleep, the Quarters were acceptable. The location was great and price was cheap ($44/person), but we will not...