The LINE Austin — Hotel in Austin

Absolutely the WORST experience I’ve ever had.

If I could give zero stars, I would. And honestly, even that feels too generous……

From the jump, the vibe was off.

The host looked annoyed the second we walked in — no welcome, no smile, just pure attitude like we were bothering her by showing up. It felt off from the start, but we tried to shake it off and enjoy the night.

We sat down, ordered, everything seemed normal. Then my colleague — who is genuinely one of the NICEST people I know — jokingly asks the waiter Kevin for a hug. Just being cool, friendly, not crossing any line at all. But for whatever reason, Kevin got all in his feelings about it. Like his panties got in a bunch instantly. You could just feel the energy shift.

Next thing we know, here comes Mealine, the manager, trying to come Up with a reason why my colleague can’t drink anymore… with fake rules, saying they “legally can’t serve more than 1-2 drinks per hour.”

Like what? That’s NOT a law.

Let me be very clear: Texas has no law limiting people to “two drinks per hour.” We were there since 6 o’clock. We started at the bar because the host said that there were reservations, even though all the tables were empty. And we didn’t get. Sat until almost 8 o’clock.

The law is about visible intoxication — and my colleague wasn’t even close to that.

He, wasn’t sloppy, wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was just existing, being kind. Enjoying his night But they used that made-up rule to stop serving drinks and basically start pushing us out.

Then came the part that really set me off — they said they’d comp the appetizer because of how everything went down (probably trying to save face), but as we’re trying to leave, they cornered us like we were stealing. Not even kidding — surrounded us, acting like we didn’t pay.

Here’s the kicker: we DID pay. And we did tip!!

In fact, one person at the table had already paid for the entire check.

But because of how messy and disorganized they were, someone else from our party ended up paying again. So the bill was covered twice — and they still treated us like we were trying to walk out on the tab….

They didn’t come at me directly — but the way they treated my people? Nah.

You don’t treat guests like that.

You don’t target someone who was just trying to have a good night, kindest one in the room like he’s a problem because he was too friendly for your comfort. It was humiliating, disrespectful, and honestly felt like they were trying to paint us as some sort of threat.

Like we were less than. It felt like they were looking at us like refugees in their fancy little place, and it was disgusting. And to be clear, we definitely had the money to pay and then some…. My colleagues tip. Big. And pay good money to have a good time they take care of those around them…

The whole night felt like they were just waiting for a reason to act up. Bad energy, bad judgment, and the kind of experience that makes you never want to spend another dollar there.

Don’t waste your time. Unless you want to be lied to, judged, and cornered over absolutely nothing — don’t go.

Only thing that was even halfway decent? The champagne and strawberry. That’s it. Everything else? Straight-up embarrassing.

Never in my life. Have I ever experienced this. … I will be filing a formal complaint….

And not to the damn job, but the people that I was with… hold high jobs and titles, and not that that makes them better than everybody, but they know how to act in public, and the way that we they were treating us was completely uncalled for…

Melanie literally telling us to get out of her face and Kevin, cornering us looking at us like we didn’t pay the tab. Just...

It's hard for me to express how much I would recommend that you look literally anywhere else when you visit Austin. From the start it was clear management was incompetent and it was going to be a frustrating stay.

Your only on-site parking option is valet which will run you nearly $60 a day after taxes. When we arrived valet was a madhouse. Understandable for a Friday evening check-in, however it quickly became apparent the hotel doesn't have the capacity to support their valet. The valet employees were all nice until one happened to run another guest's car into one of our group member's car into just after arrival. Beware. Later in the evening we got to sympathize with our Uber driver about this has always been his least favorite pick-up since he started.

Check-in was fairly painless. We were part of a wedding block, which was spread out across the entirety of the hotel with no two rooms next to each other. Very convenient. There are very few luggage carts and the ones they do have are barely maneuverable. There is also no staff to assist so I recommend coming with lots of hands. The front desk told me to use the "East Elevators" to get up to my room. It turns out there is only one working East Elevator, and it can take up to 10 minutes waiting on it during rush. Both East and West elevators will take you to the same floor, so don't waste your time like I did and just go to the main ones in the lobby.

When I entered my room it was about 80° despite the AC being set to 60°. I called the front desk and had a couple maintenance staff check it out. They dismissed the issue and were very rude. I saw them going back in forth in the halls to other rooms on our floor, and speaking with other guests in our group this is clearly an issue for a number of rooms. After running for about 5 hours and closing off our windows and view of the city the room finally got to about 75° and never below 70° the whole trip while keeping the same setting.

The room was sizable, but empty, and missed basic furniture items and accessories I would expect from a hotel at this price point. They understand their shortcomings as in the bathroom there is note that you must request a separate vanity light from the front desk because they installed inadequate lighting if you dare to get ready to go out. There were other various complaints including doors not having enough weight to close on their own, only providing two towels on arrival, no microwave, and the only fridge being so full of overpriced minibar items to fit anything. You will also be charged $33 a day in amenities fees regardless of your pool usage or participation in their yoga classes touted tarot card readings from High Priestess Jaguar. I hope my reading shows me far away from ever stepping foot back in.

Outside of the lobby, The hotel is just dirty. The carpet in the hallways are disgusting and stained and they smell of mildew. The elevator waiting area had to have been over 85° in the afternoon with an awful old smell. It's clear there was some "renovation" done when the ownership changed, but that just appears to be a cheap coat of paint, ugly light fixtures in the hallways, and shoddy bathroom remodels.

Overall, the building owners and management clearly are okay with delivering subpar service for the price, running up your bill with fees and deflect any criticism by prioritizing a hip taco shop, bar and swimming pool. My stay ended up being about $150 more than expected from the initial estimate. If you have the misfortune of having to spend a night at the Line, I only hope its in the winter, so you don't have to worry...

My husband booked this hotel for us last weekend for my birthday. We had a lake view room, which I loved. We overheard people on the elevator (that faced the lake) say they wished they had this view from their room. If you can splurge on it, I would do it. Since I am a review junky, I hope my review is helpful. Here’s my pros and cons list from our stay:

Pros: We parked our car at the hotel and didn’t get it out for 2 days. Everything is so easily accessible. We walked to the convention center for an RV expo, to the Driskill Hotel for a drink, to a Central District Brewery, to Moonshine Grill for dinner, and we walked miles and miles on the beautiful trail that’s right out the back door of the hotel. The location was absolutely perfect. The taco shop that’s joined to the hotel is convenient. Call in your order and pick up to go. 20 minutes later I had breakfast in bed! Cute esthetics in the room. Simple. Clean. The lobby is a great place to hang out. We sat by the big fireplaces twice during our stay and enjoyed cozying up and chatting. It’s busy down there, though! At check in we asked for an upgrade since it was my birthday and they did offer a suite that didn’t face the lake. I declined, but it was nice of them to offer. The pool is heated. Several people were swimming in it while we were sitting outside and said it felt great.

Cons: The room was cute, but didn’t seem 4 Star in my opinion. It was modern, but not fancy. The walls are thin. I could hear every word the lady next door was saying on her phone call. The hotel charges fees out the wazoo. It’s probably every hotel downtown, but $50 in parking a night, additional resort fees, plus tax on said fees… it adds up. My husband is working on a price difference issue between what he was quoted on Trip Adviser vs what he was actually charged. We didn’t have dinner reservations Friday night, so we thought we would eat something at the hotel. We sat down at the P6 and looked for some dinner/snack items and nothing was appealing. We immediately went downstairs and sat at the bar of the Arlo Grey restaurant. The bartender never gave us the time of day, plus nothing on that menu looked appealing either. I am a foodie and I appreciate a high end meal, but for me, I wasn’t in the mood for chicken schnitzel or eggplant. We ended up walking to a restaurant nearby. I asked for a vanity mirror (the lighting in the bathroom is for people who don’t want to see their faces) since you have to request them. No one ever brought it. The bed is far cry from my Tempurpedic at home. Too hard for my taste. Our room was in the center of the building (furthest away from elevators) and we could still hear the elevators at night. I turned on my sound machine, so it blocked it out. The room thermostat was way off. It was set to 85 at one point because I was cold and the air just kept blowing. It was at 72 another time and hot as could be. The bed was super low to the ground. Not a big con, but for my 6’4” husband, he had a long way to drop.

Would I stay there again? Yes. Would I rather try somewhere else next time to compare my experiences? Definitely.

Also, for those comparing like me - if you’re considering Hotel Van Zandt and want a lake view, I wouldn’t. There’s so much construction right in front of the hotel and eventually it will cover most of their...