A $6 million renovation completed this spring updated several aspects of the 405-acre Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, which includes 60,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 230,000 square feet of outdoor function space. Sheller Barrelhouse Bar, a restaurant and live music venue, now has separate zones for dining, dancing, and billiards, and is adjacent to a fire pit. Two new shaded decks provide cover and space for food trucks brought in for events.
The Contemporary Austin's Jones Center downtown offers two spaces for events, including a 3,300-square-foot roof deck offering views of the Austin skyline and the Texas Capitol. It has a built-in bar and kitchenette, bistro tables, seating, and a movie screen. It holds 220 for receptions, 245 theater-style, and 150 for seated dinners. For smaller events, the Community Room features a 15-foot window overlooking Congress Avenue. It has built-in audiovisual equipment and seats 80 theater-style or 25 in a boardroom setup.
With a beer selection that includes 54 Texas-only craft brews on tap, Craft Pride celebrates its home state. The design includes a cutout of the state of Texas suspended from the ceiling with pin holes denoting each brewery in the state and a star for Austin. Opened in March, the concept is available for buyouts and accommodates 150 on an outdoor space and 50 inside. The venue also includes a retail area and a two-story walk-in cooler. Detroit-style pizza food trailer Via 313 opened in the backyard space in August as the resident food truck.
Hotel Ella, which opened this month, is a 48-room luxury hotel built in what was originally the Goodall Wooten Mansion. The grounds feature an interior courtyard with a pool, private cabanas, and a new restaurant and lounge called Goodall's Kitchen & Bar. Meeting facilities include audiovisual equipment and can host events of 300 people.
Benji’s Cantina, a farm-to-table Tex-Mex restaurant, opened in May in downtown's West 6th Street district, with an extensive list of specialty margaritas, mexican beers, tequilas, and mescals. The stylish space includes a 300-seat dining room, a 30-seat private dining room, a lounge area with communal tables, and a rooftop patio with a centerpiece water fountain and stadium-style seating for skyline views.
With a contemporary space featuring work from metal sculptors and glass and woodwork artists, Mettle offers an industrial chic space befitting its hip east Austin location. The bistro menu from chef Andrew Francisco varies from steak to vegan and raw options, and the cocktail list offers a similar eclectic feel. The 4,000-square-foot restaurant seats about 200 guests and is available for private events.
Alamo Drafthouse's sit-down concept, Glass Half Full Taproom, opened in July and offers 32 rotating beers on tap, burgers, pizza, and beer-infused cocktails. The Lakeline theater restaurant seats 40 people indoors and accommodates as many as 80 people on an adjacent patio.
Bufalina, a Neopolitan-style pizza eatery, opened in July. The 1,400-square-foot dining room seats 38 and accommodates groups of eight at several communal-style tables—all overlooking the wood-burning oven centerpiece. The concept features locally sourced ingredients and domestic charcuterie and cheese.
Slated to open this fall, Lone Star Court hotel will offer over 3,500 square feet of "Texas Hill Country"-style meeting space. In addition to 2,000 square feet of of indoor space like the 30-person Sisterdale School House, a 1,600-square-foot outdoor covered Ladybird Pavilion will accommodate 120 reception-style and features an adjacent 18,000-square-foot lawn.
The 17-story Hyatt Place Austin/Downtown opened earlier this year in a prime downtown location, one block from the Austin Convention Center. The 296-room hotel has three meeting rooms, one standalone space that seats 32 in rounds of eight, and the other rooms can be combined into a 1,181-square-foot space that seats 64 guests at rounds.
