During my trip to Austin, I spent a few nights at the Thompson Austin, which opened in early 2022. This was a special stay for me, since it’s also the stay during which I earned lifetime Globalist status.
Continue reading: Review: Thompson Hotel Austin
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Thompson’s can be real hit or miss. Seattle was a super bland hotel while Madrid was excellent. I’m
Surprised you didn’t mention Austin’s soundproofing - half the rooms face Sixth street and there’s loud bass thumping music until 4am. Never staying at the TH Austin again
Seems this Thompson is keeping up with the city standards. Very overrated and try to cover it up by keeping Austin weird. Austin has lost its charm since all the coast people moved in and trying to overcompensate being like Dallas.
I kinda get the feeling that if you could do your lifetime stay again, you would do it somewhere else.
So if you can redo, where would it might have been?
Stayed here this year and had nothing but positive reviews.
Absolutely no noise issues — same suite upgrade as globalist but 3-4 floors higher. Enjoyed the array of dining options too.
@Ben great review. I stayed at the Tommie early this month, which was a steal at 9k Hyatt points. Overall, I think the rooms are much more poorly designed at the Tommie, just based on the fact that the shower and toilet are in the same room with no separation. Also, there is no soundproofimg.
For the gym, it is by far my favorite American gym. There’s so many options, and I liked the golf simulator, which was free to use during my stay and having to reserve it was not enforced.
I recently had to stay a night in Austin and was trying to stay at the Thompson, but, due to the Austin Film Festival, rates were something like $1000+ for a regular room and no points rooms were available.
Ended up snagging a points room at The Driskill and based on this review, I'm glad I did.
Lucky, I really like reading your blog and your reviews but pretty please can you spruce up the language a little bit? I know I might be in a minority, here, but I'd like a little bit more narration and a bit less repetition.
Take for instance this paragraph: "The Thompson Austin has a central location. It’s located at the intersection of 5th and San Jacinto. I’m not an expert on Austin, but I found this to be a pretty central location."
You wrote 'locat*(tion/ated)' three times in the space of four lines. Ditto with 'property', or when you're on a plane, there's air nozzle and - right on cue - you say that those are a feature which you appreciate. I mean it in the nicest possible way, but please can you put a bit more soul into it? I understand it's not easy to churn out posts every day and, let's face it, once you see one of these chain hotels, well, you've seen them all but I for one would love to read more about what you felt, how your trip went and what you've been up to besides how the menu reads. Put some narration back.
Thank you!
I hear you and I agree. You can also add his ending of some sentences with "... or?" to the tally of 'please avoid this, Lucky'.
You can almost create a template for any of Lucky's reviews, LOL. Speaking of... I'm sure he does have a template for his reviews, especially for the airline ones. I actually skip certain parts of his reviews because I know exactly what's coming.
“More soul”?!? The man’s just spent $200k at Hyatt and can’t even plug his laptop in at the desk. It’s no wonder he’s thinking about “location, location, location”
Sir - and I love the fact that I can call you "Sir" with good cause since that's in your nickname! - you hit the nail on the head. He spends the equivalent of a deposit for an average-sized home in London, can't plug in the laptop and to be honest the review reads like my car's MOT report. Give me some pathos!
$700/night is asking a lot given that the Peninsula/Park Hyatt are often available for around half that and the Four Seasons is also usually less. All three appear to be nicer than what we have seen of the St. Regis.
This is like a building from Mars. You might as well have been in Beijing or Abu Dhabi. It has nothing to do with Austin other than location.
At least choose the Driskill next time.
Oof those finishes are awful
And fyi, Bowmakers isn’t the brand of toiletries. That’s the fragrance, but the brand is DS & Durga (American niche fragrance house that I’d say is relatively comparable with the Byredo, Le Labo, etcs of the world)
as someone who has stayed at both the tommie and Thompson in austin (and a Hyatt globalist) and is a resident in the Sienna… I’d like to know what time you went to the gym when it was “busy” or “crowded”… I’ve been to the gym at different times / different days, there are never more than a handful of people down there… sounds more like you meant to say it could theoretically be busy or crowded because it’s shared with the apartment building…. 😉
I also don’t have issues with hotel cobranding, not really sure why others would.
The design gripes are legit… can’t win them all.
Interesting that Ben made this mistake again. I clearly remember correcting him in a previous post (maybe Thompson Dallas or maybe The Cape) because he said then that the brand was Bowmakers. After my correction, he updated the post.
Absolutely love this scent and this brand, though.
What a sad place. Laughable to even mention the word 'boutique' when the pics show a 30 floor skyscraper...
What a waste of a trip to a place like Austin to stay in a soulless, cookie-cutter luxury property like this. I'm shocked the person you were visiting let you waste your trip here! Virtually any Airbnb in any decent neighborhood of the city would've offered a better, more authentic experience at half the price.
Lucky - thank you for FINALLY having a sense of humor about avocado toast. I hope you survived your Austin trip without any avocado toast. 🙂
On another note, yes - I get that you have a food credit at the hotel and all but for heaven's sake, why are you eating all your meals at the hotel?? I know Austin well and there are so many great and quirky restaurants within steps of your hotel. I would like to see more variety in your reports. Yes, I understand that this was a hotel review. I get that but don't be afraid to walk outside the hotel every once in a while and discover a new gem or a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and report on that. That would really add depth to your reports instead of the typical generic hotel and hotel restaurant(s) review. Just a suggestion.
Plenty of great hotels downtown. Austin lost its soul and authenticity years ago. Now its tries so hard to be nice like Dallas and have food like Houston. Its no longer local or "weird" this hotel is a perfect example of the cities transformation the last 10 years.
To me, the problem is two-fold. First, Lucky seems to be able to exist only within high-luxury environments with constant, doting service. Second, Lucky never really has been an on-the-ground traveler. His reports off airplanes always seem awkward and forced, which makes me wonder if he's really comfortable doing proper travel.
I agree with this mostly, although having lived in Austin for more than a decade I still know a few "weird" enclaves throughout the area. I guess my point is that Lucky chose pretty much the worst type of hotel for anyone who comes to Austin wanting even to approximate the magic of years gone by.
People don’t come here to read a review of an air bnb. They want hotel reviews.