Best of Austin 2012, Readers Poll

Architecture & Lodging

Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in your summer-baked bathing suit and seemed to hold a never-ending ice cream cone. Nostalgic, comfortable … and what is it about that sign?

This year, the Dub wins two awards from our readers. If Jay Gatsby lived in 2099, his pool would look like this. Swank. Modern. Nestle in your own cabana or do laps like a lapper. Better yet, try to win Daisy's affection and order her a French Pear from the Wet Bar. This pool was meant for lounging; at night, the lights of Austin stretch out above and soft candles light your footpath. If you'd rather judge a place based on how nice its bathroom is (and we don't see any reason why you shouldn't), the W will be at the top of your list. A hallway of private powder rooms, each fresh as a … daisy (sorry), provide a much-needed respite from the maddening crowds in the downstairs bars.

photo by John Anderson

When someone tells you a house is a Colonial Revival building, the response is either a distinct glazing over of the eyes or the kind of nerdy architecture enthusiasm weekend Restoration-Hardware customers can only hope to possess. Nestled in Hyde Park - peppered with pier-and-beam neighbors - the Adams House Bed and Breakfast is a good representative of its turn-of-the-century style: stately symmetrical-ity, rational proportions, a rustic/refined construction, and, from our readers' point of view, a darned sweet place to rest one's head.

photo by Sandy Carson

If all of the denizens of this, Austin's largest vertical neighborhood, voted in "Best of Austin," they could lock down this award in perpetuity. In truth, the vast majority of the votes came from outside the tallest all-residential building in Texas. Perhaps these nonresident voters were lost in some serious craft cocktail bewitching at Congress, Bar Congress, or Second Bar & Kitchen on the ground floor? Maybe they have friends who live there, who let them into this deee-luxe apartment in the sky to ogle at the state-of-the-art condo conveniences, the top-floor lounge, or the outdoor pool? How else would they know that this perch offers one of the best views this city has to offer from 56 stories up? Or maybe all these voters don't know jack about the Aus. Maybe they just really, really want to live there.

photo by Devaki Knowles

Elijah E. Meyers, runner-up in the Samuel Clemens look-alike contest, designed the Texas State Capitol as well as capitol buildings in Michigan and Colorado. Seriously, that dude had a thing for domes. Once you disentangle the building's staunch Renaissance Revival and Neoclassical style from the political ideologies of Republicanism (not the elephant kind), it's easy to lose yourself in the grandeur of that place. And you know, that's the point. Standing almost a full 20 feet higher than its big brother in Washington D.C., our capitol has a superiority complex. Rightly so.

Have y’all ever heard that song about an amazing shimmering hotel at the end of a desert highway, where there are beautiful people dancing and drinking champagne in the summer heat, and then, at the end, there is some sort of … beast murder? You guys know that song? Well, we are pretty sure it was inspired by the Hotel San José - without the stabbing, of course. This incredibly dreamy boutique hotel is surrounded by lush landscaping and thriving native plants, lending the establishment the feel of an oasis or sweet mirage tucked neatly away on South Congress. The beauty may move you, but remember, wayward traveler: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. Just kidding, you can leave. But you probably won’t want to.

photo by Sandy Carson

This year, the Dub wins two awards from our readers. If Jay Gatsby lived in 2099, his pool would look like this. Swank. Modern. Nestle in your own cabana or do laps like a lapper. Better yet, try to win Daisy's affection and order her a French Pear from the Wet Bar. This pool was meant for lounging; at night the lights of Austin stretch out above and soft candles light your footpath. If you'd rather judge a place based on how nice its bathroom is (and we don't see any reason why you shouldn't), the W will be at the top of your list. A hallway of private powder rooms, each fresh as a ... daisy (sorry), provide a much-needed respite from the maddening crowds in the downstairs bars.

Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in your summer-baked bathing suit and seemed to hold a never-ending ice cream cone. Nostalgic, comfortable … and what is it about that sign?

Even in lovely, maneuverable Austin, sometimes we forget about our feet. In our cars and in our haste we forget about unhurried, nostalgia-tinged bike rides and fragrant spring night walks. We forget our neighbors and their friendly cats and their children playing hide-and-seek between giant live oaks in their front yards. Hyde Park is a place to remember, to walk or ride or sit or watch, to find a little bit of peace in the loud, fast city.

photo by John Anderson

Longtime iconic Austinite Willie Nelson may be "On the Road Again," but his bronzed likeness is casually planted in front of the Moody Theater, cradling his beat-up Martin acoustic. We all know Willie's views on legalizing marijuana, so it's only appropriate that the statue was unveiled on April 20 at 4:20pm to the delight of the Altered in Public Places crowd. It's a fitting tribute to a musician who championed Farm Aid with benefit concerts. So roll one up and lean on the crooner for a pic; he ain't goin' anywhere – he's got "Texas on [His] Mind."

Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in your summer-baked bathing suit and seemed to hold a never-ending ice cream cone. Nostalgic, comfortable … and what is it about that sign?

Longtime iconic Austinite Willie Nelson may be "On the Road Again," but his bronzed likeness is casually planted in front of the Moody Theater, cradling his beat up Martin acoustic. We all know Willie's views on legalizing marijuana, so it's only appropriate that the statue was unveiled on 4/20 at 4:20pm to the delight of the Altered in Public Places crowd. It's a fitting tribute to a musician who championed Farm Aid with benefit concerts. So roll one up and lean on the crooner for a pic, he ain't goin' anywhere, he's got "Texas on His Mind."

Fashion legend Diana Vreeland once proposed that “elegance is refusal.” We think Blackmail proves the point. Gail Chovan’s storefront holds fast against SoCo’s jumble, stately in a silent movie palette while others splash Technicolor brights. The windows never sacrifice form for flash or nuance for noise. Like pearls with black leather, they are defiantly chic.

If all of the denizens of this, Austin's largest vertical neighborhood voted in "Best of Austin," they could lock down this award in perpetuity. In truth, the vast majority of the votes came from outside the tallest all-residential building in Texas. Perhaps these nonresident voters were lost in some serious craft cocktail bewitching at Congress, Bar Congress, or Second Bar & Kitchen on the ground floor? Maybe they have friends who live there, who let them into this deee-luxe apartment in the sky to ogle at the state-of-the-art condo conveniences, the top-floor lounge, or the outdoor pool? How else would they know that this perch offers one of the best views this city has to offer from 56 stories up? Or maybe all these voters don't know jack about the Aus. Maybe they just really, really want to live there.