A few days ago while Boarding Area was down for maintenance/upgrades, I learned that the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas was joining the Hyatt family of hotels. For those not familiar with the Driskill, it is a hotel on Sixth Street in downtown Austin that has 189 rooms – including 14 suites. This hotel was opened in 1886 and is reported to be haunted. It is on the National Registry of Historic places.
Back when I was living in Austin and dealing blackjack at charity casino events as a side job, I had the pleasure of working at several events held at the Driskill Hotel and they were always amazing affairs in a beautiful building. I have never stayed there overnight since it was usually a bit pricier than I wanted to pay on the rare occasion I needed a hotel in Austin, and it wasn’t possible to use hotel loyalty points to stay there since it wasn’t part of a hotel chain.
Now that has all changed since Hyatt has purchased the Driskill. This means that you can both earn and use Hyatt Gold Passport points at the hotel. The hotel is a Category 5 hotel that requires 18,000 points per night. It seems like they are still loading all the various rates for this hotel, but the Daily Rate seems to range between $200 – $300 for some random nights I checked…when there was availability.
If you are a Hyatt fan in Austin, you now have six hotels to choose from in the Hyatt family. There is the Hyatt Regency, the Hyatt Place Downtown, the Hyatt Place Arboretum, the Hyatt Place North Central, the Hyatt House Arboretum, and now The Driskill. The Austin Hyatts range from a Category 2 at just 8,000 points per night to a Category 5 at 18,000 points per night. Of course the average daily rates for the various properties fall in a wide spectrum as well.
I am excited to take advantage of my elite benefits with Hyatt at this hotel as the Driskill is famous for some of their brunches, and seems to have some really interested suites. I’m not sure how all of that will play out with elite Hyatt benefits, but I am excited at the real possibility at staying at this gorgeous and historic hotel in the future!
I imagine that the Driskill will fill up quickly for the dates when Austin holds its special annual events (Longhorn football weekends, Formula 1 race, Austin City Limits, SXSW).
Miles, I have no doubt!
Suites are 300 – 400 sq ft! Wow that is TINY!
@Miles: for those that know, it is the best way to get rooms on those crowded events.
eltex, I know many that already booked that hotel for those special events.
What do you think is the most well located hotel in Austin for a first timer? Between Hyatt & SPG properties. Thanks!
So, should we really hit on a 12 against a 2? What about a 13?
Mike, totally depends on what you want to do while you are in town. This hotel is very well located for many things, but all depends on your exact plans.
Dbest, odds make that a very close call – how is the deck looking?
booked a 3 night stay at the driskill with points, an award certificate, and one night paid. apparently very limited availability, but sounds like it’s going to be a sweet trip, and an upgrade from the Hyatt Regency across the river!
What does it say about me that hearing this news made my day. I love the Driskill.
[...] to go inside the historic Driskill Hotel, but I had never actually stayed there… until now. A few weeks ago I posted that Hyatt had purchased the Driskill, which was great not only because it presumably meant they would be putting some money into it, but [...]