Kudos to the Austin Four Seasons.
When someone else is footing the bill, it’s hard to beat this hotel. It’s got a great location on Town Lake, near all the downtown tourist attractions; large, comfortable rooms; an excellent restaurant, The Café, which is also the toniest roost in town for watching bats stream out of the Congress Avenue Bridge; a bar, The Lobby Lounge, that won the first annual contest for the best Batini recipe (ask the bartender); and the best health club and spa in the downtown area. And the service . . . well, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and King Philip of Spain have all bedded down here, but even peons get the royal treatment, with attention paid to guests’ tiniest needs -- and the needs of the tiniest guests.
Polished sandstone floors, a cowhide sofa, horn lamps, and gallery-quality Western art in the lobby are reminders you’re in Texas, but the guest rooms are European country-manse elegant, with light floral patterns, wood, and live plants. The city views are fine, but the ones of the lake are prime.