Long Weekend In Austin Texas: Food, Activities, and Hotel Van Zandt

I’ve always wanted to go to Texas and finally went over Memorial Day Weekend! I’m excited to share all about the restaurants, spas and things to do.

Where to Stay: 

Hotel Van Zandt is a really fun hotel right in downtown Austin in the Rainey Street District (AKA where all the fun happens). We had a room with the most perfect view of the hotel pool and an even better view of Lady Lake.

The hotel pool is small but adequate, and there are beautiful poolside cabanas available for small parties (perfect for bachelor/bachelorette parties!). There’s an outside bar with really fun cocktails and waitresses that walks around taking orders.

The hotel gym has 24-hour access and provides the basics: treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, free weights and a cable machine. Worked for me!

Some other perks as per the hotel’s website:

• Yoga mat in every room, free of charge.
• Full Service Rooftop Pool
• Live Music at Geraldine’s
• Luxury Atelier Bloem bath amenities
• Onsite 24-hour fitness center
• In-room dining
• Valet parking ($45+ Tax / Night)
• Social Hour
• Morning Coffee + Tea Service
• Pet-friendly accommodations – bring your loyal companion with you
• Healthy Travel: Take one of Kimpton’s custom designed PUBLIC bikes for a ride around town.

They also have in-room spa services, but we went elsewhere for our massages (I’ll get to that soon!).

The hotel has two places to eat/drink. The first is the popular brunch spot, Geraldine’s. Definitely recommend hitting up this spot for Sunday brunch when they play live music – we ate here several times for breakfast/brunch.

The second spot is Cafe 605. I didn’t eat here, but they serve sandwiches, pastries and other snacks. They make a mean almond milk latte (I got this EVERY day – SO good!).

Restaurants 

Our first night in Austin, we checked out Red Ash. The restaurant is really cool inside – two floors with a large bar downstairs and an open kitchen that you can see from both the lower level and the upper level.

Going for Italian food in Austin wouldn’t have been my first pick, but it was highly recommended so we decided to give it a shot. The dinner was enjoyable but no better than some of the Italian restaurants we’ve been to in NYC. However, the desserts were OUT OF THIS WORLD. We got the Tiramisu and the Olive Oil Cake – HIGHLY recommend!

Obviously, you NEED to get BBQ in Austin. We didn’t realize what a scene getting BBQ was, and honestly just got lucky with our timing. A good friend recommended Black’s BBQ and La Barbeque, so around 5:30 p.m. we decided to hop a cab the closest one. When we got in the cab, our driver gave us a heads up that La Barbeque had sold out for the day (UM, what?!) and there’d likely be a crazy line at Black’s. He went on to mention that the lines for these places are usually insane and can take up to 5 hours! NO THANK YOU. I don’t care how good the food is, I would never be able to wait that long. He drove us over to Terry Black’s BBQ and we got there just in time. We had to wait about 30-40 minutes which was tolerable. We got some fun T-shirts (strategically placed right where you wait on line) and had fun tasting all of the different meats (we got one of each LOL). I had a double side of green beans and a cole slaw which were both great!

We had a fancy-pants date night at Jeffrey’s. They had the cutest martini cart! The food was very good. We started with the Caesar salad and foie gras, followed by the halibut and a juicy steak for my date. Also took advantage of Sunday Wine Night (1/2 off any bottle!). Ambiance is upscale and romantic, and the service is stellar.

We had a simple lunch at June’s All Day right on South Congress Avenue (where we did a lot of shopping!). There is outdoor seating and they have a great brunch menu. We split the Boston Lettuce salad and I kept it plain Jane with a delicious Chicken Paillard. My boyfriend’s burger was delicious!

Honestly, we loved every restaurant put out by the McGuire Moorman Hospitality group (June’s and Jeffrey’s included!). We visited Perla’s (great outdoor seating- always packed!) and her little brother, Clark’s Oyster Bar.  They both offer great oysters and other seafood dishes.

Spas

Milk and Honey Spa is the go-to spot for pampering yourself in downtown Austin. We went twice for deep tissue massages and all of the massage therapists were wonderful. My first therapist told me he was in charge of hiring, and made every aspiring employee “try-out” by massaging him first! The spa provides robes and slippers and the lounge is very relaxing. There is also a steam shower in the locker rooms (as well as regular showers) along with toiletries and hair dryers if you decide to go out after your massage.

To Do!

I had no idea how many outdoor activities were available in Austin! One of my favorite things we did was paddle boarding and kayaking on Lake Travis.

I also loved the shopping on South Congress Avenue – they had really quirky, fun shops! There were a few cowboy boot shops, but we popped in Allen’s Boots. SO MANY BOOTS! It was really fun to try on all the different pairs – and I found a great one for under $300! My other favorite purchase was from a street vendor close by Allen’s Boots. He made his own jewelry with different rocks he’s collected around the world. I am OBSESSED with the ring I bought!

If you’re looking to have a wild night, you’ll want to mosey on over Rainey Street. It is home to loud music, clubs, bars, random dancing in the street and groups of Bachelor and Bachelorette parties partying like it’s 1999. Would’ve been fun if I was 5 years younger, but walking through was enough for me<insert grandma emoji here>.

We really wanted to make it to Barton Springs, but never got around to it. It’s basically a GIANT pool (3 acres!!) fed from underground springs. It was highly recommended and if we ever make it back, it is on our list!

Tip: IT WAS SO FREAKING HOT. Like, 100 degrees hot! I recommend going from October-April as the weather will likely be more tolerable.