Peek inside Fairmont Austin, opened just in time for SXSW

After much public scrutiny and nail-biting, the Fairmont Austin hotel—Downtown’s newest and now the city’s largest—opened Monday in time for the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals. Originally scheduled to open in the summer of 2017, the $370 million tower a number of delays, according to a recent Austin Business Journal story.

Guests began checking into the hotel Monday, according to a publicity source—in time to host several SXSW events that have been scheduled there, as well as, of course attendants.

The luxury hotel has 1,048 guest rooms, five restaurants and bars, nearly 140,000 square feet of event space, direct access to the Austin Convention Center, and a luxury spa. At 37 stories, plus a 170-foot-tall spire that can be illuminated in different colors, the building is now the second-tallest Austin. It was designed by Gensler, with interiors by San Francisco’s Warren Sheets Design and landscaping by Austin firm dwg.

Courtesy of Fairmont Austin

Courtesy of Fairmont Austin

In press materials released just prior to the opening, Managing Director Tom Voss pronounced that the “project has truly been a labor of love.”

• As Fairmont Austin hotel rushes to open for SXSW, builders ensnared in legal battle over $370M hotel [ABJ]

• Explore Downtown Hotel Fairmont Austin’s Many New Restaurants [Eater Austin]