Here's hoping the general manager sees this review. I've only booked 4+ star hotels for years now, and in my opinion this hotel's rating should be dropped immediately.

The good - the room met 4 stars standards. Clean room, comfortable mattress, nice linens, furniture in good repair, reasonably deep bathtub, acceptable decorating. The staff were always smiling and professional. Valet parking was reasonably priced. We requested a late check-in and two queen beds, and had no issues. Late night room service was delivered within 30 minutes and still hot.

The bad - While waiting for room service we would have liked to watch the HD TV, but it would not turn on. I called guest services just in case I had missed a button - they offered to send someone up, but that was not something we wanted to deal with at midnight. I had known we might be in trouble when we entered the elevator and another guest said we couldn't possibly be staying on the 13th floor due to the construction. It was confirmed when the noise started early the next morning and irritated my husband until we checked out. I expect the worst rooms in the hotel when booking through a discount online travel site, but these rooms should not have been rented. .

The dangerous - the room's desk offered a convenient location to plug-in my cell phone, which I didn't try to use until the morning. When I put the charger in the outlet, it exploded. Flames literally spouted, I'm still not sure why I wasn't burned. I called guest services nearly in tears and requested immediate assistance. A repairman showed up quickly. He said he found wire fragments in the outlet which had caused the fire. He took my blackened charger and said he would look for a replacement. He returned shortly with one (presumably from lost and found as hotels don't normally stock these) and gave it and the original charger to me. Per our suggestion that as along as he was already here, he fixed the TV.

My "quick checkout" report didn't reflect the room service charges, so I went to the front desk. When asked how our stay had been by the clerk, I replied "the room rate was too high for the construction noise and fire". Frankly, I was amazed the front desk didn't already know of our issues. Presumably acting within the limits of her authority, the desk clerk apologized and offered to waive the self-parking fee. Wanting to avoid a scene as I was accompanied but a now very disgruntled husband, I didn't insist on seeing the manager, and quietly accepted her offer.

Here's why this hotel's rating should be dropped: the hotel's manager should always be told immediately by their staff when a guest's safety has been compromised. The manager of a purportedly 4-star hotel should then immediately check on that guest personally. That never occurred - the front desk apparently didn't even know about our many reported problems. I've had issues at hotels before - I've had rooms changed, fees refunded, and even a fruit and cheese tray delivered in response to those issues, and the "our apologies, please accepts" are usually communicated immediately after the occurrence, not at check-out. This was my first potentially lethal experience at a hotel, and no one with authority seemed to know or care. Waiving the self-parking fee was an entirely inadequate response to the frightening quality of this stay. I can't blame the staff for the poor rating of this review - they acted professionally within the limits of their job duties. However, the manager of this hotel needs a refresher course on caring for guest safety and satisfaction or this hotel will continue to receive reviews like this. As it should, being an obviously over-rated establishment. Presumably they got 4 stars due to the hotel chain name - they shouldn't be allowed to keep them.

Major renovations going on from 7am to 7 pm...miserable experience. We were not warned of this ahead of time.
Also, housekeeping did not clean the room until well after 4pm.
Will not stay here again.

Stay here to really experience downtown Austin. Perfect location for walking around, eating great food and listening to awesome music!
Clean rooms on the small side, but as expected.
Roof deck with pool has a stunning view! Would stay again!

My wife and I travel fairly often and enjoy staying in "nicer" hotels. It doesn't have to be the Four Seasons but clean and somewhat spacious with amenities most lesser hotels don't often. Omni Austin Downtown fits this bill. What it lacks in appointment it makes up for in service and amenities. Very beautiful environment this hotel is classy beyond its original intend. Great atrium with an open air restaurant right down in the heart of Austin. There are small balconies for those of us who like to step out in the morning air to greet the day. We travel to Austin to visit my daughter and choose to stay at the Omni. We now belong to their guests club. BTW, the vallet parkinbg really helps guests start and end their day right.