austin
The 70-room Travaasa Austin (512.258.7243; www.travaasa.com/austin), a luxury spa resort, opened in May with six spaces for events and meetings, including Solidago Gardens, an outdoor space featuring a handcrafted wood and stone structure for retreats. The resort is adjacent to the Twin Creeks Country Club and rooms overlook the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
The W Austin (713.960.6501; www.whotels.com/austin) opened last December with 251 rooms, a spa, a rooftop pool and 10,000 square feet of event space. The hotel anchors a bustling facility that includes the new Austin City Limits studio and theater, 200 luxury condominiums and TRACE, an upscale restaurant.
The planned 160-room Seaholm Plaza Hotel (www.seaholm.info) will feature two restaurants, a bar, a pavilion and a meeting and event space. Groundbreaking has yet to begin, but the hotel will be part of the Seaholm redevelopment project, which will convert the former Seaholm Power Plant and the surrounding land into a new neighborhood with attractions, shops, restaurants and residences.
After a $6 million renovation, the Arthouse at the Jones Center (512.453.5312; www.arthousetexas.org) reopened late last year. Several spaces are available for rental, including a 5,500-square-foot roof deck with an outdoor movie screen, a community room, three galleries and two studios.
The Topfer Theatre at ZACH (512.476.0541; www.zachtheatre.org), a state-of-the-art stage and education facility, is slated to open this fall. The new theater will be part of the Zachary Scott Theatre organization and will accommodate 420 people. It will feature an 8,600-square-foot outdoor plaza.
The Violet Crown Cinema (512.495.9600; www.violetcrowncinema.com) recently opened as an art house movie theater with four wall-to-wall screens. All four auditoriums are available for private events.