Austin hotel rates average $161 a night, per Engine's read of 17.2 million public rate observations from May 2024 to April 2026. Engine calls these par rates: the cheapest publicly available price at a search.
TexasHotelSearch reads state occupancy tax filings and puts trailing twelve-month room revenue at $1.6 billion across 336 filing hotels and 37,013 registry rooms, down 3.2 percent. The decline sits in the hotels nearest the convention center site.
The convention center is a construction site until 2029
The Austin Convention Center closed on April 1, 2025 for a $1.6 billion rebuild. Its operator states the project takes rentable space from 365,000 to 620,000 square feet, with completion expected in 2028 and events targeted for 2029 and beyond.
The filings map the damage. The 800-room Hilton Austin, across Fourth Street from the site, reported $42.6 million in trailing receipts against $54.5 million a year earlier, down 21.9 percent. The 1,048-room Fairmont Austin is down 10.5 percent. Austin Marriott Downtown is down 5.2 percent, the Hyatt Regency 6.6 percent and Hotel Van Zandt 7.9 percent.
Weekday demand downtown has lost its citywide driver, and the properties least exposed carry their own meeting space. The 1,012-room JW Marriott Austin grew 12.6 percent to $88.4 million on more than 100,000 square feet of its own meeting space, the market's largest earner. The Four Seasons is up 3.7 percent and Austin Proper 5.3 percent. Calendar-year receipts have sat inside a one percent band for three years: $1.64 billion in 2023, $1.63 billion in 2024 and $1.64 billion in 2025.
How this list is ordered
Ten downtown properties, ranked by what a direct request has to work with. Room count comes first, then a published mandatory nightly fee the request can address, then distance from Congress Avenue.
Addresses and star ratings come from the hotelhuddle directory. Fees come from ResortFeeChecker's Austin page, last updated August 2026, which lists 22 Austin hotels charging a resort, destination or service fee. Confirm every fee with the property.
1. JW Marriott Austin — 110 East 2nd Street, 78701, four stars. 1,012 rooms with more than 100,000 square feet of its own meeting space, up 12.6 percent to $88.4 million.
2. Fairmont Austin — 101 Red River Street, 78701, four stars. 1,048 rooms beside the convention center site, down 10.5 percent.
3. Hilton Austin — 500 East 4th Street, 78701, four stars. 800 rooms across Fourth Street from the site, down 21.9 percent, the steepest decline in the market.
4. Austin Marriott Downtown — 304 East Cesar Chavez Street, 78701, four stars. Destination fee $29.16 a night, revenue down 5.2 percent.
5. Austin Proper Hotel — 600 West 2nd Street, 78701, four stars. Destination fee $52.65 a night, the highest published mandatory fee downtown.
6. The Driskill — 604 Brazos Street, 78701, four stars. Destination fee $35.20 a night, one block off Congress Avenue.
7. The Stephen F. Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel — 701 Congress Avenue, 78701, four stars. Resort fee $22.67 a night, the lowest published mandatory fee among the ten.
8. Thompson Austin by Hyatt — 506 San Jacinto Blvd, 78701, four stars. Destination fee $41.77 a night, in the Capitol district.
9. Hotel Van Zandt — 605 Davis Street, 78701, four stars. Resort fee $40.95 a night, revenue down 7.9 percent, in the Rainey Street district.
10. Hyatt Regency Austin — 208 Barton Springs Road, 78704, five stars. Revenue down 6.6 percent, on the south bank across the river.
Congress Avenue and the districts guests compare first
Congress Avenue runs from the Capitol to the river, and the properties on and beside it are the ones a first-time Austin booker compares. The Driskill sits a block off the avenue. The Stephen F. Austin holds a 701 Congress Avenue address.
West of Congress, the 2nd Street district holds the JW Marriott and Austin Proper. East, the Rainey Street district holds Hotel Van Zandt. Fourth Street runs between the Hilton and the Residence Inn Austin Downtown/Convention Center.
Timing moves the bill
Engine observed each rate 10 to 180 days before check-in and found a 36 percent swing between the cheapest and priciest month: $134 in August against $209 in October. September runs $166 and January $145. Engine attributes the October peak to a stacked fall calendar of festivals and race weekends, and puts an August stay 17 percent below the city average.
Engine's own summary states that the month of stay is the bigger lever, and gives the booking window the smaller effect.
What the tax stack adds
The City of Austin charges 11 percent hotel occupancy tax on amounts charged for the use, cleaning and readying of a room: nine percent occupancy tax plus a two percent venue project tax. The City's rate sits on top of the six percent Texas state hotel occupancy tax, which the hotel remits separately. Two published rates derive a 17 percent load on the room portion.
Not everything on the bill is taxable. The City states that a fee charged as a percentage or sliding scale and smaller than the room rate is not taxable, and that an attrition fee based on a percentage or sliding scale is not taxable.
What a booking site takes
The Lobby's 2026 platform table puts Booking.com commission at 15 to 18 percent of the room rate and Expedia or Hotels.com at 15 to 25 percent. Booking.com's Genius programme requires discounts of 10 to 15 percent for members, which the same table puts at an effective 25 to 28 percent on a Genius booking.
How to compare the booking view for each property
One request reaches 50 or more hotels in the destination, free to submit. Hotels reply with group rates, terms and perks side by side in one dashboard, within 24 to 72 hours. Group rates apply from 10 rooms a night, and the network's group pages note that some hotels discount from as few as five depending on season and availability.
hotelhuddle's own FAQ states that hotels pay a separate commission on accepted bookings. Clause 2.2 of the platform terms reads: “The Platform is free to use. RFP submissions are free — there are no subscription plans, per-request fees, or hidden charges.”