AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, located north of downtown Austin on The University of Texas at Austin campus, wrapped a $35 million-plus renovation project in early September, touching on the hotel’s 297 guest rooms and more than 85,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The transformation kicked off this spring to modernize the property with technology upgrades and refreshed interiors designed to celebrate the university’s heritage.
“This is The University of Texas—change starts here,” says Alison Berg, general manager at AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, in a prepared statement. “The renovation reimagines our space to better serve our guests while honoring the university and Austin’s unique culture. We’re excited to provide an elevated experience that blends tradition and innovation.”
Among the updates to the conference center include a new 3,400-square-foot junior ballroom; updated audiovisual technologies, such as beamforming microphones; and refreshed prefunction spaces that provide more natural light. Additional meeting spaces include the 15,000-square-foot Zlotnik Family Ballroom for up to 1,600 attendees, the 10,000-square-foot Family Ballroom for up to 1,000 people, a tiered classroom for up to 90 attendees, and several other breakout rooms with flexible seating options. There also are outdoor spaces available for event rentals, along with private group dining opportunities.
The refreshed interior design honors the university through hallways adorned with photographs, artifacts, and details in the school’s colors of burnt orange and white. Among the renovated guest rooms were the presidential suites, which all feature custom-framed university yearbooks from across the decades, hardware furnishings in the shape of longhorns, leather-wrapped sconces, and hair-on-hide decorative mirrors. The renovation was spearheaded by Dallas-based interior design firm Waldrop + Nichols Studio in collaboration with Lake Flato, the original architecture firm that designed the property, which has offices in San Antonio and Austin, as well as Portland, Oregon.
