Austin’s music scene plays a major part in the vibe at the newly opened Hotel Van Zandt, Kimpton’s first hotel in Texas’ capital city. Located in the hip Rainey Street District, the 319-room property features music-themed décor and a restaurant that doubles as a live music space. Plus, the property’s Director of Music and Social Programming Lauren Bucherie can help organized music-themed activities for groups.
The hotel’s signature Geraldine’s restaurant features a locally inspired menu with dishes such as Texas heritage pork rack, Texas strip loin and gulf shrimp. Nightly concerts help round out the atmosphere with local musicians and traveling artists playing everything from Americana to blues to folk music. (Note: Attendees won’t want to miss the more intimate Writer’s Lounge sessions.) Café 605, located on the hotel’s ground level, also features local music alongside its grab-and-go food options such as breakfast tacos. Even the living room features a customized, vinyl-record soundtrack curated by Bucherie.
For meetings and events, Bucherie works with meeting planners to create their own playlists for the meeting rooms, customizing different soundtracks for different areas and even different times throughout the day. She can also help organize a teambuilding guitar lesson for attendees and works with meeting planners to book local artists for an event.
Even the hotel’s name is inspired by music, named after both Isaac Van Zandt, The Republic of Texas Ambassador to the U.S., and his third great grandson, Townes Van Zandt, a Texas-born songwriter who influenced several notable artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Townes Van Zandt’s son, JT Van Zandt, also created a series of original artwork, displayed on the hotel’s second floor, that pays tribute to his father.
