Where to stay for visit? (Austin, West: hotels, houses, neighborhoods)

[AMJ27]

We are visiting Austin in the middle of April to check out the town and for a job interview for my husband. The company he is interviewing with will be putting us up for the first night, but we are staying through the weekend and on our own dime for that part of the trip.

I am thinking that we would like to stay in the Arboretum area since I seemed to be focused on that area as I look at neighborhoods and houses online.

We would like to keep this trip "budget friendly." I am leaning towards booking the Staybridge Suites near the Arboretum based on the good reviews on tripadvisor.com and because it appears to be right next door to North by Northwest. My husband and I enjoy microwbreweries, so I thought it would be nice to have a place that is walkable where we could enjoy a drink or two in the evening and maybe catch some live music (it looks like they have some a couple of the nights that we will be there based on their website). We are leaving the kids with grandma and grandpa so we would like to be able to actually go out to eat and relax for once, but we don't need anything super exciting or wild since we will be pretty busy on this trip (not to mention, we are somewhat out of practice with going out!).

Is the location of this hotel pretty good or is there anywhere else that I should be considering? There seems to be a lot of similar priced hotels in that area and I thought a local might be able to recommend which ones were better than others.

Thanks!

[shankaupas]

That is a good location. You are correct that you will be right next door to North By Northwest and Iron Cactus. Then just across 360/Capital of Texas Highway to the south you will find the Whole Foods Arboretum store, REI, the Container Store, Best Buy, other smaller stores and several restaurants. To the West is the Arboretum. To the East across Loop 1 is the new outdoor mall Arbor Walk and to the North East is the new upscale outdoor mall The Domain. So basically, you will be right in the middle of alot of shopping and eating areas.

[Moonlady]

That's a great location and a decent hotel. One of my work colleagues stays there when he comes to town. NXNW is a great restaurant/ brew pub. It's also pretty easy to hop on Mopac and head downtown from there.

[Mdlx]

I agree with the other posters, great location for all the reasons they mentioned.