In for SXSW - where to stay?

My film (51 Birch Street) will screening at SXSW and I%26#39;m looking for a good but inexpensive place to stay. I have reservations in the Austin Motel for the 10th to 14th, but they%26#39;re booked after that and I need a place from the 15th to 18th. Any insider tips?

Many thanks

In for SXSW - where to stay?

Howdy! So you need a place to stay from March 15th to 18th in Austin? Yikes, that%26#39;s a tall order - very busy in Austin, mostly because of SXSW but there are also high school basketball championships, NCAA swimming sometimes, and the rodeo is in town that week. I%26#39;m not that much of an ';insider'; when it comes to Austin motels, so I can only give a list of places that might have some room at the inn. Try Extended Stay America on Sixth and Guadalupe -- it%26#39;s a residence suite that gets good reviews at this site. I don%26#39;t know about prices, but the Hilton at the Airport has a reputation for vacancies -- hopefully because of its location, but it%26#39;s not that inconvenient from downtown.

My main advice is to check the Austin hotels tab as soon as you can. If you have trouble finding a place in Austin, check in Round Rock, San Marcos, and Bastrop. Or show up at the Driskill and tell them you%26#39;re Steven Spielberg -- you kinda look the part! -- and maybe they%26#39;ll give you a suite. Oh, and wait for some of the San Antone posters to ring in -- since they stay in hotels here more often than I do, they may have some better ideas.

Good luck with your film -- very interesting subject matter! I%26#39;ll try to see it.

In for SXSW - where to stay?

Here%26#39;s the site for the film festival brochure:

http://2006.sxsw.com/pdf/06_film2.pdf

There%26#39;s some hotels there with deals, though they seem to have printed the ';tourist menus';. I bet the Mansion at Judges Hill gets overlooked by a lot of folks, and it%26#39;s a very nice hotel for the price.

I stay at my sister-in-law%26#39;s. Sorry that%26#39;s not much help. Friends use La Quinta on Ben White, but I think it%26#39;s about $100 per nite.

I checked out the film brochure and saw a couple of less-expensive possibilities. The Homestead on South First is in a good location as is the Holiday in Town Lake and the Doubletree at MLK and 35.

What will make a difference is whether or not you%26#39;ll have a car. There are some hotels on Mopac (Loop 1) that might have room at that busy time of year, but I wouldn%26#39;t stay there without a car. Parking isn%26#39;t a huge issue in Austin. You can usually find a spot on the street or in a pay lot.

Good luck with the film!

many thanks for your help, everyone. and, yes, i will have a car.

ttlms, you are a local expert, to be sure, and very generous with your time and knowledge. i founded and co-host an online discussion forum for doc filmmakers (www.d-word.com), so i appreciate people who do that.

looking at the guidelines, it seems i shouldn%26#39;t post my email address. but you obviously found my website and it%26#39;s posted there on the contact page. if you email me, i%26#39;d be happy to keep you posted on screening info at sxsw, which is probably inappropriate to post here. i may need the occasional advice, and i certainly can use a local expert and film fan to help me spread the word about the screenings to friends. (same to you, of course, austinite)

dbblock,

I%26#39;d like info on the screening. There are a few films I%26#39;m trying to catch this year, and as best I can tell the schedule isn%26#39;t up yet. My email is duksta@austin.rr.com.

As far as hotels go, there are a few in reasonable driving distance that look fairly inexpensive. You can check them out on this site to read reviews:

Amerisuites Austin Arboretum (anything in the Arboretum area will work--there you%26#39;re about, oh, eight miles from downtown)

Bradford HomeSuites

Comfort Suites North

Extended Stay America/Arboretum

Extended Stay Austin/Southwest

Fairfield Inn and Suites Northwest

Hilton Garden Inn/Arboretum

Holiday Inn Express/Sunset Valley

La Quinta Southwest at Mopac

These are all chains, so if you%26#39;re looking for an ';Austin'; motel, you won%26#39;t find it here. There are a few funky choices within driving distance, but they might be full. These hotels are all along the west side of town off of Mopac, which in my opinion will get you downtown faster than IH35--the throughfare of death, especially with all the tourists in town. And once you%26#39;re on Mopac, it%26#39;s a straight shot to downtown.

I wouldn%26#39;t go farther north than 183/Mopac or further south than 290/Mopac without allowing for more ample driving time.

Let us know if you need more help!

Tthanks for the kind words! And you%26#39;re so lucky to be staying at the Austin Motel even for part of your visit -- I can%26#39;t tell you how cool that part of Congress Avenue is. Reminds me of when I stayed at the Riverside Tower in NYC for Xmas 2002, and discovered Xabar%26#39;s.

Just noticed that dbblock%26#39;s film got picked up by a distributor and is getting released in NY this month. Way to go Doug!!! Hope it gets a wider release soon!