Where to stay in Austin: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Downtown Austin is a tidy grid sloping from the Texas State Capitol down Congress Avenue to Lady Bird Lake. Sixth Street cuts across it, and after dark its old brick blocks become one long, loud, neon-lit bar crawl. West Sixth and the Second Street district are a notch more grown-up, with cocktail bars, restaurants and the Moody Theater, home of the Austin City Limits television show.

The Driskill is the grand old lady, a 19th-century cattle baron's hotel with a famous bar, right in the thick of the music clubs. The JW Marriott and the Hilton are big, polished and both have rooftop pools above the streets. The Canopy sits in the West Sixth district among the shops and restaurants, and the Austin Proper is a design-led hotel steps from the Moody Theater and the lake.

Tucked into the south-east corner of Downtown, Rainey Street is a row of old wooden houses that have been turned, one by one, into bars with porches, beer gardens and food trucks out the back. Towers have shot up around them, but the street still feels like the best house party in town. The hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake starts at the bottom of the road, and the convention centre is a few minutes' walk.

This corner has the city's smartest hotels. 1 Hotel Austin, new in the tallest tower in Texas, has a spa and a rooftop pool. The Fairmont claims the largest rooftop pool in Austin, with views of the lake and the Capitol. The Four Seasons looks over the lakeside greenery, and the LINE sits right on the water with direct access to the trail.

Cross the Congress Avenue Bridge, where more than a million bats pour out at dusk in summer, and you are in South Austin. South Congress Avenue, SoCo to everyone, is the city's most photographed street: boot shops, vintage stores, music venues and restaurant patios, with the Capitol framed perfectly at the far end. Zilker Park and the chilly, spring-fed Barton Springs Pool are close by.

The South Congress Hotel is the stylish 83-room heart of the strip. On the lakeshore, the Loren is quietly luxurious, with views over the water and parkland to the skyline, and the Hyatt Regency has the same outlook on a bigger scale, six blocks from Sixth Street. Aiden is a friendly boutique option with a garden pool and breakfast included.

North-east of Sixth Street, the Red River Cultural District is where Austin's reputation for live music is actually earned, in small, sweaty clubs with bands on most nights. Beyond the Capitol, the vast University of Texas campus brings museums, bookshops and, on autumn Saturdays, a hundred thousand football fans in burnt orange.

Hotel Indigo is in the middle of the Red River clubs, a short walk from Sixth Street. The Renaissance, close to the campus, has Capitol views and a resort-style pool on a lawn, and the DoubleTree is a block from the university. North of campus, the Commodore Perry Estate is the surprise: a 1920s Italian-style villa in ten acres of walled gardens, and one of the most romantic places to stay in Texas.

North Austin is where the tech companies live, and the Domain is their high street: a large open-air district of shops, restaurants and bars that stays lively into the evening. The neighbouring Arboretum area is leafier, on the edge of the Hill Country. You are a drive from the Capitol and the music, but rooms cost less and parking is easy.

The Westin at the Domain puts you in the middle of it, with an outdoor pool. The Cambria is a smart newer hotel close to the big tech offices, the Embassy Suites at the Arboretum has two-room suites with breakfast included, and the SpringHill Suites is a reliable budget-minded choice.

West of Austin the land crumples into the Texas Hill Country, all limestone ridges, live oaks and wildflowers in spring. Several large resorts make the most of it, and they suit anyone who wants a pool and a view by day and the option of the city at night.

Omni Barton Creek is the closest, set on 4,000 acres with four golf courses and a serious spa. Horseshoe Bay, about 45 minutes away on the shore of Lake LBJ, adds boating to its championship golf. To the east, in pine woods rather than hills, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines is a 405-acre family favourite.

Austin-Bergstrom airport is about 17 km south-east of Downtown, and the hotels around it are useful for more than early flights: the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix, is out this way too. The Hilton Austin Airport is the only full-service hotel on the airport grounds, two minutes from the terminal. The Candlewood Suites, two miles away, runs a free 24-hour shuttle, and the Atwell Suites is a newer all-suite option.

Round Rock, about 23 miles north of Austin, is a suburban base with lower prices and a few draws of its own: a big outlet mall, minor-league baseball at Dell Diamond and the show caves of Inner Space Cavern. Georgetown, a little further on, has a pretty courthouse square.

The Embassy Suites sits beside the outlets, the Element has an outdoor pool and breakfast included, and the Homewood Suites is geared to longer stays. In Georgetown, the Sheraton has a pool and a restaurant with a garden terrace.