Don’t let the tablet-toting, coffee-chugging venture capitalist the lobby spook you: This outstanding new hotel is the best place to tap into Austin’s addictive energy. Behind its sleek white façade, you’ll find 83 rugged-minimalist rooms furnished with midcentury modern pieces and materials inspired by the Texas terrain (think denim, leather, and unfinished wood). Much of the buzz is thanks to the hotly anticipated 12-seat sushi counter Otoko. Two more restaurants, Café No Sé and Central Standard, offer staples like avocado toast and wood-grilled chops and steaks. But the true genius of the South Congress extends beyond food and drinks: It’s essentially a town square, with free concerts in the open courtyard, a mid-century modern lobby you’d actually want to hang out in, a rooftop pool, an outpost of cult N.Y.C. nail salon Tenoverten, and the West Coast–inspired boutique Sunroom, where you’ll find No.6 clogs, sunglasses by Karen Walker, and bikinis by Lisa Marie Fernandez.

Subway-tile rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed-concrete ceilings, and custom-built wood-and-leather headboards, desks, and chairs offer a calming reprieve from everything happening here.