Austin scene adds 1,012-room JW Marriott

AUSTIN – The 34-story JW Marriott at E. Second St. and Congress Ave. is open, adding 1,012 rooms to the Central Texas hotel market. The hotel is helping boost the city into a higher tier as a tourism destination, according to area officials.

The hotel is not only the largest hotel in Austin but also the largest JW Marriott in North America and second largest Marriott hotel in the world.

It cost $300 million to build. The hotel will create about 800 full- and part-time jobs.

Before it even opened its doors, the JW Marriott said its sales team had already booked 520,000 room nights through 2021.

The first convention guests started checking in on February 13, according to Jay Spurr, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.

A third convention-sized hotel, the Fairmont Austin, recently started construction at Red River St. and E. Cesar Chavez St. and is set to debut in 2017. The Fairmont, when it opens, would unseat the JW Marriott as the city’s largest hotel, promising 1,066 rooms.

Several other downtown hotels are in the works, including a 366-room Westin that opens this summer at East Fifth St. and San Jacinto Blvd.

tag: Texas city hotel data by Source Strategies (REVPAR, occupancy, rate by brand)