LINE Austin

The pool

• Lakeside infinity pool
• Lady Bird Lake + Congress Avenue Bridge
• Heated
• Day passes from $40

Why it's on the list

The pool sits at the water's edge on Lady Bird Lake with downtown Austin's skyline cresting above the treeline — a lakeside infinity pool, not a rooftop one, looking straight out at the Congress Avenue Bridge and the bats that pour off it at dusk.

The stay

The LINE is the design one — Sydell Group's 2018 conversion of a 1965 modernist tower (later a Radisson) on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake, right at the Congress Avenue Bridge. Sean Knibb's minimalist-Texana interiors, Kristen Kish's lakeside Arlo Grey, a rooftop bar built into the old parking deck, and 400-plus rooms make it downtown's most considered stay — and the heated lakeside infinity pool looks straight at the bridge where 1.5 million bats pour out at dusk from March to October. At $$$ it's worth it for the water, the design, and Kish's kitchen — though a 2026 foreclosure handed the keys to its lender, so the LINE name may not outlast your next visit.