Austin, TX
Central Texas hotels hold their ground on Michelin’s new best stays list
As the Michelin Guide — famous for its restaurant ratings expressed in “stars” — hands out its “keys” to Texas’ best hotels, Austin and San Antonio are doing almost exactly as well as they did last year. That’s nothing to scoff at in Austin; eight hotels have maintained their place on the prestigious list, which is not guaranteed. In San Antonio, one hotel holds onto the city’s claim to Michelin fame, and even gained a higher ranking than before.
In 2024, the world-renowned Michelin Guide published its first-ever North American “Michelin Key” selection. Then there were 288 total hotels across the United States, Mexico, and Canada; this year on Wednesday, October 8, Michelin added 37 hotels nationwide to the list, now totaling more than 300. The classifications are awarded based on anonymous stays or visits by the Michelin Guide’s inspection team, and previous praise is not taken into consideration.
One Austin business did get an extra boost among those 37. Bunkhouse Hotels, the group behind many of Austin’s best boutique stays, opened its first Houston hotel in late 2024. Called Hotel Saint Augustine, it earned one key, deeming it “a very special stay.” Like stars, keys denote more greatness the higher the number goes, capping out at a perfect three.
Since Central Texas’ hotels are not new on the list, they did not receive new write-ups on the list linked above. However, for travelers who want to experience the best regardless of newness, here they are.
Austin, two keys:
Austin, one key:
With the same number of keys as in 2024, the Commodore Perry Estate is as stately as ever. Austinites are likely the most familiar with Lutie’s, the beautiful on-site restaurant draped in plants and offering up impeccable seasonal dishes.
“California’s Auberge Collection, now a global family, are known for their tasteful luxury and for their variety — and the Commodore Perry Estate, set on ten acres of land in urban Austin, Texas, is unique by any standard,” the resort’s Michelin Guide profile says. “It’s a Twenties mansion and satellite buildings in Italianate and Spanish Revival styles, and it’s all been brought entirely up to date by the expert hospitality designer Ken Fulk. The result sacrifices none of the estate’s throwback atmosphere, but brings it up to a 21st-century standard; like everything Auberge touches, it’s the very picture of modern boutique luxury.”
San Antonio, two keys:
This historic landmark adds another feather to its cap — or key to its ring — becoming one of only three stays in Texas awarded a second key. The third two-key hotel is Fort Worth’s Bowie House, which is also part of the Auberge Resorts Collection. That does make Hotel Emma the only two-key hotel in Texas that is full Texas-owned (Silver Ventures, Inc.) and operated (Woodbine Development Corporation).
Hotel Emma’s write-up is much longer (and more colorful) than Commodore Perry’s.
“Let it never be said that South Texans don’t know the meaning of luxury; besides Frette linens, Malin + Goetz bath amenities, and 48-inch HDTVs, a slew of tough-to-replicate touches elevate the experience far beyond the norm,” says a portion of the profile. “Dark-wood and aged bronze accents. Freestanding, clawfoot tubs. Seersucker robes by Dos Carolinas. Spanish porcelain. Mesquite-furnished terraces with Redondo tile. If, upon opening the bespoke armoire, you’re not charmed by the wealth of upscale eats and signature margarita makings in the ‘icebox,’ we don’t quite know what to tell you.”
AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.
What we know:
Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.
The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel.
Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.
On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.
The Source: Information from the Austin Police Department
Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.
Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.
Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”
“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.
Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”
“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”
Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.
“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”
The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.
The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.
Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.
Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.
AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas agency is concerned that the flesh-eating New World screwworm could be getting closer to Texas without commercial livestock movement.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is sounding the alarm again for livestock owners to remain vigilant in watching for signs of the parasite in their animals.
Screwworm sighting near Texas
The latest:
Miller said in a Thursday release that a screwworm had been detected in a cow in González, Tamaulipas, a little more than 200 miles from the southern Texas border.
According to the commissioner, the cow had no reported history of movement outside Tamaulipas, and is the third active case reported there.
Officials in Mexico have not reported a known population of the worm in Tamaulipas. They’re working with U.S. authorities to investigate further into the new case.
What they’re saying:
“The screwworm now may be moving closer on its own, with no apparent link to commercial animal movement,” Commissioner Miller said. “Texas producers must act now—stay informed, stay vigilant, and prepare immediately. We cannot drop our guard for even a moment.”
Inspect livestock for screwworm
What you can do:
Miller urged immediate action from ranchers along the Texas border.
“Inspect your animals daily,” Miller said. “Check every open wound. If anything looks suspicious, report it right away. Better a false alarm than a delayed response—early detection and rapid reporting are our strongest defenses against this devastating pest.”
U.S. plan to fight screwworm in Texas
Big picture view:
The threat to cattle has been deemed so potentially devastating to the U.S. food supply that the federal government is committing $850 million to fight it.
Most of that money will be spent on building a sterile male fly production facility near the border.
The facility will produce 300 million sterile male flies a week to be dropped into target areas where the screwworm is now. Those male flies help to reduce the population size through mating without reproducing.
A much smaller portion of the funding will be used for screwworm detection technology.
In addition, the federal government has already spent $21 million on a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.
What are New World screwworms?
Dig deeper:
The insect gets its name because it’s only found in the Americas.
It lays its eggs in the open wounds of animals, and its larvae become parasites, threatening livestock, domestic animals, and even people.
The screwworm was mostly eradicated in Texas and the rest of the United States in the 60s. But now, it’s moving north up from Panama and has a known presence a little over 300 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Sid Miller.
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