STAY IN ONE OF THE MOST DOG FRIENDLY HOTELS NEAR AUSTIN, TEXAS
Vacation at this luxury hotel with your fur baby too!
If you’re looking for a hotel near Austin but want to feel like you’re further away in a smaller town, then look no further than Hotel Ruby. Nestled only 20 minutes from downtown Austin is the beautiful and chic, Ruby Hotel in Round Rock, Texas. From the moment we walked into the lobby, we were captivated by the gorgeous artwork on the walls and the elegant style of the place. Hotel Ruby’s has a cute history as well that is kind of adorable. Upon visiting The Ruby site in early 2016, the owners found a partial love letter addressed to a “Dearest Ruby” in a pile of leaves and trash. The only buildings on the site at that time were a home, which is now the Ruby Bar, and a few sheds. The letter was pocketed and, along with some torn pages of a scrapbook found later, eventually formed the brand inspiration for the hotel. It was obvious from the first visit to the site that this spot along Brushy Creek was truly loved.
WHAT ARE THE ROOMS LIKE AT HOTEL RUBY?
You'll find the guest rooms at The Ruby Hotel to be thoughtfully designed with gorgeous colors and velvet textures. With rooms overlooking the pool or creek, you’ll be at peace when you look out of any window. Rooms are equipped with Nespresso Machines so you can wake up at your own pace and enjoy a nice cup of coffee or espresso in bed — which we absolutely did. The beds were extremely comfortable, which is a big deal for hotels because trust me… I’ve stayed in some duds. BUT this was not one of them — it was actually hard to get out of bed because they were so comfortable.
IS HOTEL RUBY ACTUALLY DOG-FRIENDLY?
1000% yes! So when you’re a dog owner you slowly find out the difference between a hotel that allows dogs and a dog-friendly hotel. Hotel Ruby was dog-friendly. Some of the ways they were dog friendly were by offering treats when we checked in, putting us in a room near a ton of grass for potty breaks with doggie bags and trash cans, and putting us in a room on the first floor. We’ve been to hotels a lot with Olive and Pippin and have been put on high floors before where it was a task and a half to take our dogs potty or have been to a hotel that says they’re dog friendly but they make you go across a street to a dark area that has grass for them to do their business. Overall, we felt like Olive was treated like a guest in addition to us! She was also allowed to stay in the room while we went to dinner or grabbed drinks at the bar — which a lot of hotels don’t allow. Olive is crate trained so we just put her in her crate while we were gone and she was perfectly fine.
IS THERE A BAR OR RESTAURANT ON SITE?
The best part about staying at The Ruby Hotel is its close proximity to the bar! Only steps away from your room is the Ruby bar where you can find all sorts of delicious concoctions and maybe a slice of cheesecake or two! Monday to Friday, they offer a fun happy hour from 4-6 p.m. Start the night with a Ruby old-fashioned or one of their drink specials before enjoying your night out or in. In addition to drinks, you can order some food too but we weren’t super hungry after eating in Georgetown so we decided to go with their New York style cheesecake and it was yum!
DOES HOTEL RUBY OFFER BREAKFAST OR BRUNCH?
Speaking of the bar, don’t pass on the weekend brunch — it. is. worth. it! Brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. so we got lucky staying during the weekend. We started with a Mimosa Carafe and a Ruby's Bloody Mary because I’m a two to three drink brunch girlie — how about you?! I don’t know why but when it comes to brunch I MUST have at least 2 drinks at all times, haha! For food, we had the avocado toast which was topped with cherry tomato salad, hemp seed, pickled red onion, arugula, and a fried egg, and then the buttermilk pancakes with blueberry compote. I highly recommend if you’re staying at Hotel Ruby during the weekend you take advantage of their brunch because it was awesome!
WHAT AMENITIES DOES HOTEL RUBY OFFER?
Hotel Ruby has a fabulous outdoor pool that’s truly the center of attention as you’re walking under the cover of trees on the property. The pool is open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm daily. There is no lifeguard on duty and the pool is not heated, so definitely keep that in mind if it’s cold in Texas during your visit. In addition to the pool, there is a fitness center that includes a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, free weights, mats, and bands/weighted balls. The fitness center is open twenty-four hours a day so accommodate any fitness guru.
WHAT IS THERE TO DO NEARBY?
Walk under Highway 35 at Inner Space Cavern
Nestled off Interstate 35, The Inner Space Cavern is a hidden gem. Did you know that when you’re driving on 35 from Georgetown to Austin you’re actually driving on top of caves? While we were down in the caves we could hear the cars above us! It was a little eerie but super cool too. What’s nice about these caverns is that they offer 3 different tour options based on how you want to explore the caves. We did the adventure tour which is a lit walking tour, but they off 2 other tours that are more adventurous and aren’t lit. I 100% will be coming back to do those tours because I’m an adrenaline junkie and would love to see more of these beautiful works of art underground.
The Inner Space Cavern is the perfect place to bring the entire family and is very affordable. The adventure tour is a little more than an hour and seriously worth every penny. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, answered all our questions, and was overall very entertaining! She told cute stories about the caves and really kept us captivated. I highly recommend stopping by the cavern while visiting.
Go swimming at the Blue Hole
Blue Hole is located five blocks north of the downtown square along N. Austin Avenue. Limestone bluffs are bordering this scenic lagoon and popular swimming hole along the South Fork of the San Gabriel River. The entrance to Blue Hole Park is at W. Second Street and Rock Street. Read more about Blue Hole on Georgetown’s website here.
Pick a pumpkin at Sweet Eats Fruit Farm
I arrived RIGHT when they opened at 9:00 a.m. and there were already 5-10 cars there waiting for them to open. Honestly, I was shook there were people there already on a Friday morning. Nonetheless, I grabbed my camera bag with my tripod and headed in. If you’re just buying pumpkins and taking photos, you don’t have to pay to enter, but you do have to fill out a release form. Always be sure to ask if photos are okay when you’re anywhere, to be honest. They said yes and directed me to the pumpkin patch. It was only a 2-minute walk down a dirt path, not bad at all. I scoped out the area then set up my tripod and started taking photos! How cool is this pumpkin house?! I loved the back of this old pickup truck too! Once I took all my photos I walked around and found the perfect pumpkin! I grabbed a little baby pumpkin too and then trekked back to the entrance to pay. It was only $10 for a BIG pumpkin plus a baby one. The pumpkins are $0.79/ lb and they accept cards!
Sweet Eats Fruit Farm is more than just a farm and has multiple events year round! They even have a sunflower festival during the summer, I’ll definitely be attending.
Sip some Texas wine at Grape Creek Vineyard’s tasting room downtown
One of my favorite things about Texas is Texas wine — that’s no secret if you’ve read my Fredericksburg guides. While living in Texas we were Grape Creek Vineyards Wine Members which meant we had access to the member’s only patio and lounge which was nice! If you’re not a member though, don’t worry because you can grab a glass of wine to walk around with in downtown Georgetown or hang out in their tasting room.
WHERE TO EAT IN THE AREA
Blue Corn Harvest
Blue Corn Harvest is a wonderful place for delicious Southwestern cuisine! Mom and I chose to eat there because of their fresh ingredients and that they support local farms (and oh my goodness can you taste it). We started out with fresh guacamole and chips which were garnished with house-roasted salsa! The mango in the salsa was honestly my favorite part and added a sweet flavor. For our entrees, we had veggie enchiladas and a bowl of tortilla soup, my favorite! We sat on the back patio and it was very spacious and felt super secluded, which is great for groups!
2020 Market
Oh my goodness, just thinking about 2020 Market makes me drool! The menu comes from local farmer’s markets, Gulf Coast fishing boats, and country farm fields. They were all just steps away from the Sheraton and well worth the wait. We waited outside for our table and listened to live music (you could even grab a drink if you wanted to as well). The food was impeccable. I had the Shiner Bock salmon on a bed of rice with grilled broccoli and mom had the shrimp ravioli. The food was fresh and delicious and our server was wonderful (like putting a napkin under your drink every time it sweats, wonderful)! What makes 2020 Market even better is that it was very reasonably priced. Our entire meal was $36 minus drinks. Additionally, it’s a place you can take the entire family or go on a nice date with your significant other and have a great time.
Sweet Lemon Kitchen
Sweet Lemon Kitchen has an awesome story and is female-owned! Rachel Cummins was a stay-at-home mom and then decided she wanted to go to culinary school in Austin. She commits to providing organic healthy food to the Georgetown area and supporting local farmers! Now let’s talk about what we ordered and how it tasted. I ordered the avocado toast and coffee cake and my mom ordered the ham and Swiss croissant and a cinnamon roll! Oh my goodness, the flavor y’all! I wish I could eat this breakfast every single day. It was THAT good.
Overall, we had a lovely time at Hotel Ruby with our Olive girl! We felt like we were away from the city but close enough to experience it and even grab dinner in Austin, Georgetown, etc. Next time in the area, we’ll definitely be staying at Hotel Ruby.
XOXO
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