Mansion At Judges’ Hill

Nice place for a wedding. I will say that the wedding I went to was a cash bar and the prices were super stiff, unlike the pours themselves. So the former boyscout that I am, I come prepared with a flask, which gets confiscated by an employee. Luck for me the flask was plastic and empty by the time I was found out. Other than that, the place was beautiful and very nice.

My best friend had her wedding here and it was gorgeous! I was a bridesmaid so I got to see it all unfold. Everything went really smoothly which is pretty much all you can ask for for a wedding. The outdoor space was beautiful and the reception upstairs was sparkling. Literally, sparkling — the lights strung along the far wall gave the whole place a completely romantic feel. The rooms we got ready in were well equipped and easily handled four bridesmaids and a bride. I’d come back and stay here if I needed a hotel in Austin. And it’s so close to the UT campus and downtown for going out.

Beware! The older, positive reviews of this restaurant are from a different menu, before the restaurant was redesigned. Let me assure you — the new menu is absolutely disgusting. My boyfriend and I had the worst meal of our lives, and we weren’t the only ones — another couple walked out, which is what we should have done.
Food: The plates were nicely presented, and I was hopeful. However, the minute I picked up my fork I cringed. I don’t know how you make a salad incredibly terrible, but my iceberg lettece was so atrocious it made me feel sick. I went into the restaurant starving and left having eaten not even half of the salad. My boyfriend’s duck was poorly prepared as well, rubbery and overly cooked. The price was exceedingly expensive for food I would rate at an F quality. Not half an hour later, we ate at another fabulous restaurant on Sixth Street.
Ambience: It seems as though the music selection was thoughtless; the music genre kept changing abruptly. Though the décor was nice, the restrooms require you to venture down two flights of stairs in a dark and dingy stairwell — not a pleasant experience, especially when dressed nicely. At the height of dinner hour, the restaurant was mostly empty.
Service: The two waitresses at the bar were having an inappropriate conversation while we were eating. When we politely complimented the building as we left, one of the waitresses responded that the building «wasn’t much» and had only negative things to say about the Mansion.
Bottom line? Despite the nice exterior, this restaurant is to be avoided at all cost. I will never return here, and will tell everyone I know.

This place is pretty. I attended a wedding here this past weekend (which was beautifully decorated) but I was underwhelmed with the actual «bones» of the place. The ballroom was a lot smaller than I expected for such a grand venue. The wedding was outside in the courtyard which is nice. The part that did not appeal to me was that although it’s a historic mansion, it’s also a hotel so when the bride and groom departed there were random hotel guests on the balcony taking pictures, walking around, etc. It seemed to take away from the magical experience of a bride and groom & their wedding departure.
When I was planning my wedding a few years ago I had received price quotes for the mansion at judges’ hill and decided it was over our budget so I never took a walk through of it and instead we chose a different venue. The building itself is stunning from the outside, but I wasn’t as impressed with the interior.
The wedding however, was beautifully decorated and the place was perfect for the bride & groom on their special day.

Ah yes. The Goodall-​Wooten Home aka «The Mansion at Judges Hill». Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL in every way with its Greek Revivalist Style. An Architectural Masterpiece and a strong compliment to our fair city.
Owned and managed by cheesy money-​grubbers, this «manse» will leave a bad taste in your mouth and a hole in your wallet the size of Rick Perry’s ever-​widening pie-​hole.
I think a lot of the folks leaving good reviews here are simply in denial of the true awfulness of this… place…
The rooms appear attractive in photos, but are extremely uncomfortable in terms of bed and furniture accommodations. I know a refurbished mattress when I sleep on one, and the chairs/​tables/​nightstands appeared to have been purchased at garage sales or thrift stores.
The common areas are spacious, but were being used for wedding’s during my visit, so my date and I weren’t able to enjoy them.
Food? I won’t eat here ever again. We ordered «The Judge» (Big honking Steak) and wanted to split it. The waitress looked like a deer caught in headlights at the suggestion that we wanted to share our meal and order an extra salad to go along with it. She ran away for several minutes only to return and inform us there’d be a «splitting fee» incurred. OK, no big. Then came the steak. What a piece of rubber! I’ve had better from HEB. Tough, chewy, gristle laden beef steak is not what I want to pay over 30 bucks for. Salads and sides were uninspired Sysco crap.
Staff are about as aloof as they come, and downright surly. You can tell the problem here is the management, when the staff are willing to tell you how much they hate the place privately when the manager isn’t looking.
Managers and Hostesses — I’m a snarky mofo, and they outsnarked me.
Tell ya what… Change the name back to «The Goodall-​Wooten House», chase out the «den of thieves» management, start cooking your own food instead of bringing in precooked frozen swill, hire some staff who understand the concept of customer service, and send these carpetbaggers packing.
Aside from this review, thanks for making a piece of Old Austin so horribly gauche and tacky. Good Day!!!

We stayed here for one night. This old hotel is pretty on the outside, but needs a lot of attention inside. What I didn’t like about the hotel:
1. There were several dead bugs in room.
2. The carpet was old and worn, and needed to be vacummed.
3. The room was dark and dismal. There was one very dim light fixture oddly placed, and a few lamps. Even with all of them on, it was like sitting in the dark.
4. The beds had sheets, but no blankets
5. The hall temperature was freezing to the point of being uncomfortable.
6. The phone in our room did not work.
7. The furniture may photograph well in their online photos, but it’s actually cheap, scuffed, and worn.
8. The bathroom grout was so filthy that it was black. There was also red algae along the bathtub.
9. The beds were harder than sleeping on the floor. I woke up several times during the night because my back and shoulders hurt from the cement-​like mattress. When I sat down on the chair the next morning, I found those were just as bad.
Rack rates are $ 400/​night for a room with two queen beds. We paid a little over half that, and it still wasn’t worth the cost. Downtown location is good, and the exterior is nice, with a courtyard reminiscent of New Orleans. This place desperately needs renovation, cleaning, and redecorating.

Meh…
I can see how this was once a much nicer, well-​to-​do place, but now it just seems tired and kind of sad. The furnishings are really out of date, and not in a cool vintage way.
The food takes forever to arrive. It took about 45 minutes to get ours out, another 30 for dessert. The staff is pleasant and attentive, the food is actually pretty good too, but the whole thing just doesn’t stack up to what I feel is a nice restaurant. I feel there are much better options in Austin for fine dining that give you the whole package.

This review is regarding brunch buffet (served only on the first Sunday of the month):
Considering the upscale venue I expected this brunch to be more expensive and in line with the Four Seasons or Green Pastures. So I was pleasantly surprised by the $ 16 cost, which includes mimosas and coffee.
The brunch didn’t offer numerous options, but the options it did have were of good quality. A delicious egg casserole or eggs benedict, crispy yet meaty bacon (I’m very picky about the meat to fat ratio and this had my preferred balance), salmon, grits and brisket (the only disappointment — the brisket was over cooked and chewy), french toast and a variety of fixings and build-​your-​own yogurt and fruit parfait (one of my favorites, with «homemade» granola and bowls of fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries). There was also muffins, salad options, veggie, fruit and cheese platters. And did I mention the refillable mimosas?

Came here for a nice birthday trip into Austin. What a lovely place to stay. The staff at check-​in were friendly, and they hooked us up with some fresh baked cookies.
Our room was in the historic building. It was gigantic! Had a sitting area with a couch, king-​size bed, and access to the balcony overlooking MLK. The bathroom was also very luxurious– nice bathtub and organic bath products, too. A hot bath instead of just a teeny tiny shower was a nice option to have after a long evening going out.
It was our first time to visit the Mansion, and we were happy with our visit. :) Not usually what I spend on hotels, but for a special occasion, it was a nice splurge.

I’ve been to the restaurant for breakfast several times during the week, once on a Saturday, and for dinner on a Saturday.
The food is good, the waitstaff is pleasant, but — be ready to wait for your food as if you had three hours to dine.
I was there this last Saturday for breakfast — and it took 75 minutes to get our food. We were seated right away. It took about 15 minutes to get our drinks and then order food. So it took an hour to get breakfast to our table after we’d been seated.
I think it’s a facility problem — I envision a cook over a Coleman stove in the kitchen, trying desperately to get an egg cooked one by one. Because there couldn’t have been more than 30 people at about 10 different tables with three waitstaff.
Bottom line — it’s a beautiful space with okay food; but you are going to wait. and wait. and wait. and wait. and wait. Wait for it — still wait some more.

A very lovely evening. Went with friends and the food, service and wine were all fantastic. Melissa took great care of us. We tried quite a selection of things between all of us and all were good. The smoked gouda and poblano pepper soup was fantastic… a real standout. The scallops were cooked to perfection.
The historic building is such a nice setting. We’ll be back during the holidays.

In full disclosure, I was proposed to here, so I’m a little bit biased. I feel so lucky that my husband chose The Mansion at Judges’ Hill for this special occasion because it’s somewhere we look forward to going back to every year, and I know we will continue to enjoy this gorgeous hotel as we grow older. The Mansion, from the gorgeous curb appeal to the twinkling courtyard to the well-​appointed rooms, is so romantic. You just can’t go wrong here for a special occasion.
Our stay in 2009 was lovely. The room on the second floor was well furnished, spacious, and clean. The toiletries were nice, and the robes very comfortable. I loved the bathroom. It was luxurious and recently redone, a very nice perk in an older building. Our room was very quiet, in fact I don’t think we saw another person on our floor, and road noise was a non-​issue. I expect the hotel would be of the same solid quality were I to stay again tonight.
Since then, we have dinner at the mansion each year on the anniversary of our engagement. We’ve yet to order anything that wasn’t delicious. It is more expensive that we usually spend, but we’re notoriously cheap, and for this special occasion, we’ve decided it’s well worth it. In fact, I can’t wait until our next dinner come January, and I look forward to returning to stay again.

Pros: nice, quiet place to eat dinner and converse with others, the waiter was fantastic
Cons: I went last Valentine’s Day, and the restaurant was offering a multi course dinner. I am sad to say that every course was bland. It was a highly disappointing (and expensive) meal.

I wanted to update my review to add that the Assistant Manager messaged me on Unilocal and offered my a free night at their establishment in order to experience their property firsthand.
I did not write my review in hopes of getting anything for free — that being said, I will take them up on this offer and then write another review of my entire experience.
As of right now, three stars for standing up and owning their mistake.

Last night I stayed at the Mansion at Judges Hill with the idea of walking to the UT football game (hookem horns!) and taxi it downtown after the game. I found out the hard way it was not the best plan. Getting a taxi from the hotel was not a great idea. We waited outside for an hour and 15 minutes, called the taxi company 3 times and finally gave up and drove.
This is my second stay at Judge’s Hill and must say it is a lovely hotel. Walking up to the hotel and restaurant you get a feeling that special things happen there. Weddings, proposal, birthdays etc. It has a great historical feel to it (I suppose it should it is historical) that makes you fall in love with the place similar to the Driskill. The rooms are simple, clean and cute. The staff is helpful and courteous. I love the Pharmacopia’s organic sundries that they provide in the rooms.
What I don’t like is their is no on site work out facility (the front desk will provide you with a day pass at Castle Hills) and this morning was awakened by very loud road construction promptly at 8 am.
It is a little pricey, both stays I used group buying discounts.

I’m torn about the number of stars to give MAJH. I guess the best thing to do is to write the review and sort it out when I get to the end.
I had a $ 50 Groupon and it was about to expire. It was one of those impulse buys that I tend to do with Groupon (I have since had to put myself on Groupon Restriction). So I asked a foodie girlfriend to dinner and made a reservation for Sunday at 6:30pm.
The mansion is gorgeous. Bringing to life all of my Gone With The Wind young girl fantasy’s. (It’s not quite that old but I have a good imagination!). Blingy crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, old fashioned looking bathroom that you have to walk down a couple of flights of stairs to get to, antiques, art from that store downtown that I always look at and try to figure out if I could actually afford one of those paintings… So the ambiance is there, if you like that sort of thing.
When I arrived there wasn’t anyone at the host/​hostess stand so I checked in with the bartender and confirmed that I was parked in the right abandoned looking parking lot. I was (seriously… it’s a lot to the west of the hotel on MLK that looks like it hadn’t been paved in about 20 years). I ordered a drink at the bar and the bartender immediately walked out from behind the bar. I thought that was a wee bit strange but my friend called and I needed to direct her to the parking lot anyway. I figured she had forgotten about my drink because she was chatting up a couple that was sitting there… when she wasn’t missing from the bar. However, when I came in from meeting my friend she had it made.
We were seated and offered drinks. I started with the Smoked Gouda & Poblano Soup Cup. O-​M-​G. Delicious, I seriously gave some thought to licking the bowl. The *only* thing that I would’ve liked is less uncooked onion in it. I had the most awful onion mouth that even brushing my teeth and sleeping didn’t get rid of. So… if you’re on a date make sure you both have it!
They had a blackened mahi mahi dish on special that evening so I ordered that. It came with rice and sauteed spinach and was very good. The fish and the rice had a bit of a spicy bite to them.
My guest and I split a peach marscapone cheesecake. I found the peaches a bit too tart for my liking but the dessert was interesting with it’s ginger snap crust.
I enjoyed dining at Mansion At Judges’ Hill, however, it’s really more of a special occasion kind of place. As someone else had said, I wish they’d fix that lot up next door so it isn’t as much of an eye sore. I can certainly see myself getting the bowl of soup next time, zombie death breath be dammed.
Ok, so I guess I’ll go with four stars. The soup put it over the just okay hump.

First, I need to give a shout out to the fabulous people at
. I bought a $ 50 gift card to the Mansion at Judges Hill for $ 4 (you need to spend $ 100 on food)!
Saturday night the ladyfriend, her sister, brother in-​law, and I all went to the Mansion at Judges Hill for dinner. We made reservations around 3pm for 7:15 directly online and showed up a few minutes early.
We almost walked directly into some wedding photos as there was a wedding early that day at the Mansion.
Our waiter greeted us and asked us if we wanted to sit inside or out. Inside, there was a pack of teenagers in their prom dresses and tuxes. The sheer number of sequins was blinding, so we decided to sit outside.
We sat down and ordered our drank off of the lengthy drink menu (DO NOT order the Texan– it’s grody — however, I would recommend the drink with gin and rosemary).
The wedding photographer, bride, and groom ventured over our way because apparently it had «good lighting» for a few more photos. The photographer was a bit overweight and completely out of breath. He certainly didn’t mean to, but he was VERY creepy. «Now kiss her… Kiss her hard…*heavy breathing*…now look in her eyes like you want to take her right here…*wheezing*…yes, YES, BEAUTIFUL… Oh you got it baby, you got it». It could be a scene from a porno… or maybe just a wedding photographer. Either way, creeped me out.
That did not effect my rating of this restaurant however. Once everyone got together we ordered some food. We got 3 apps. I highly recommend the flatbread appetizer — it was PHENOMENAL. The bread was obviously grilled and then there is balsamic dripped on it, pine nuts, and all kinds of goodness. We also got the stuffed mushrooms — which were liked by everyone, but there may be a bit too much cheese on em. And finally, the fried cheese platter, which I enjoyed, but I would probably go with just a regular cheese platter next time.
For an entrée I ordered the homemade pasta — it was phenomenal. Maybe a bit much on the goat cheese, but so good regardless. Everyone else got some sort of meat dishes. General consensus was the food was really good.
The venue is absolutely beautiful. The inside of the rest is very elegant and well done. A bit fancy for an everyday place, but for a special occasion it’s awesome.
The prices of the food was fairly reasonable. My entrée was $ 13. Everyone else’s was between $ 13 – 20. The drinks were a bit pricey — $ 8 – 12, but they were straight booze and large. The service was great too!

Fabulous venue to have a monumental celebration! The services offered by The Mansion staff are followed through with über professionalism and custom fitted friendly service to your specific needs.
We held our reception in the Ballroom that followed our wedding ceremony held at a separate location. The guests of the reception enjoyed the food and attentive dining staff. The coordinators were fabulous to work with, they took care of all the details and even still have the groom and I in awe!
Our overnight guests who stayed on property, loved the comfy, spacious rooms and helpful front desk staff.
Have faith in staff of The Mansion at Judges’ Hill, they know how to cater and create your visit to be memorable :)

3.5 stars.
I can only speak for the restaurant. I can’t think of a better word than «quaint» to describe it. The dining room is lovely and provides a view of the garden. Very pretty place, and a close proximity to campus so it was easy to walk there. However, we were the only people in the room and it was eerily quiet. Some people might like über-​privacy but I prefer to eat with music or at least some kind of conversation going on around me. My bf and I tried to explore the mansion but kind of got lost. Anyway, moving onto the food! We shared beef medallions, prosciutto pear pizza, and rare seared tuna. Call me inexperienced in fine dining but the portions were quite small. Everything was tasty, but small!
It was a bit of an intimidating experience for me. Their menu is always changing so I’d be interested in coming again and trying new things. I just feel like I would enjoy it more if I were older… say 40 years older and into peace and quiet and gardens and things.

The usual company approved downtown hotel was booked as well as several others due to a convention, so we ended up here and I really enjoyed it.
Highlights:
— Overall feel: lovely little bed and breakfasty type hotel was a pleasant surprise amidst downtown streets. It had white columns out front and and everything.
— Nice room décor: When I saw some of the pictures online, I thought it may be a bit gaudy or old lady-​ish room decorations wise, but I was pleasantly surprised. My room was super cute with a maroon theme (my fave color so I immediately bonded with it).
— Robes: 2 robes were laid out on the bed to greet me. Too bad I was hub-​free this work trip!
— Friendly people at the desk: greeted us politely when we checked in and checked out
— Had cookies when we checked in and fruit in the morning at reception
— They’re supposed to have a nice restaurant but I didn’t get to try it
Lowlights (my flip side to highlights):
— It’s outside of walking distance to the main area of downtown with not much in the immediate area
— I think it’s a bit spendier than other downtown hotels because of it’s unique personality and lushness
It’s a nice place and I’d stay here again, but not sure I’ll get the chance. I’m usually right downtown or miles away from it…