Is Rainey Street a good place to stay in Austin?

Rainey Street is a good base if you want bars on the doorstep and the lake next door. It sits at the south-east corner of downtown, so the convention centre is a few minutes' walk away, Sixth Street and Congress Avenue are about 10 minutes on foot, and the Lady Bird Lake trail runs along the end of the street.

The area is built around its bungalow bars. Old wooden houses with big porches and backyards have become bars and food-truck patios, and new towers have filled in around them with hotels, apartments and rooftop pools. It feels more like a big outdoor party than a club strip, especially on warm evenings.

The downside is that it gets packed and noisy at weekends, with groups and bachelorette parties filling the street late into the night. There's little to see by day beyond the lake, and the new towers have made rooms expensive.

What makes Rainey Street special is the mix of old and new. You can sit on a bungalow porch with a drink, walk a few steps to a rooftop pool with lake views and be on the trail for a morning run. For a lively weekend in Austin, it's one of the most fun places to stay.