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(Vrbo)
Nowadays, people want more from their lodging than just a room to lay down for the night, a continental breakfast and good customer service—they want a memory.
This city has an abundance of well known hotels, but with all of Austin's wonderfully wacky residents why not stay in one of their homes? Whether it's a vacation, staycation or get-together, here are seven local rentals you won't soon forget.
Sculptor's Guest House, $121 per night
(Airbnb)
Located a short distance from Downtown, UT and the airport, this guest house sits on two acres of art studios so you can truly get into character while you walk the sculpture garden. The house itself is decked out in unique architecture and creative interpretations of ordinary objects, like the onyx stone bathroom, natural wood headboard with matching end tables, and cozy kitchen. The guest house accommodates a maximum of four guests with one bedroom, one bathroom and plenty of couches to crash on for an authentic artist experience.
1940s East Austin Bungalow, $164 per night
(Airbnb)
This spacious bungalow was built in the 1940s, but you'd never know when you walk inside. The wooded, solemn interior paired with black finishes give the rental a clean, rustic look. Although you'll be staying in a home that is nearly 100 years old, the unit comes complete with all the technology of the modern era. The Bungalow comfortably allows four guests with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Mid-century modern home, $202 per night
(Airbnb)
Nicknamed "The Peach Door" after its fruit-hued front entry, this Downtown-adjacent house is packed with texture, natural light and a comfortable interior that will make anyone feel right at home. Located in the coveted Travis Heights neighborhood, guests are just a short walk away from Austin's picturesque arts and culture strip, South Congress. The stay accommodates up to four guests with two bedrooms and one bathroom.
The Bloomhouse by Lodgewell, $822 per night
(Vrbo)
Don't look for any straight lines in this house—you won't find any. Designed by two University of Texas architects, this lodge is designed to make you feel like you're stepping into a fairytale with its cave-like interior and secluded location in the West Lake Hills woods. You'll know you've arrived at this one bedroom, one bathroom home for four when you see its fantastical head peeking through the trees.
Colorful Clarksville estate, $847 per night
(Vrbo)
Each room in this massive 3,200 square foot home is cloaked in its own unique personality, from its two-story graffitied living room to its colorful countertops to the industrial wash basin sinks. Less than a mile from downtown, this space is perfect for entertaining or simply soaking in city living. With six bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms and two kitchens in the main house and one bedroom, one bathroom and a full kitchen in the guesthouse, there is room to sprawl out.
Downtown Guest House, $250 per night
(Vrbo)
This picturesque hippie hideaway sits just two blocks away from South Congress but comes with the privacy of the Hill Country. Built in 1928, the European cottage has exposed ceiling beams, a pebble shower and lush garden filled with large trees on-site. The guest house may be small but with a downstairs bed and loft upstairs, it can still fit four guests without getting crowded.
Historic Casa Cartel, $2,648 per night
(Vrbo)
Integrating Mexican architecture and art throughout this bespoke villa, the tastefully vibrant interior makes it impossible not to be in a good mood. With natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows, custom murals painted all over the house, a basement theater and a private pool fit for a full summer of lounging, this opulent house is the vacation. The house sits on a corner lot "very close to downtown" and sleeps up to 17 people with nine bedrooms and five bathrooms, so bring the whole crew.
Your perfect stay awaits you!
Popular
(Texas Softball/Twitter)
The unseeded Texas softball team couldn’t hold ‘em as they lost 16-1 to No. 1 Oklahoma in the first game of the College World Series championship Wednesday night.
While Austin’s bats were hot enough to score a run in the first inning, the rest of the game was all Sooners as Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo hit the first ball out of the park in the bottom of the first.
The Sooners capped the first inning with four more runs before slamming five more home runs, including two apiece from All and Tiara Jennings, to set a new WCWS record.
Adding another homer to the record 💅 @78jocelyn_alo
📺 @espn#WCWS x @OU_Softballpic.twitter.com/KtqMy0itDZ
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 9, 2022
And while Texas threatened to score several more times and stranded seven runners on base in the fifth, the Longhorns would spend the rest of the match scoreless.
But Texas’ ‘Cinderella run’ isn’t done yet: the forever underdogs are set to play at least once more in the best-of-three series at 6:30 Thursday in Oklahoma City.
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(Pexels)
Maddie Buscemi was working in the sales department at a local logistics company for about a year, and she says the job made her completely miserable. She was expected to be on call 24/7 and the bonus structure didn’t provide the share she would have liked.
Her breaking point came before the new year going into 2021. She was having a night in with Chinese food when she noticed she had missed calls from a client. She returned the call and was met with expletives and yelling. The next day, her manager tried to talk to her about it and she replied that she was off duty when the calls came in.
“He pretty much told me that work comes first and that I should be more responsible and deal with the situation before I go and do what I want to do,” said Buscemi, a 24-year-old South Austin resident. “And that was kind of the last straw.”
Buscemi left two months later, joining the chorus of people taking part in the Great Resignation, when the quitting rate reached historic highs.
(Maddie Buscemi)
Many of those workers took on new roles that gave them better pay or flexibility. As in Buscemi’s case where she now works for an e-commerce hosting platform entirely remote. “Definitely, I think the grass is greener on the other side sometimes,” Buscemi said.
But there are others who didn’t get a leg up after quitting in what’s being coined the Great Regret, and it reflects a March survey for USA Today that found that about one in five workers who quit during the past two years regret it.
A survey by the Pew Research Center found many people who switched jobs decided to leave due to low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement and feeling disrespected.
And while many saw improvement in those areas after a job change, there are others who saw a shift in the other direction.
Fewer than half of workers who quit a job last year, 42%, say they now have better benefits, such as health insurance and paid time off, 36% say it’s about the same and 22% now say their current benefits are worse than at their last job.Brittany Buck, an Austin HR expert with Employer Flexible says in some cases, workers who made a switch didn’t consider how the company culture at the new job would impact their experience. Buck says that in the tech industry, this is especially common and workers made a decision solely on money.
For those reasons and others, some are hoping for a return to their old employer, a group that’s become known as “boomerangs.”
“At the end of the day, they may feel more embarrassed to ask for their job back,” Buck said.
But just because someone is coming back doesn’t mean employers are off the hook from reflecting on the reasons people leave. Buck says it’s important to think through what really happened. “Was it just money?” she asked. “Was there more on the table that we're not aware of?”
In Austin, especially, sometimes it can simply come down to pay. Buck noted Apple and Google can afford to pay high salaries.
Meanwhile, startups, which also play a major role in Austin’s job ecosystem, might not be able to absorb the costs of compensation offered by the big leagues. For example, one of Buck’s clients is trying to hire robotics engineers. “When you’ve got Tesla coming in, it’s a tough sell,” Buck said.
Buck says that can require the employer to consider some other perks workers might want aside from money, mentioning Elon Musk’s comments recently that Tesla workers need to be in person 40 hours a week.
@selenarezvani What do you think? Does this surprise you?🤔 #thegreatregret#thegreatresignation#greatresignation#careertok#corporatetiktok#corporatelife#corporatetips#corporateamerica#careeradvocacy#selfadvocacy♬ Strawberry - Prod by Rose
For those like Buscemi, that’s a dealbreaker. When she made the leap out of her old job, she worked as a bartender while she applied for jobs that fit what she needed: remote and a livable wage.
“I've talked to quite a few companies when I was interviewing for the role. And they were telling me that it's remote and then in about a month or two months it's going to be back in the office, and they weren't paying according to that,” Buscemi said. “Gas prices are going up, everything's becoming more expensive. And then they want to pay you $40,000 a year? That's just not a livable wage.”
She eventually found something she likes with decent pay and sees room for other workers to do the same.“You can just go on LinkedIn and find a new role for a different company that will appreciate you and will not just replace you because you don't want to do crazy hours or revolve your life around work or always have to jump on if something happens,” Buscemi said. “And there's always something out there for somebody, you just gotta keep looking and keep digging until you find that position.”- Study: why people are unemployed as millions of jobs open - austonia ›
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