BARTON CREEK RESORT EXPANSION TAKING SHAPE
Work is progressing on the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s $150 million makeover — a project so big that the resort had to shut down for close to a year.
Crews recently marked the topping out of a new, 150-room guest tower, a key component of the renovations and expansions planned for the property at 8212 Barton Club Drive in West Austin, which first opened 1987.
Those new guest rooms, added to existing ones, will give Omni Barton Creek a total of 493.
Other additions will include seven new dining options, a conference center, ballroom and outdoor pavilion, a Mokara spa and a lighted, 10-court tennis complex.
Mokara is Omni’s signature spa brand. The 13,000-square-foot location at Omni Barton Creek will be one of the largest in the chain.
All guest rooms and meeting rooms in the existing structures will be refurbished and on-site swimming pools will be expanded and improved.
“The evolution of Omni Barton Creek is our most highly anticipated project to debut in 2019 and it’s an unprecedented investment in our resort collection,” Peter Strebel, president of Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts, said in a written statement. “Upon completion, Omni Barton Creek will be a mecca for relaxation, golf, culinary and meeting and event experiences. We are look-
ing forward to welcoming our guests and meeting planners to our new home in the Hill Country next year.”
The Beck Group, another Dallas firm, is the contractor overseeing the project.
“We are pleased to be working well ahead of schedule in order to allow the new Omni Barton Creek to open and welcome guests in May 2019, a beautiful time of year to visit Austin,” said Bryan Smith, regional general superintendent for the Beck Group. “The new tower and conference center’s view of – and connection to – the surrounding Hill Country is central to the design of the resort.”
During the shutdown, Omni Barton Creek worked to find other jobs for many of its employees, including at two other Omni hotels in the Austin area.