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. Perched on the edge of a cliff with terraced gardens, an outdoor cooking area, and a pool underneath the 100-year old live oak trees, one could tell it was once “the place to be” for an afternoon garden party. The design of the hotel intentionally located the new buildings for the hotel rooms on the perimeter of the property to maximize views of Brushy Creek and minimize impact to the lovely trees adorning the site.

As work on the project progressed through 2017, and the pieces fell into place, the brand and experience evolved. The Ruby brand is inspired by a fictional Ruby, who we imagine lived in small-town Round Rock. Inspired by a changing world and challenged by a generation defined by tradition, Ruby set out to find her own voice after graduating from high school around the 1930’s. We imagine she traveled - first to Chicago, then New York, and as her ambitions grew, San Miguel, Paris, and London. Ruby sparked her share of conversations as she collected her friends, her memories, and well, … her collection. The music of Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Chet Baker provided the soundtrack to the gatherings she curated around the tables she set. In this dappled spot along Brushy Creek, the delight of mingled surroundings is evidence of a life well lived. A cozy place Ruby called home.

The Ruby Hotel & Bar is a small independent hotel in Round Rock, convenient to Austin, with the simple promise of allowing you to discover service, hospitality, and surroundings that will delight you.

Brushy Creek rises three miles northwest of Leander in southwestern Williamson County and flows east for 69 miles, through southern Williamson County, to its mouth on the San Gabriel River.

It was named Arroyo de las Ánimas Benditas (Creek of the Blessed Souls) by explorers Louis Juchereau de St. Denis and Domingo Ramón in 1716 and was known by variations of that name throughout the Spanish colonial period. It was the site of several of the earliest communities in the county. The battle of Brushy Creek occurred near its banks in 1839. The banks of the stream are heavily wooded for much of its length with mesquite and hardwood trees, and the creek flows through nearly level to gently rolling terrain surfaced by clayey and loamy soils used predominantly for agriculture.

Brushy Creek is dammed just east of the Ruby Hotel, near Veterans Park, creating the small lake on the north side of the property. Cattle can often be seen roaming along the northern banks and water birds nest in the large trees in the mornings.