Hi,
I'm from Austin and love folklore, so I'm well-acquainted with this story. I did not hear anything about a suicide at the Driskill back when it's supposed to have happened - not that such a sad thing would have been widely publicized - nor have I ever heard a specific name for her. I've never seen a picture, have no idea who the guy was, anything - and I've never met anyone who had any more detailed information than I'm about to give you. If the staff know anything (unlikely, since few if any were working there 20 years ago), they're not talking.
I was actually just there a couple of weeks ago, telling a friend about it. This is among the best-known stories of the Driskill, which is supposed to be one of the more haunted hotels nationwide. It hits closer to home because mosts ghosts are from decades or even centuries ago, whereas this one is young enough to have gone to high school with me. At very most, she would only be in her early to mid 40s today.
People do talk about it as if it's true, but I wouldn't take that as evidence by any means. It just does not add up at all... plus, Southerners love a good story, and most are not too concerned about facts. I've also read variations on this - a classic sign that even if based on a real event, the way it's told now may not be accurate. If it were true, out of respect for her family, I don't think anyone who did know the victim's name would want to share it anyway.
The primary storyline is that in 1989 (or 1990), a young woman from Houston came up to town after her fiance canceled their wedding last minute. She checked into room 427 (or 525) and went on a shopping spree (which to me sounds odd, for someone planning to end their life). Some say she racked up $10,000 on her former fiance's credit card. She then went back to the room, and later went in the bathroom, put a pillow over her abdomen and shot herself through the pillow. I have also heard that she killed herself in the tub (no pillow involved). A maid found her body a couple of days later.
The hotel itself has been renovated since then (most recently in the late 90's), and one story is that of a couple who went up the elevator to their room during the renovations. On it with them was a young woman carrying tons of fancy shopping bags - she nodded goodnight to them (and here's the odd part) walked off down the hall into the section of the hotel that was at the time closed for renovation. The problem with this story is that I've been on those elevators, and they go to one cohesive area on the specified - it's not like you get off the elevator, go left and you're in the new section or go right and you're in the old section. I'm not clear on how the logistics of it, the way it was told, would even have been possible.
You can google "Driskill suicide bride" or some variation thereof for further detail and conjecture. I think this is almost certainly completely made up. The details that don't add up:
* Wide disagreement on exactly where/when/how
* In 20 years, I've heard some form of the story a million times but have never yet heard a name, not even a guess.
* Stories don't actually make sense with the building layout
* In the late 80s, Austin barely had any fancy stores - certainly nothing that would compare with Houston or even Dallas (which is close to the same distance from Houston as Austin is). We were a quiet university town back then, that's it, so it makes zero sense for anyone to come to Austin for a shopping spree.