St Regis Houston, TX [Master Thread]
Dec 7, 2016, 2:31 pm
I said this was unacceptable because I booked a rate on their website and now I was being asked to pay more for their mistake. Magically, the current rate dropped $30/night to approximately what my initial rate was.
This experience reminds me of pressing for an upgrade I'm entitled to at an empty hotel still selling suites when I'm traveling with family. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
To be fair and clear, the woman I dealt with was professional and courteous throughout. She clearly is trained not to admit mistakes, or even investigate them.
1. Are there any other parking options in the area? Not sure a $32 valet receipt will pass the red face test on my expense report. Especially seeing its not Manhattan, but a Houston office park. I'd probably have to eat it.
2. What is the deal with the butler? Not sure I like the idea of some dude hanging out in my room.
Last edited by Casimir; Dec 8, 2016 at 10:42 am Reason: Edited out some venting on my part!
Dec 7, 2017, 2:19 pm
St. Regis Houston
1919 Briar Oaks Ln Houston, TX US 77027
St Regis Houston--fantastic service, F&B, location despite a bit dated decor (30 Photos)
St. Regis Houston
I stayed at the St Regis Houston on business for 3 nights this past weekend. This was my first stay in 5 years. On that last stay, we had an oddly laid out junior suite but with excellent service and food/beverage. On this stay, I had an upgraded and very comfortable Astor Suite, though the decor was a bit dated for my tastes.
The hotel is an older, not overly impressive building:
Entry driveway, which was often a bit crowded with people coming and going throughout the day:
The lobby was small and narrow, definitely dated architecturally, but was beautifully decorated fort the holidays:
Reception:
There was a very comfortable seating room off to the left side of the main lobby/reception hall:
Straight ahead from the lobby corridor was the entrance to the Remington Bar. The hotel was using the bar area for breakfast, lunch, and dinner service, as well, since Hurricane Harvey apparently had flooded the restaurant space--which was currently being renovated.
As I was always meeting friends and colleagues out of the hotel, I actually never spent any time in the bar/lounge areas. But they looked comfortable, and there certainly was plenty of staff visible.
Check In
It took me only about 30 min to reach the hotel from IAH Bush InterContinental Airport.
Check in was done very quickly. I had been pre-upgraded well over 2 months in advance to an Astor Suite, despite having booked an entry level room. I know I have my amazing SPG Ambassador to thank for that!
Within a few minutes, I was on my way to the 10th floor. The elevator hallway and main hallways were light and cheerful, but still a bit dated to my eye.
Room
My Astor Suite had nicer furnishings than I remember from our junior suite stay in 2012, but it still was a bit dated. It was laid out very well and was quite spacious, though, and extremely comfortable. The air con also worked wonders, both in the living room and bedroom. The bedroom was bit dark in the TV corner.
My Astor Suite, room 1010:
The entry hallway:
There was a spacious closet and powder bath to the left off the entry hallway:
The living room was spacious and, when the curtains were opened fully, offered a great amount of natural light from the floor to ceiling windows:
The bar area:
The view wasn't too bad, but it wasn't anything special, either:
A nice welcome gift was awaiting me on arrival (with another yet to come):
The bedroom was more spacious than expected:
The view from the bedroom was at a different angle than that from the living room and was a little different (but not any more exciting really):
The hallway to the bathroom included a spacious closet at the end:
The door to the bath was on the right of the hallway.
The bathroom was relatively small and narrow but more than functional for 1 person. It would have been a little small/narrow for 2 persons, but still more than functional.
The shower area was a bit small and underwhelming, and the nozzle was not high enough for me at 6'2". But it had great water pressure!
Across from the shower was a toilet room with door, including an electronic bidet seat--a very nice touch.
Just outside the toilet room on the wall was a phone and controls for the jacuzzi tub, as well as a scale--a nice touch:
The air con had no trouble staying around 65-68 F even when I wasn't in the suite:
The furnishings and carpet are a bit dated, and the dust ruffle on the bed was particularly dated, but one could make the argument that it's also reflective of Texas being a little dated! Still, I think the hotel suite could use a bit of a refresh or even refurbishment--perhaps making the bathroom more spacious would be a priority, too.
Overall, the suite was supremely comfortable. I slept very well, and the blackout shades made for very easy sleep, indeed.
Service
Service as excellent. I really only had one "slip" in my entire stay--when I asked butler service the second morning for hot milk and the butler brought cold milk. That was it.
Butler service was amazing here. Very friendly, very willing to please, and very interested in making sure that all was well.
Within 30 min of settling into my room, I requested butler service to unpack:
I'll spare everyone a photo of my undergarments and socks drawers that the butler laid out so well.
The butler also packed me up beautifully, too, at the end of my stay:
Suffice to say that unpacking and packing are two of my favorite butler services!
I also called down within 30 min of arrival to ask for my daily "coffee" service. Since I didn't feel like coffee, I asked for cookies and cranberry juice, with which they were happy to oblige:
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Then a few hours I actually regretted not getting coffee! So I called butler service, admitted my mistake, and said I'd be happy to pay for coffee service. They brought me a second comp'd coffee service without any issue at all:
Pretty nice of them!
Not 30 minutes later, my second hotel welcome amenity was brought up. This truly may be the most memorable amenity I've yet received!
This definitely evoked a sense of Texas! They were delicious, too.
I also had asked the front desk to call me and let me know if I might use my Plat breakfast benefit through room service since the regular retaurant was being renovated (again, due to Hurricane Harvey flooding). They were using the Remington bar, but i always prefer room service so thought I'd at least ask. My butler called me to tell me they would let me take my Plat breakfast at no charge through room service. That's VERY nice service, indeed, and going well beyond the Platinum benefit.
Butler service always answered the phone promptly, and always handled all of my requests beautfully. Valets similarly were quickly ready with my car--and shockingly always seemed to know my name, too. That isn't something I'm used to when I don't stay often, so that's pretty impressive management and service if you ask me.
Everyone at the hotel was absolutely friendly, helpful, and going the extra mile to help. Excellent service all around.
Dining
As mentioned above, I was given permission to take all of my Platinum breakfast benefits through room service. I therefore didn't order too much, since I didn't want to take advantage of such a wonderfully generous service.
Every morning, I ordered the same thing: egg white omelette with ham, tomatoes, onions, and Swiss cheese. With English muffin and jams, and with potatoes. Every morning, it was delivered promptly. And it was delicious every morning.
Location
Location truly is excellent. The hotel was just a 30 min drive to and from the IAH Bush InterContinental Airport. It is just a 5 min drive to the massive Gallerie mall complex. It was only a 10-15 min drive to each of my dinners at Underbelly, Hugo's, and BCN Taste and Tradition. It was just a 15 min drive to Rice University, and just 20 min to the University of Houston and downtown.
The hotel's location between downtown and the Galleria to me is absolutely perfect. That and the SPG benefits are two of the biggest reasons why I didn't chance a stay at the Four Seasons hotel downtown.
Overall
I was very impressed again with the St Regis Houston. It isn't the freshest or most modern in design, certainly, but it is a very comfortable luxury hotel with outstanding service, F&B, and amenities, and a perfect location for my purposes in the city.
I would stay here again in a second. I do hope the hotel will refresh the rooms and/or renovate in the near future, though!
Dec 9, 2018, 11:39 am
I’ll be writing another review eventually, but my overall impressions thus far for this stay:
PROS:
—still love this hotel location
—love the incredible service and genuine interest in me being happy and feeling valued
—SNA upgrade to spacious Astor Suite, exact same spacious suite as last year’s St Regis Suite but on a lower (5th) floor
—excellent butler service, with great unpacking, packing, and daily morning coffee
—excellent food/beverage with breakfast room service and bar drinks both nights
—excellent bar service and drinks our first night (but not second, see below)
—excellent valet service, again recognized once by name
—easy check in
—air con preset to 65 F well before my arrival, and air con worked without any issue for entire stay
—service recovery even more generous than requested after a few mishaps (comp’d $75 bar bill and $30 room service despite only asking for room service comp to make up for mishaps below)
—despite already having fruit welcome amenity waiting for me on arrival with extra water, they kindly also sent up on my request the awesome chocolate Texas sampler that they’d given me last year (it’s so cute and tasty)
—EDIT AT 3:15 PM just asked for and granted 4:45 pm late checkout since my flight was delayed. Very nice, no hesitation.
CONS:
—suite bathroom still small with tiny shower room, this shower head was also too low (I’m 6’2”)
—toilet flush broken, had issues 3 times with even both bathroom toilets even after 2 engineer fices (after 3rd mishap I asked for comp breakfast room service for gross/inconvenience)
—poor bar service second night (very crowded bar, not enough staff)
—still dated decor and dust ruffle bed in suite lol...but still seemed more fresh than RC Dallas
—missed turndown the second night
—not the sexiest St Regis bar, perhaps the least impressive bar space of any StR at which I’ve stayed
This hotel isn’t perfect, but they have the luxury hospitality and “wanting to please attitude” service down pat. When I wanted something extra, they just did it—bringing me an extra welcome Texas chocolate sampler. They didn’t put me on hold to ask. They just made it happen. When I asked again for an extra butler coffee, they did it. It really is impressive service.
Even when they let me down (missed turndown and the 3 toilet flush mishaps), the hotel took care of it/addressed it. I had an apology email this morning from the Dir of Housekeeping about the missed turndown. The front office manager agreed about the toilet mishaps and comp’d one of my room service breakfasts. She also went above and beyond my request to comp my first night’s bar bill after I remarked on how bad the bar service was the second night—despite my repeated insistence that the comp’d breakfast was more than enough. I let them know I thought they missed a few things, and the hotel totally took care of them—and took care of me.
I’ll always want to return to a hotel that is so service oriented and that I know will make it up to me if it might ever let me down. This St Regis gets that in spades. Just like an Aman hotel, to be honest.
AN ASIDE ABOUT THE FOUR SEASONS AND JW MARRIOTT:
I happened to mention to my Houston friends that, despite loving the St Regis location and service, I might consider trying out a downtown stay at either the FS or JW in the future. They all unanimously told me to keep staying here at the StR. Everyone concurred that the JW was very corporate and bland and lacked any sense of luxury service, and eveyone agreed just as much that the FS was still tired and dated (and oddly orange) despite its recent renovation—and that I’d still prefer the StR. So it looks like I’ll continue to stay here at the StR!
Last edited by bhrubin; Dec 9, 2018 at 2:21 pm
Dec 9, 2018, 4:52 pm
I happened to mention to my Houston friends that, despite loving the St Regis location and service, I might consider trying out a downtown stay at either the FS or JW in the future. They all unanimously told me to keep staying here at the StR. Everyone concurred that the JW was very corporate and bland and lacked any sense of luxury service, and eveyone agreed just as much that the FS was still tired and dated (and oddly orange) despite its recent renovation—and that I’d still prefer the StR. So it looks like I’ll continue to stay here at the StR!
I suppose it's about what you like. Your 2 reviews, you seem to enjoy the creature comforts of the StR, preset AC, having room service, etc. The JW Downtown is in a fantastic location, as is the still relatively new Marriott Marquis. I don't doubt that they lack the StR service level, but if you spend time out of your room walking to dinner, meetings, etc. they are both better located and probably a better fit for that type of traveler. As for the Four Seasons, I stayed there a few years ago for a night and dated is definitely a good one word description. It's also in an odd corner of Downtown.
Not sure if it had been mentioned, but this hotel actually was a Ritz Carlton back in the 90s, and a dispute between the hotel owner and Marriott caused it to leave the chain and it later became a Luxury Collection hotel before becoming the St. Regis.
Last edited by krazykanuck; Dec 9, 2018 at 4:59 pm
Dec 24, 2018, 11:03 am
St. Regis Houston
1919 Briar Oaks Ln Houston, TX US 77027
Another amazing stay despite the still dated decor (25 Photos)
St. Regis Houston
I was back again at the St Regis Houston for the second year in a row, largely because the hotel took such amazing care of me last year. That story was repeated yet again for this stay.
My review last year largely covers the hotel, but it is a lovely, comfortable hotel--even if a bit dated. Again, it was decorated for the holidays...
Check In
Check in was easy, friendly, and prompt. I already had been upgraded by my SNAs that cleared 4 days prior to my arrival into an Astor Suite. I was looking forward to seeing the difference between the Astor Suite this year from the St Regis Suite I enjoyed last year.
Room
It turns out that the Astor Suite is essentially the exact same suite as a St Regis Suite, just on the lower floors. My Astor Suite was on the 5th floor (room 510).
The view wasn't much to speak of!
The suite living room had been preset to 67 F and the bedroom to 65 F as per my request via my profile and my Ambassador. I further lowered the bedroom air con to 62 F without any issue. Pure bliss for me.
WiFi was a wonderful 75-90 Mbps up and down, again putting to shame the Ritz-Carlton Dallas and its pitiful 0.5-1.5 Mbps "speeds" I had encountered at the start of my Texas trip.
The suite was exactly the same in layout and decor as my St Regis Suite the year prior. It was just as dated, with the same curious dust ruffle from the 1990s! But it also was just as supremely comfortable. The bathroom was a bit narrow again, but for just me it was more than fine.
Service
Service is why I keep returning to this St Regis property. It is a truly impressive service experience.
I had butler service unpack and pack me.
Even though they'd already provided me the welcome fruit bowl, I couldn't resist to call and ask if they might bring me the welcome gift of Texas-shaped chocolate they had provided last year. They brought it right up. This has to be among my favorite welcome amenities of all time.
Room service was also prompt and great.
When I even mentioned a slow bar service on my 2nd night, they comp'd my bar bill from the 1st night. I tried to decline, since the bar service that 1st night was so amazing, but I hadn't paid for the 2nd night and they wanted to make up for the negative experience anyway. I was impressed--I tried to decline the comp a few times.
I did have an issue with my toilet not working--the flush handle seemed to be broken or not working properly. They had to fix it several times, and on the third time I finally called to complain. They comp'd my room service breakfast by way of apology and finally had it taken care of.
Basically, service was amazing...and in the rare instance when it wasn'tl, the hotel truly bends over backwards to make sure to offer service recovery and make sure I was happy.
World class service.
Dining
I only had room service breakfasts--which was so good, I ordered the same thing both mornings.
Location
The location for me is perfect. It is close to the Galleria, which can be chaotic and traffic-ridden at rush hour, but I fortunately missed most of that. It was just a 10 min drive to the restaurants and clients/friends I was meeting. It was a 20 min drive to Nancy's Hustle. It was only a 30 min drive on Sunday to the IAH airport.
Overall
I love this hotel despite its slightly date dated decor. In every other way, the St Regis Houston absolutely takes care of me. I will always stay here, but I do look forward to whenever the hotel gets its renovation/refursbishment!
Dec 24, 2018, 2:43 pm
Dec 24, 2018, 3:01 pm
The StR isn’t as new and does need a renovation, but its service is top drawer. The StR knows how to handle discerning guests. The Post Oak hasn’t much of a clue. And the rates reflect that reality.
Ironically, my friends in Houston still say the StR, desperate as it may be for a refurbishment, is the toast of the town. The FS is a disaster of poor design and the JW is an exercise in huge and boring corporate design with little service ethos (much like the Post Oak).
Dec 24, 2018, 7:53 pm
Yikes. We have very different definitions of what constitutes a 5 star luxury hotel. It has to include excellent service to me, and there’s a reason so few luxury designations of Houston hotels include the Post Oak Hotel. The Post Oak has a very new, nice hard product, indeed—reminiscent of a flashy blend between Vegas and the Monarch Beach Hotel in SoCal—but is woefully lacking in 5 star service from the few times I’ve dined and had drinks there. Also, those hookers at the bar don’t really impress me.
So you’ve had drinks at the bar? Well okay. Look it’s trendy and plenty of eye candy but I’m not sure I’d say good looking ladies (and we’ll dressed guys too) means hookers automatically. Also, while I didn’t ask some random dude to unpack my suitcase for me no request went unanswered and their hard/soft product was light years above anything in Houston, including StR. Maybe the StR has a great restaurant but I will say I have NEVER been tempted to have a nice meal there as it was a typical hotel restaurant and i went somewhere else when I wanted a nice meal because the area has a few choices. I will say that outside of the ME, the StR Houston has more TV channels in Arabic than any other hotel I’ve stayed and also no CNBC but Bloomberg IIRC. Other guests were typical white business guys so I’m not trying to suggest anything here and I really wasn’t trying to badmouth the place but it’s really silly to defend it over Post Oak because of a few drinks.
The StR isn’t as new and does need a renovation, but its service is top drawer. The StR knows how to handle discerning guests. The Post Oak hasn’t much of a clue. And the rates reflect that reality.
Ironically, my friends in Houston still say the StR, desperate as it may be for a refurbishment, is the toast of the town. The FS is a disaster of poor design and the JW is an exercise in huge and boring corporate design with little service ethos (much like the Post Oak).
Dec 25, 2018, 4:55 am
Yikes. We have very different definitions of what constitutes a 5 star luxury hotel. It has to include excellent service to me, and there’s a reason so few luxury designations of Houston hotels include the Post Oak Hotel. The Post Oak has a very new, nice hard product, indeed—reminiscent of a flashy blend between Vegas and the Monarch Beach Hotel in SoCal—but is woefully lacking in 5 star service from the few times I’ve dined and had drinks there. Also, those hookers at the bar don’t really impress me.
The StR isn’t as new and does need a renovation, but its service is top drawer. The StR knows how to handle discerning guests. The Post Oak hasn’t much of a clue. And the rates reflect that reality.
Ironically, my friends in Houston still say the StR, desperate as it may be for a refurbishment, is the toast of the town. The FS is a disaster of poor design and the JW is an exercise in huge and boring corporate design with little service ethos (much like the Post Oak).
May 22, 2021, 9:14 am
My first stay, I was upgraded to a Grand Lux King room on the 3rd floor. This was a corner room where you walked into a long hallway with a large window and turned left to the bathroom and large standard room (full-size couch, separate chair, lounger, and large executive desk all included in the space). The bathroom was standard with a shower/tub combination. On my second stay, I used SNAs to upgrade into an Astor Suite on the 10th floor (not sure how stingy the property would be with this suite for normal upgrades) as I was staying for 5 nights. The Astor Suite is also a corner room that contains a half-bath, large living room, separate bedroom, and master bath with a large, jetted bath, separate shower, dual vanities, and bidet-fitted toilet.
The furniture in the rooms definitely has some wear and tear and is stylistically showing its age. However, I LOVED the beds - I got an amazing night's sleep each and every time I got in (plus, a couple of naps). Another positive was that the TVs were outfitted with Marriott's Internet TV system (Showtime, YouTube apps, etc.), which I've found to be pretty rare for legacy Starwood properties.
The breakfast benefit was a credit at Remington Restaurant (not sure how much) - I ended up getting pancakes most mornings. It wasn't the best hotel breakfast I've ever had, but it also wasn't the worst (definitely better than those that try to just give you fruit and a muffin).
As someone who primarily stays in normal FS properties, I was impressed with the service here as the staff made an effort to remember my name and was overall very courteous and kind. I especially loved how the valets remembered me on my second stay from my first stay. As a solo traveler who looks pretty young and drives a compact, non-luxury car, I never felt out-of-place, and the service never felt snobby to me.
Overall, this is a solid property with amazing beds if you can get over the somewhat dated aesthetics.
May 22, 2021, 9:19 am
My first stay, I was upgraded to a Grand Lux King room on the 3rd floor. This was a corner room where you walked into a long hallway with a large window and turned left to the bathroom and large standard room (full-size couch, separate chair, lounger, and large executive desk all included in the space). The bathroom was standard with a shower/tub combination. On my second stay, I used SNAs to upgrade into an Astor Suite on the 10th floor (not sure how stingy the property would be with this suite for normal upgrades) as I was staying for 5 nights. The Astor Suite is also a corner room that contains a half-bath, large living room, separate bedroom, and master bath with a large, jetted bath, separate shower, dual vanities, and bidet-fitted toilet.
The furniture in the rooms definitely has some wear and tear and is stylistically showing its age. However, I LOVED the beds - I got an amazing night's sleep each and every time I got in (plus, a couple of naps). Another positive was that the TVs were outfitted with Marriott's Internet TV system (Showtime, YouTube apps, etc.), which I've found to be pretty rare for legacy Starwood properties.
The breakfast benefit was a credit at Remington Restaurant (not sure how much) - I ended up getting pancakes most mornings. It wasn't the best hotel breakfast I've ever had, but it also wasn't the worst (definitely better than those that try to just give you fruit and a muffin).
As someone who primarily stays in normal FS properties, I was impressed with the service here as the staff made an effort to remember my name and was overall very courteous and kind. I especially loved how the valets remembered me on my second stay from my first stay. As a solo traveler who looks pretty young and drives a compact, non-luxury car, I never felt out-of-place, and the service never felt snobby to me.
Overall, this is a solid property with amazing beds if you can get over the somewhat dated aesthetics.
May 22, 2021, 12:29 pm
May 22, 2021, 12:45 pm