Howard Johnson Express Inn – Houston

We stayed at this hotel for one night before our cruise out of Galveston. It is about 10 minutes from the cruise terminal/​dock, but across the street was a shuttle service that ran every 15 minutes and was $ 10 a piece so that wasn’t too bad. Overall the hotel is one of the cheaper options on Galveston and it really isn’t too bad. It hasn’t been remodeled but it was clean at least.

Do not stay here! There are multiple reasons why but the biggest reason is that we found a bug that looked very much like a tick in the bed my kids were sleeping in last night. I’m not sure what bed bugs look like so it could have been one of those for all I know. Either way it was disgusting. There were toenail clippings on the floor and hair in the bath tub. The comforters had stains and cigarette holes in them. I would not let my kids walk around barefoot. When I took the bug down to the office, the lady said, «We’ve been painting so that’s probably why it’s there. At least it’s dead.» No, not why ticks or bed bugs show up and I do not care that it’s dead. It was there, end of story. And she said that because I booked through a travel site I could not get a discount on the room. She mentioned she would let the manager know and that was it. I don’t usually complain but there was too much wrong with this room to let it go. I will be contacting corporate to let them know about our experience. Just nasty!!!

Very clean, friendly enough desk staff. No complaints. Good for one night although parking can be a pain in the small tight lot.

Well it is what it is. A bargain in the heights. Older but overall clean. Fast checkin. You know when you book this place what you are getting. If you want the Crowne Plaza, she’ll out more dough. Tv worked great. Good selection of channels. Clean sheets. Micro and fridge in room. If I was paying more I would be upset. But I am not!

My husband stayed here on a business trip last night. The room smelled bug bomb, the Ac was off and took over two hours to cool off the room. The breakfast buffet was horrible, the hash browns were cooked on the outside and raw in the middle, the eggs had no flavor at all. The whole breakfast area was smaller them our breakfast nook at home. The parking is inadequate. The desk staff was curt.

We have a non-​refundable reservation and decide to take the financial hit and not stay there. The free breakfast is a small table, 2 chairs, and cereal. The staff is not service oriented and claimed they had a beautiful room. We saw the room and it reeked of smoke and non-​smoking rooms were not available because of a conference. They claimed there are not other rooms which they lied. This is a glorified Motel 6. Do not stay there as they have deceiving practices and partner with HotWire to fool folks. Yes, I fell for their deceiving practices. I hope you do not.

Got booked here on a business trip (so it was not my choice). Room had a fruity smell. Tv was a piece of junk. i found one dead bug in the bathroom on the first night. But it was like $ 55 a night, so i guess you get what you pay for, right?

No complaints whatsoever — this was a nice, solid, simple night’s stay at a decent mid-​range hotel. The parking was a little tight, and the roads were torn up by construction, but that’s not the hotel management’s fault. The room was clean and neat, everything was as promised, we had no trouble at all with any of our stay, and we even appreciated the presence of a Bhagavad-​Gita next to the Gideon Bible. Recommended for any traveler on a budget, and it’s plenty close to all the shopping you need as well as a quick hop to downtown.

It costs less than $ 50 a night so don’t expect any fancy. The hotel was clean and had enough space. The neighborhood was a bit scary looking at first though. We stayed here one night since we spend the weekend in Houston. No complaints. Highly recommend if you are on a shoestring budget and just need a place to store your bags, take a shower and spend the night.

I stayed at this HoJo when I drove to Houston over the weekend for a concert. I was looking for something cheap within 5 miles of the downtown area. That being said, I knew going into it that $ 47 a night wasn’t going to be like the Sheraton.
There was some confusion at check-​in because we were late. The 1100 mile drive took a little longer than expected. I had booked the room for Fri night in case we got in at like 4am Sat, knowing that we’d damn well want a bed. Didn’t get in until late enough for Sat checkin, but since it was my bad I didn’t mind paying for Fri, and booked through Priceline I couldn’t get a refund anyway. Whatever, after 20 hrs on the road, just check me the hell in, I’ll pay.
The manager seemed to think he needed to charge me again, even though I paid Priceline. So he charged my card, and then when I asked him to clarify why he was double charging me, he refunded the card without a real explanation. So, if I hadn’t caught on, or been slightly more comatose, would he have pocketed my extra $ 50? I can’t be sure… But he did refund me, and that was it.
Getting to the House of Blues downtown was cake, even on a Houston city bus. I had researched the bus routes, and found a crazy easy option, with a bus stop less than a half mile from the hotel. I’m considering moving to Houston, so I want to know what the transit system is like, and I liked it. Get wasted at the hotel, then spend $ 2.50 to get downtown and back – sounds great.
I didn’t notice anything wrong with the bed at all, and it seems that the free breakfast has improved vastly since the earlier reviews as well. In addition to powdered mini donuts, there were bagels, fruit (apples & bananas), hot coffee (with half & half, not just non-​dairy powder), a juice machine with apple & orange juice (from concentrate, but it was cold and good), cold cereals, but the crowning glory was the ready-​to-​go waffle iron and batter. I was able to make a fresh Belgian waffle! No syrup left, but come on. HoJo. Less than $ 50. And I got a waffle!!!

For $ 40 a night, you get what you pay for. This HoJo is clean, mostly quiet– the first night some drunk people stumbling to their room at 3 am woke me, but the next night I probably committed the same crime, and such misdemeanors happen even in pricier hotels, soo…
So, the neighborhood isn’t amenity-​filled, but it’s very convenient to the Heights, Washington Ave, Museum District, and Downtown.
The continental breakfast is amongst the most lackluster I’ve seen (white bread, bag of mini-​bagels, two types of cereal, coffee, juice, DIY waffles), but all the staff I encountered was nice, parking was free and easy, there’s a fridge and microwave in every room, and they get lots of cable channels. I didn’t try to use the wi-​fi.

I think the other reviewers were a little harsh, this is a Howard Johnson we’re talking about. I don’t know, maybe I’m just used to motel chains because that’s what my family always stays in because we refuse to pay more than $ 100 a night for a simple bed to sleep in.
First of all, the location is right off the Highway, I didn’t notice any riff-​raff around and the buildings around it seemed to be run-​down/​older business buildings. The road noise was noticeable when I first checked in, but I didn’t notice it when I was falling asleep. I LIKE the soft beds, I slept like a rock. Have a few beers before your head hits the pillow and you won’t care how the bed feels (speaking from personal experience). Which brings me to another point, the mini fridge! Very nice to have a mini fridge in the room, not something I see often in motels. Microwave too, but I didn’t use it.
The continental breakfast wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it consisted of more than powdered donuts. I went an hour before they stopped serving and there was: white bread, bagels, bananas, apples, of course the donuts, two types of cereal, oat meal, coffee, apple juice, orange juice, coffee and tea.
The wireless worked fine for me, and the manager was quiet but cordial.
I had some troubles getting from the hotel to downtown, but that’s mostly my GPS’s fault. I would definitely stay here again.

We wanted something cheap, and this was $ 200 for four days/​three nights. The room was clean and neat– no complaints there. Our king size bed, however, felt like a giant squishy marshmallow, in a bad way. I don’t mind a soft bed, but this was soft to the point of feeling like I was going to get a back problem. I slept fine, however my husband barely slept the whole time we were there so we won’t go back.
As for the wireless, it worked for us, but man was it slow. I refrained from doing anything other than checking my email while we were there. Forget Google maps. Waiting for it to load gave me enough time to make tea or coffee. Considering many of the high-​priced hotels in the area charge for ‘net access, I wasn’t complaining too much though, and there’s a jack in the room if you remember to bring an ethernet cable. That’s gotta be faster, right?
The «continental breakfast» was white powdered donettes and some coffee from a dispenser. There was a jug of orange juice in the fridge. The whole time we were there none of the owners spoke to us or even looked at us. The cereal dispensers were almost empty, and there was a bag of white bread on a toaster. I opted out. They did have travel containers for their coffee though. There’s a Starbucks across the highway– might be worth it to just suck it up and go there for breakfast.
Basically, this place offers a cheap, clean place to stay and will probably be fine for most needs.
If you stay here, rent a car. You’ll need it to get to the food options nearby and surely, your destinations in the city.

«Earth to Randall.»
Roger Houston.
«Don’t wait until the last minute to book a hotel downtown, you dumb ass.»
Copy.
Because if you do, you won’t get anything for under $ 300/​night and you’ll end up staying… HERE.
The male owner is about as rude as it gets. When the wireless wasn’t working he tried to lecture me (for whatever reason) that it must be my computer. I tried to tell him that wasn’t the case and that he probably needed to re-​set his modem. When he continued to argue I told him this was something that I did for a living. Amazingly, he said «Yeah, well so do I.» Really? So you own this motel and live off the office… just for the sheer thrill?
I’ll politely call the neighborhood unkempt, because I don’t have proof that it should be called Johnny Crack Corner. But if you Houstonites are thinking about naming this neighborhood, that might be a good starting point.
Why is the showerhead at my sternum? And could I get more than one towel? Actually, calling the white sandpaper cloth I got a towel is a stretch. At any rate, could I get two of them?
2 stars because the room was clean and it was cheap and I didn’t hear any drug deals going down.