The Houston Club

I was very disappointed with my experience with this business. I planned to have one of my wedding receptions at this venue in June 2016 and in January, I found out that my mom had metastatic cancer. I felt that the courteous thing to do would be to inform all my vendors about the situation as I had decided I would plan a smaller wedding and expedite the wedding to February at a destination setting so that my mom could begin therapy sooner. So I notify, Jeanna, in sales about the new change of events, and before she even responded to my email she charged my credit card on file the 40% cancellation fee and then responded to my email and told me about her actions and firmly told me that under no circumstances do they make exceptions to their cancellation policy. Meanwhile, my plan was to apply the deposit I had put down to another event. When I informed her that I was hoping I could have used that towards another event, she changed her tone and was more approachable and then gave me a week to come up with a new date for my planned event. It was pretty ridiculous. Like I was not going through enough emotional distress, now I was frantically calling my wedding planner trying to find a tentative date to give that would work with both our schedules. It was so overwhelming that I told her to just forget about it and she could cancel the event. Mind you, I gave her 5 months notice before the event! It was a terrible experience. I had also planned a wedding reception at the Four Seasons (I’m African and we do a double wedding a few days apart — so two weddings, two receptions etc). When I contacted the Four Seasons they were so understanding and gave me time to get myself together while still holding my credit. So I was able to us the credit towards another event which was perfectly planned with one of their sales rep. Now that is customer service! It’s not like I was even asking the Houston Club to refund my deposit. It was a very unique situation and I was under so much stress, I could not believe how I was treated. Especially with giving 5 months notice, I’m sure they could have booked another event for that day without losing any money. So I do not recommend using this venue as their customer service is TERRIBLE. They do not care about you and are not understanding, and are only after your MONEY. If you want to plan a great event, stick with one of the venues with great customer service like the Four Seasons or Houstonian. Though the ballroom on the 49^th floor is beautiful and the view is breath-​taking, you will definitely be treated poorly. If there was zero stars that would have been my actual rating! TERRIBLE! I am just now giving a review because I have been busy dealing with my moms health issues as this experience occurred in January, but definitely an unforgettable encounter.

I have been a member here for about a month now and can definitely say it is worth it for me. I work from my home office a lot when I am not working out of town and it has been a pleasure to be able to come up to the club and use one of the Touchdown Rooms (small offices) to have a change of scenery. The staff is extremely nice and very helpful. As a member you get 50% off of all of the a la carte food — alcohol not discounted unfortunately. I was a chef in my early 20’s and I can say that the food in the Alan’s Landing Restaurant is good for the sticker price and very good after the discount. I usually spend twice to three times as much at Carrabba’s on Kirby or Brasserie 19 for lunches. The service is great — the staff knows me by name (within two days of me going). The view is spectacular as well. We have a two year old at home and not yet had the time to eat dinner in the Magnolia Restaurant in the Houston Club, but I have heard pretty good things from the people I have met there. As for the couple of the negative reviews posted to Unilocal — This is not Brennan’s — It’s also not nearly as expensive. You cannot expect that level here, but they definitely get extremely close. My dinner last night at Brenner’s had similar food to what I have seen on the menu at the club, but I probably spent as much as what my monthly membership and a dinner would have cost at the club. As for the membership aspect — I was actually pleasantly shocked at the membership price when I was first looking at the place — It is pretty cheap for what you get. As a member of this club I get access to all of the golf clubs in the Club Corp Network with at least one free round a month at each of them in the the Houston area and two rounds if it is more than 50 miles away from Houston. I get unlimited access to the Metropolitan Racquet Club in downtown to work out, The Houston City Club in Downtown for business or working out… Now the Woodlands Country Club was just purchased by Club Corp, so I will be able to use that as well. There are many more benefits to this place as well. In summation, just a gym membership for my wife and I at LA Fitness was going to be $ 110 a month and I pay $ 40 more than that a month for all of the above — you do the math.
As a note — Most of my days are pretty casual (unless I have meetings to go to), so yes it is a small pain to dress a bit nicer to come up to the club. But, I fully understand it — It’s a business club. I have actually found that I like dressing up and looking like I have the job that I actually have. I have been able to entertain clients and colleagues with great success. Everyone loves coming up there to the point that I get phone calls from colleagues checking if I am able to take them up for lunch.

Been a member for a few months now I’m definitely enjoying the amenities. The sad part is though, I can’t make use of the free golf at the member courses. In addition to getting a discount at Allen’s Landing and Magnolia room, it’s great to be able to use the meeting facilities and buy out the rooms to give a presentation while lunching.
They also stage weddings … there have been two booked here in recent memory.
The views of downtown are the best in the city, and it’s a great venue for 4^th of July to see the fireworks from my office adjacent to it. On each table is a pair of binoculars to spy around downtown and I can see everything from BBVA compass stadium to the Toyota Center…
My favorite menu items:
–Kobe Burger with waffle fries & fruit
–Penne Pasta
–Shrimp Salad
–Salmon
–Sweet potato soup
–Southwest wraps
–any of the appetizers
Make sure you park in One Shell Plaza after 5:30pm for free parking for special events if you do join. You can also walk to any destination downtown from here while parked. Members under 40 are in the Young Professional group — events still cost extra though available exclusively to members. Lunch at these events is a 3 course affair with a decadent dessert if you’re still awake toward the end.
For sports events they get out their super huge 70″ screens so you can see all the plays that the ref missed and then go bonkers… within reason. The staff here is super nice, and although service is slow because I imagine they cook everything to perfection — the person (s) you bring here will have enough to talk about over the view, the ambience and wine.
I brought my girlfriend here and it was about $ 30 each for lunch which is comparable to café Artista… but I thought the portions here are bigger. I have yet to treat myself to the steak, but the salmon was delicious!

I don’t know what the other reviewers are complaining about. Food was fantastic, spicy sweet potato soup, macadamia encrusted mahi mahi, and chocolate bread pudding. Service was prompt and attentive, but not annoying. Ambiance is a bit stiff, but it’s quiet and pleasant with amazing views of Houston from the 49^th floor.
What’s not to love? We’ll definitely be back.

A evening to remember. Coming across The Houston Club was a recommendation from a present member. Making the step to make a reservation, my husband joined me for a wonderful date night. Our server John was spectacular, very knowledgable of the menu and wines. Our experience was a breeze, also the food was the crème de la crème. Very delightful on the recommendations John guided us to. French press coffee and dessert was a wonderful last touch. Highly a fan of The magnolia room, will take a step in becoming a member as well. The view will make you dream out loud.

Wasn’t sure whether to put this review under the Plaza Club or here, since the Houston Club has taken over where the Plaza Club was located in One Shell on the 49^th floor. (Go to the 47^th floor and transfer to another elevator for the 49^th). Met a group here for lunch. Regular good private club feel with good service. Magnificent views of the city — that’s worth going here for just that. The décor is fresh and luxurious — but, the table we sat at was very tall and the chair height didn’t quite match up. So, it felt like we we were sitting at a bar where you needed to almost rest your arms on the table to eat. I had the blue cheeze turkey burger served with waffle fries. It was okay. Salads, bread and the crab cakes were all okay as well. Good — but, nothing that would make you want to return just for the food. Still, overall fun and enjoyable lunch out.

So this review only pertains to the food. The Houston Club moved to the 48^th floor of One Shell Plaza. The view is spectacular but it is being renovated so only the bar area is open. So as of now, you don’t have access to 360 views. The inside is also contemporary and not stuffy or old Texas feeling.
I ordered the soup of the day and a special lunch entrée, so I’m not sure how helpful this review will be. The soup was fine. The BLT sliders (with green tomatoes and arugula) were not so great. They were overloaded with a basil aioli. It was literally dripping out of the sandwich. The bacon also sucked. It was thick and chewy (not in a good way). With these as a proxy for the quality of their food (maybe not the best indicator), I wouldn’t recommend this place when there are so many great restaurants in Houston.

My old megahuge law firm’s practice group used to do the winter holiday party here. So I got to feel super fancy for a few hours in between my breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana (back in the days when that magnificent beast was still open on the Montrose/​Westheimer corner) and my Taco Bell dinner after the bars.
This is a really nice place to hold a special event — definitely a lot different view-​wise but otherwise very much the same as the Petroleum Club. I think it is a cool place, even if I am an «outsider» as Sam V.‘s lengthier review seems to peg quite well.
I would definitely host a special event or meeting here if I could afford it (which I can’t at the moment but who knows what the future holds.)

The Houston Club has been in Houston since the late 1800’s. it is home to a great history of tradition and new Houston … Having been there with my Dad and his company for years (like since it was ALL MEN) … the club has certainly stepped into the 21 st with a woman at the helm and what a job she is doing … this is a great club for networking and the folks are pretty friendly considering they have known each for years … the new PR person is working hard to continue an influx of new members … what’s wrong with tradition and the future coming together. give it a try

Ah, the smell of old money and incest. It almost reeks of cigar smoke and good old boys — all gathered in their lush little private club, shielded from the outsiders and riffraff. That’s the vibe you’ll get after stepping off one of the scarily shaky elevators into the bowels of the Esperson Building’s 9^th floor.
Now, I’m not saying this place sucks — in fact, given how this place has maintained its’ original flavor — it’s actually pretty damn cool again. The food and service are both very good. Maybe not a dining destination, but certainly a good place for association meetings and events (of which I’ve attended several here). They have different rooms with different Texas/​local themes which all have a very cool «old-​timer» ambiance — kinda makes you want to have seen what the oil boom days must have been like. But I’m having a problem shaking the fact that this place was born of money and its’ kept mainly in the family (i.e. good old boy network) which gives me the distinct impression that I am not really welcome here.