The Westin Houston Downtown

This is the second time we have had this problem with this Westin. We booked a room, but there were no rooms with two beds, so we were told we would receive a rollaway bed upon arrival. My husband and daughter checked in for a tournament weekend and were told that unfortunately there were no beds even though we were assured there would be when we booked the room. Now one sleeps on the floor and one in the bed. Not okay.

I kinda like this hotel, but they could make a couple of changes that would make it a five star rating for me. First… when we arrived at valet, they came and opened my door but not my wife’s door… this drives me nuts. We left and returned to the property a couple of more times and at no time did they open her door. When we were checking out, I directed the valet to go and open her door. Maybe it’s just me but this is an easy fix. Secondly… still on the valet. I called down for my car and they have a text system which I’m not a big fan of because now they have my number that I don’t trust them with but even worse than that, I get a text from them within 3 – 5 minutes after I got my car asking me to respond to a survey about their service. Who doesn’t realize that I’m driving at that time and really don’t need any unnecessary text message. Maybe send this the next day or after I have checked out. And lastly… the front desk initially didn’t seem very hospitable. However I admit that by the time I got my room key I could see the attitude change to a more customer focused attitude. I am a student of people have spent most of my professional career understanding people, reading and interpreting body language and focusing on service. It would be smart for this property to begin to focus on service across their business.
I will go back, because like I said, I kinda like this hotel However if I see these things on my next trip, I’ll be back at the Hyatt, Hilton or Marriott (not necessarily in that order!).

The café in the Westin Houston Downtown is a true Diamond! The food taste great! The service is excellent! The portions are generous! The price is affordable!

Loved this hotel, I had a suite which I didn’t really need but it was an awesome room. Love the bar area in the center of the hotel, they actually had really good food. I was too tired to go anywhere else so I had their fish tacos. They were really good and came with a homemade green salsa. Bar service was great as well.
Loved staying here and will stay here again next time I am in town.

Pro: Walking distance to the Minute Maid park
Con: Imagine how bad traffic would be during a game day
Pro: Plenty of street parking on weekends so you’re not forced to valet like most hotels in downtown area.
Con: None unless you choose to valet. It’s still pretty pricey!
Pro: Heavenly beds
Con: The thin walls and outside noise take away from the heavenly experience
Pro: No room card needed to use the elevators
Con: Non-​guests can easily go up to the guest rooms
Pro: Room service is pretty quick
Con: Chicken quesadilla was more like 95% cheese an 5% chicken quesadilla. Seriously, where’s the meat?
A decent hotel with a reasonable rate, pretty friendly staff, and comfy beds.
Good enough!

Love this hotel. Service is fantastic, staff is super friendly and rooms are extremely nice. Will definitely be staying here on my next trip.

I would have given zero stars if possible. I booked this hotel on my company website and did not notice that it was a prepaid rate– meaning if canceled at any time, you lose 100% of your money. My travel plans changed to a later date — I canceled the trip and now $ 280 has been charged to my credit card and the Westin refuses to reverse the charge. They said this was a special rate — $ 280 is a special rate? I’d hate to see what their normal rates are. So basically they just took $ 280 and provided absolutely no service. I plan to dispute the transaction with my credit card company but, if this is what customer service means to the Westin they will not get another dollar from me in the future. Business or personal.
From a frequent traveler — goodbye Westin and all of your other chains.

Good rooms, basic hotel. Close to a lot of things downtown near the ballpark. I enjoyed the bar. the bar seem very well run and the staff was friendly.

Do not stay here. Scabies alert. Or was it bed bugs? All I asked them to do was reimburse medical. What a BS response. Seriously. This was a sad experience.

I have never experienced anything like I have at The Westin Houston Downtown. As a former Marriott rewards member, I decided to make the switch to SPG and reserve a room in the Houston area. I had a meeting in Pasadena, but when I saw that I could stay downtown at The Westin for the price I was given, I decided to stay downtown. Upon arrival, I was surprised at the callousness and attitude of the front desk. When I gave him my name, he told me something like, «I need your Starwood Employee card». Since I am not, and never have been, a Starwood employee, I told him that I do not have one, and that I just reserved the room with my new SPG account. He then told me that he would not be able to give me the rate that had been quoted to me, and that the price would be $ 160 more! I told him that I felt that this was not right (I’ve booked hundreds of hotel rooms and nothing like this has ever happened before). I told them that because they gave me the rate, they should honor the pricing. At that point, another lady from the front desk got very aggressive and said, «No, YOU are the one who made the reservation, and this is how it works.»
Because I had a meeting at 6:00, I decided to just suck it up and check-​in. It was $ 27 for parking, and then when i got up to the room and saw that they wanted $ 10 for wifi, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I called the manager and left a message. I then went downstairs into the lobby and used the free wifi to take care of some business. After about 20 minutes, the manager called me back. I told him that i thought this was wrong, and his response was similar to the front desk. He even made the comment «I don’t know if you googled this and figured out how to book at an employee rate or what, but this doesn’t happen». At that point I just told him to forget about it, and I will find a room somewhere else. I then called the Hilton right down the road and booked a room for $ 20 less and the quality of the room and location was much better. The customer service was incredible, and the bed was the most comfortable I’ve stayed slept in for some time. My suggestion is to go down the road to the Hilton.
I am now cancelling my reservations with Starwood Hotels and have created a Hilton rewards account. I also will continue to reach out to Starwood and make sure that they are aware how Westin Downtown Houston treats their guests, and see if they agree with the way this was handled.

Nice rooms, very basic hotel. Close to a lot of things downtown, however the young lady at the front desk was very rude. So much so, that I probably won’t stay there again. But overall it’s okay.

Drove in to see the Astros vs D-​Backs. We ended up here almost be default as it was the only hotel we could walk to Minute Maid Park from. After doing a last minute reservation I gotta say we were very impressed with all aspects of the stay. The valet parking was easy to get to, bellmen was waiting for us, greeter opened door with a smile, front desk lady was very pleasant & the rooms were really comfortable. We ordered food to our rooms after the game. The food was well cooked & tasted very well. We woke up to a view of the ball park. All in all its a baseball fans dream location. You cant beat a 2 minute walk to the main entrance of the park.

I was impressed with their Lobby bar for happy hour. They have drink specials and quality light bites such as tuna tartar, sliders, truffle fries, and shrimp quesadillas for $ 5 – 7 each from 4pm to 7pm. Just enough to fill you up before going to the ball game stadium across the street. The service could be improved as there was not enough staff to assist on a Tuesday evening.

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In Your Search For a Hotel Near Minute Maid Park!!!
If you could open your hotel room window on the Texas Street side, you could throw a baseball and hit the ballpark. Seriously — it’s that close!
The hotel is very well run. Security is tighter on nights/​days when a more desirable team (Like the Yankees or Royals) come to town. There are a few derelicts around the hotel, but security knows them.
— Bar is located in the lobby
— Restaurant (Not bad) is located adjacent to bar
–Coffee is a bit of a mystery in Houston. I needed to hire a private detective to locate a Starbucks. The hotel has a small coffee area. However, it’s open in the morning, but they close during the day? On Sunday, forget any chances of finding anything (businesses) open. This place rolls-​up.
–Elevators work quickly; not a lot of waiting.
— Air conditioning works Very Well!
If you rent a car — You have to use hotel valet parking. There are lots near hotel, but by the time you figure out where they are… you’ll be leaving!
— One last thing. Construction… Downtown is under construction on every street, avenue, highway. GPS will instruct you to turn onto a certain street however, that street could be completely re routed.
Go Astros’ !!!

Terrible customer service. Could not check me in at 2pm because my room was not clean. They have same room types clean but the unclean room was already assigned to me by the computer and she can’t override the computer only the manger can do that. Oh and the manager is on lunch break…
Stayed here many times before when it was Inn at Ballpark and never had issues. Back to the Icon for me.

What it is: A modern hotel with spacious rooms, very comfortable beds, friendly staff, and really reasonable prices for delicious in-​room dining options!
Parking: There is no self-​parking on the property, so valet parking is required at $ 26 a night. They give you a ticket, and what I really liked is that you can just text them your car number in your room when you’re ready to leave and your car will be waiting downstairs in 10 minutes. If you want to save a little cash, park across the street in an open lot for $ 20 a night.
Room location: It’s important to note that there are rooms that face inward, towards the lobby. I got one of these rooms on the 2^nd floor, so I was never able to open the curtains and therefore get natural sunshine. I would wake up in the morning, feeling like it was still the middle of the night. If you need your vitamin D, call ahead and request a room that faces the outdoor world! On the plus side, my room was also able to pick up the free lobby wi-​fi. So I guess it’s a give and take.
Location: There’s not much going on in the surroundings, so don’t expect a happening nightlife, accessible convenience markets, or restaurants.
In-​room dining: I normally never order food at hotels, but because we had limited for food nearby, in-​room dining was a really great option! The food is delicious, and they give you a great portion for the price!

First time staying here at the Westin hotel and i love it! This is now one of my favorite hotels to stay in houston. My family and I drove in from New Orleans to Houston so we were exhausted. The employees greeted us at the front and helped us with our luggages and bags to the room. Our rooms were beautiful and clean. We ordered room service and let me tell you, the employees were very professional! They greeted us and asked where can they place the food tray and waited on us. Great manners. And i love that! Excellent service! The food was so delicious! We ordered late night dining and breakfast for the family and it was so good!
Although, i feel like the female employees at the front desk were not so friendly. They just stared at us when we walked out of the hotel and when we came back. But other then that, i had an amazing stay here. I would definitely come back to stay here again whenever I go to Houston.

Lovely room, spacious, clean, and well-​appointed. The bathroom was palatial. They were thoughtful with the products and goodies in the room (tea accessory packet, Q tips and cotton balls, Nice little details.) My room looked out at the church across the street. The concierge staff were helpful and professional.
Now for the not so great things — parking and internet are expensive add ons. It seemed puzzling that parking would cost so much in an area that felt so dead. The location was less than ideal if you like to be able to wander around and check out the surrounding area, bars, restaurants. Lots of construction, dim lighting on the city blocks near the hotel, and no people. The hotel bar was your average bar, nothing fancy, and not particularly good food. If I come back to downtown Houston again I think I’d stay somewhere closer to discovery green, which seems to have more going on.

I was very happy with my stay here-​from the great front desk staff, to the comfortable bed and tasty room service I will definitely be back! The location was great, plenty of parking and attractions within walking distance. We stayed in a corner room that had a nice view with windows all around the room. The room was beautiful, with some great extra touches like a sewing kit, nail file and extra towels. I was also surprised by the price of the room service, much less expensive than anticipated! The room was also spacious with high ceilings and lots of light-​very nice!
It’s always nice to be put in a great room when you book through a third party site (
). I’m always a little worried you’ll end up with the worst room right by the elevator but I think we had one of the best locations on the floor.
All in all, when visiting Houston this will be one of my first choices!

Formerly the Inn at the Ballpark, Westin’s newest Houston property is a stone’s throw from Minute Maid park. Too bad the Astros seem to be sinking further and further into doom. :(
I digress.
I had heard inklings that this property was not that great. So, when I walked in and saw this beautiful lobby, I was pleasantly surprised.
This Westin is pretty small. Significantly smaller than the properties in this immediate area. This can be a good or bad thing – depending on how you look at it. It’s a 10 – 15 minute walk to George R Brown. It definitely has a lot of leftover «look and feel» from the previous brand. This is mostly a good thing, minus the restaurant (which is pretty hideous). The lobby is spacious and invites relaxed conversation. Cool bar area, too.
The staff is still getting their groove following a brand change. When I checked in, they seemed to be unfamiliar with Platinum amenities and other business related to the loyal traveler. No worries, they’ll get it all soon. It was evident that they’re trying hard.
Onto the room. The hallways are beautiful. Lots of dark wood and cool gray tones. Definitely not what you’re used to at a Westin. My room (on the 11^th floor — I can’t be sure if every room would be the same) was exceptionally beautiful. It smelled and seemed brand new. Part wood floors, part carpet. Beautiful colors. Lots of light. Big bathroom. Awesome waterfall shower head (I’m 6’2″ and I had plenty of clearance). Amazing Westin bed. TONS of easily accessible outlets and efficient workspace. Also, there’s a ceiling fan. This is almost worthy of an entire Unilocal star (hot as heck in Houston). Oh, and the AC works great.
Valet parking is the only option. Comes to $ 28/​night. Way cheaper than the Hilton down the street. The restaurant is decent. In line with Westin’s push to offer healthier options. Breakfast buffet is $ 16.
Two areas where they need to improve:
— The bathroom floor (wood) was pretty filthy. It looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a while (to the point where I was weary to walk barefoot).
— At check-​in, a 4pm late check out was confirmed. Come 2pm on check out day (during which time I was leading conference calls) my room phone is ringing off the hook. Housekeeping calling to ask me to leave. Tsk tsk.
Overall, I really like this Westin. Assuming the rates are right (and reflect that it’s a bit of a walk to George R Brown), I’ll stay here frequently.