Stay Report: Hilton Houston Galleria, SW Freeway (May 2017)

Stay Report: Hilton Houston Galleria, SW Freeway
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We have stayed at many hotels in and around the Houston Galleria area.  Some of them are nice, others not so much but I am always looking to try different hotels in the area.  We were going to be in Houston and had heard good things about the Hilton Houston Galleria so decided to check it out.  First, the hotel is not near the Galleria; the hotel is located off of Hillcroft and that is about a 15-minute drive to the Galleria.  The hotel itself is located on the interstate service road and does not have a lot of curb appeal.  The hotel recently underwent renovations - both inside and out - so the outside the hotel looks nicer now.  The hotel is surrounded by plenty of free parking.  There is not a lot within walking distance, but there is a lot within a 15 minute car ride.

The main entrance to the hotel is on a street of the service lane.  There are two entrances to the hotel - one to the main lobby and one to the meeting rooms/conference area.  If you enter through the conference area, you walk past the conference rooms as past the elevators to get to the main lobby.  If walk through the main entrance, then you enter into the main lobby with the check-in counter on your right-hand side.  Given the large size of the lobby, the check-in counter was a bit small.  Check-in was a quick and with our key we proceeded up to our room.

The room itself was nice and spacious and looked updated after the renovation.  When you entered into the room, you entered into a wide space which had - on the left hand side - the closet and the bathroom.  The closet was a big size and offered plenty of space, and it also contained the safe, iron, and ironing board.  The bathroom was a bit small but decent and contained a tub, toilet, and sink.  As you entered further into the room, along the wall on the right-hand side table with the coffee machine on top.  It was a little out of place but the table provided a nice place to rest keys when you entered into the room.  Continuing along the wall was the TV on top of chest with drawers on the bottom.  The drawers also contained the mini-fridge.  Further along the wall was the desk which provided a nice, wide working space and lots of counter space.  We had requested a room with two beds, and these were located against the opposite wall.  The beds were generally comfortable and provided a nice sleep.  Overall, the room was spacious and the beds comfortable but there were two negatives to the room - one was a lack of outlets (it was definitely a struggle to find more than one outlet) and two was the sound-proofing.  Either the room had no soundproofing or our floor was very loud because we heard almost every noise throughout the night.  The lack of quiet led to a very uncomfortable night.

Amenities the hotel provides include restaurant dining, fitness, pool, business services, and free wifi.  Due to my limited time, I was only able to try the free in-room wifi.  The wifi was generally strong and provided enough data to check email, browse the internet, and stream youtube.  

Overall, it was an interesting stay at this Hilton.  The refurbishment of the hotel definitely makes the hotel look more appealing and since the hotel is located a bit further away from the Galleria, their prices are about $10-$15 cheaper than Galleria hotels.  This is coupled with the free parking at the hotel overall provides a less expensive stay; however, it the overall price was not that much cheaper.  If my intention was to go to the Galleria, then I would have spent the little extra funds to be closer.  If my goal was to stay within this area, then its a fine hotel.