Stay Report: Courtyard Houston by The Galleria (Houston, Texas - December 2014)

Stay Report: Courtyard Houston by the Galleria

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photo courtesy of Hotels.com

Even though there are many hotels within the Galleria area - some good and others not - new hotels are being built in the area and I like to try them to find the best hotel in the area.  The Courtyard Houston Galleria is located a block of Westheimer and is near the Galleria Mall, about a 5-10 minute walk.  The hotel and the Homewood Suites share the same building, which takes up the entire width of the block.  The hotel itself as zero curb appeal as the entrance to the building looks like an alley way that is open on both sides.  On one side of the alleyway is the entrance to the Courtyard while the Homewood Suites entrance is on the other side of the alleyway.  On the main level is the entrance to the parking garage as well as the lobby; the lobby is located underneath the garage and rooms so its looks more like a basement lobby.  

photo courtesy of Priceline.com

As you enter the lobby, on the right side is the check-in desk while on the left side is a really big restaurant and sitting area.  The restaurants serves breakfast (complimentary depending on which rate you booked), lunch and dinner.  Courtyard has partnered with many sports teams so there is a big TV in the lobby surrounding by coaches so guests can watch the games.  The lobby also contains the 'open' business center which contains 3 computers and a printer tucked on one side of the restaurant.  While the computers were quite slow, the availability of the computers and the printer is a nice addition.  Beyond the check-in desks was a lobby that contained other facilities such as the entrance to the parking garage (which has a daily charge) and the entrance to the pool and gym.  On the other side of the lobby was another hallway that led ot the meeting rooms.  The elevators to the rooms were located in the middle, and in front of the elevators was a table which contained scented-water and cookies on Sunday (chocolate, oatmeal and macadamia).


Check-in was efficient and I quickly received my key and proceeded to the room.  The room itself was pretty decent in term of size and comfort, it was just dark.  As you enter into the room, you enter in a corridor which leads to the bedroom area.  In the corridor, on the left is the bathroom which contains a toilet, a sink, and a shower.  The bathroom also contained the rooms only mirrors, which is a bit inconvenient as if someone is using the bathroom then no one can utilize the mirrors.  In between the bathroom and the room area was a little nook which contained a fridge on the bottom and a coffee maker on top.  The nook was built to look like a mini bar as there were shelves above the nook which contained the glasses.

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

The bedroom area itself was open and wide,  This room had two double beds with a shared nightstand in the middle.  The beds were spacious, comfortable, and provided a good nights sleep.  The lamps on the shared nightstand had plugs on the bottom making charging devices very easy.  On the other side of the wall, across from the beds, was an armoire which contained storage space as well as an iron and ironing board.  The closet was big, only partially opened up, and did not seem like the best use of the space.  Next to the armoire was a desk that contained the TV, the telephone, another lamp with more plugs (additional plugs were located underneath the desk, and a pull out table.  In between the second bed and the window was sitting chair, and there was enough room to put the pullout table in this area with half the people sitting on the bed and the other half on chairs.  Overall, te room was spacious, modern, and clean but very dark as there was not enough light (especially at night in which the lack of light and the dark furniture made the room even darker and hard to see.)

As I said earlier, both hotels shared facilities between each other and these facilities included a pool and a

photo courtesy of Hotels.com

gym.  Each hotel also had their own restaurant, their own complimentary wifi, their own meeting rooms, and own business center.  The wifi was complimentary and the speeds were decent enough.  Even though they shared the fitness center and pool, both were very small as the pool looked like an oversized hot tub and the gym had two treadmills and a stairmaster (not enough for one hotel let alone two hotels to share).  The business center was 3 computers in the open lobby, but the availability of the computers and printer was helpful.  The hotel also provided complimentary water and coffee in the lobby, which a nice gesture of service.  Lastly, the two hotels shared a parking garage which was not complimentary.  The costs (at the time of the stay in 2014) was $16/day which was lower than some in the area but still not complimentary.

Overall, it was a decent hotel near the Galleria mall.  The plus points of the hotel included an updated, clean, and spacious room with decent service and a good location.  The negatives were the paid parking, the small gym and pool, and the lack of lighting in both the hallway and the room.  The hotel also does not have a lot of curb appeal, and while that something I really do not care about I do know others who do as 'it does not feel like we have pulled up to a hotel; rather to a bland apartment building.