Stay Report: Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Golf Club (Frisco, Texas - October 2015)

Stay Report: Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Golf Club 

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I was looking for a place to stay in Frisco, and wanted something that was close to many of the shops and restaurants we wanted to visit.  I noticed the Westin Stonebriar and what drew me to the hotel was that 1) Westin usually have comfortable rooms which are spacious; 2) free parking; and 3) late checkout for spg members (at 4pm). 

The hotel is located next to a golf course so it is surrounded by land, and thus there are not many things available within walking distance; there are plenty of options within a 5 minute drive though.  The hotel does provide either paid valet or free self-parking, and spots were always available (just depended on how far you wanted to walk).  As you entered the hotel and walked straight, on the right was the bar and on the left was the check-in desk.  Right next to the bar were the elevators to the rooms.  Behind the elevators was a nice sitting/lobby area where guests could relax and look at the gardens/golf area.  Check-in was efficient, overall the customer service was really nice, and we received the keys and proceeded to the room. 

The rooms themselves were spacious and comfortable.  As you entered the room, on the

photo courtesy of Marriott.com

right was the bathroom while on the left was the closet.  The closet was standard and contained a place to hang your clothes, a shelf, a safe, an iron, and ironing board.  The bathroom was also standard and came with a toilet, a tub, a sink, bathroom toiletries and overall was a good size.  Further into the room, on the right were the two double beds with a night stand in the middle.  The beds were big enough to accommodate two people, there was plenty space to move around, and it provided a comfortable night's sleep.  Across from the bed was a chest with the TV on top, a coffee maker and two complimentary bottles of water while underneath were drawers as well as a fridge.  Next to the chest was a desk and chair, and from the chair you could look out the window onto the golf course; you could also sit on the chair next to the bed and look out onto the golf course as well.

photo courtesy of VisitDallas.com

The hotel looks like a country club so there are many amenities for guests to enjoy including a golf course, a large workout facility, locker rooms, a pool, and restaurants.  Since we were there for a wedding most time was spent outside the hotel, but sitting and walking around the hotel grounds was really beautiful and a nice form of exercise.  The hotel also provided wifi which was complimentary and had decent speeds.

Overall, it was a nice and comfortable stay at the Westin. 

photo courtesy of 3610realeastate.com

The rooms were spacious, the customer service was nice, and the hotel grounds were really well-maintained and beautiful so it was nice just to gaze out or take a walk around the hotel property.  While the hotel is not within walking distance to many services, there are many shops and restaurants within a 5-10 minute drive.  Overall, a great place to stay near Dallas.

Stay Report: Mövenpick Resort Petra (Petra, Jordan - January 2012)

Stay Report: Movenpick Resort Petra
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photo courtesy of Movenpick

I had read many reviews online trying to find a place to stay near Petra, Jordan and I was looking for a nice hotel but also a place that was close to the entrance to Petra.  In choosing the Movenpick I definitely got a hotel that was close to the entrance but the rooms were not nice and the beds were uncomfortable.  The only upside was the close location of the hotel to the entrance of Petra as well as an on-site ice-cream parlor.  

The location is the best aspect of this hotel as the hotel is right next to the entrance to Petra.  From the outside, the hotel looks nice and really fits well into the surrounding environment.  As you walk into the lobby, it is nicely decorated in the Jordanian landscape and architecture so you feel like you are in the Middle East and not just a cookie-cutter hotel.  One of the nicer aspects was the open lobby which had an indoor courtyard and thus made the lobby feel more open and more arabesque.  I proceeded to the check-in desks and the staff were polite and professional but not overly customer friendly; I received my key and proceeded to my room.

While the lobby and the hallways looked decent, the room looked and smelled old.  When

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

entering the room, the first thing that hit me was the smell - the smell of an older room combined with cigarette smell (even though this was a non-smoking room).  The room had two double beds and was laid out as such - as you entered, there was a bathroom on the right and a closet on the left.  The bathroom contained a sink, a toilet, a shower + tub along with bathroom toiletries.  The room itself was on the smaller side and the bathroom was in comparison to the hotel room size.  The closet was also standard and contained a shelf, hangers to hang clothes, an iron and ironing board.  Further into the room, on the right side were the two twin beds with a night stand in the middle.  Along the left side of the wall was chest with a TV on top and drawers on the bottom, and next to the chest was a desk.  There was a window in the room - and you could choose from the city view or Petra view - and next to the window was a chair lamp.  The room decor was in a dull brown - I guess to coordinate with the sand - but the drab color made the room feel even more dated than it was.  What made the room even more uncomfortable, besides the smell and the dated fashion, was that the beds were extremely uncomfortable and did not provide a good sleep at all.

Facilities at the hotel include an ice-cream parlor, a restaurants, a fitness center, and meeting rooms.  The ice-cream parlor seems to be standard at all Movenpick hotels and they serve Movenpick icecream; the icecream is a nice touch for the guests but there should be an incentive or coupon for a discount for hotel guests.  Our room included a breakfast buffet so we went down to the restaurant to enjoy that and overall the breakfast buffet was decent; plentiful with a variety of English and Arabic selections (the breakfast buffet was the only decent thing about the stay).  

In the end, location is the only positive aspect of this hotel as hotel comfort, look, andrelaxation were not provided.  The hotel is located about a minute or so less from the entrance so while that is convenient, in the future I would pay to stay a little further away but in a hotel that provides an updated room and one that is more relaxing and comfortable.

Stay Report: Hilton Houston North, IAH Airport (Houston, Texas - December 2014)

Stay Report: Hilton Houston North, IAH Airport
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photo courtesy of Hilton.com

We were flying in and out of Intercontinental Airport (IAH) so needed to find a nice, clean hotel that also provided easy access to the hotel.  We found a great hotel in the Hilton Houston North which provided great airport hotel (though not connected to the airport).  The Hilton Houston North is located about 15-20 minutes away from the airport and is situated between a business park and a mall. The property is very large, has ample parking with security around it, and is able to handle large crowds (many flight staff were staying at the hotel and many large holiday parties from the surrounding businesses were also taking place at the hotel)

As you enter into the lobby, the first thing you notice is how large it is.  Straight ahead is the restaurant and coffee area while to right are the check-in desks and waiting area as well as the elevators to the guest rooms (meeting rooms are to the left).  As the hotel is designed to handle large groups, check-in was smooth and efficient so we received our key and went to the room.  

The rooms are spacious and looked modern and updated with new Hilton amenities. We had a room with

photo courtesy of Booking.com

2 double beds so as you entered there was a bathroom to the right and a closet to the left.  The closet was standard and contained a shelf, hangers to hang your clothes, an iron and ironing board, as well additional blanket and pillow.  The bathroom contained a toilet, an updated sink and tub as well as bathroom toiletries but the bathroom had nod been renovated as much as the main room but it was still large and pleasant.  Further into the room on the right side were the two double beds with a nightstand in the middle while across from this was a chest with drawers on the bottom and the TV stand and coffee stand on top and a mini refrigerator as part of the chest.  Next to the chest was a desk with a chair and between the bed and window, which faced out onto the parking lot, was a chair and a lamp.  The room was spacious and comfortable enough for an overnights sleep. 

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com

As a full-service hotel there are many amenities for the guests including a fitness center, a pool, meeting rooms, a business center, parking and wifi.  The wifi was complimentary and it had decent speeds, enough to check email and watch videos.  The business center was located next to the meeting rooms on the first floor and contained 4 computers - 2 macs and 2 windows - which provided access to internet and office documents and could easily print out materials.  The hotel also offered late night dining (when we arrived around 11pm - both a cafe and room service were still available) as well as a breakfast buffet. There is a Starbucks in the lobby, but it was closed the morning we were there.  Self parking was available at no charge and there were plenty of spaces available as well.  The hotel did provide a shuttle to the airport, there were lots of shuttles, but this shuttle was combined with other hotels in the area (the Hilton, the Marriott, and the airport) but as I said the shuttles were plenty and ran often.

Overall, it was a nice stay at Hilton Houston IAH Airport.  I was traveling a lot to Houston during this December and I enjoyed my stay so much that I had rebooked the hotel for my other stays as well.  The positives are the spacious rooms, the complimentary self parking, complimentary wifi, and frequent shuttles.  The negatives are the distance away from the airports and the hotel easily sells out.

Stay Report: The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria (Houston, Texas - March 2015)

Stay Report: The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria

I originally stayed at this property in November 2013.  I revisited the property in March 2015 and here is a combination of my experiences at the property.

I travel to Houston a lot and usually I like to stay in and around The Galleria area as it has access to the interstate and lots of restaurants and shops.  There are two hotels directly connected to the Galleria and both are Westin; the one facing Westheimer is the Westin Oak Galleria while the one facing W. Alabama is the Westin Galleria.  When the Westin was part of SPG I found some really good rates to stay at this hotel, but since Marriott took over it is very hard to find those special rates.  The reason I enjoyed the hotel is because 1) it is connected to the Galleria so you can go enjoy the mall and then walk back to your hotel room; 2) the service and the rooms were great; and 3) there is complimentary parking in the Galleria garages.

Even though the hotel is part of the Galleria complex there is a separate entrance to the hotel.  The main entrance is on the street level and there is also an access to the mall from the basement level.  As you enter into the lobby, the first thing you notice is how tall and open the lobby is but also how dark the lobby is.  The valet stand is outside the lobby and inside there is a waiting area while straight ahead are the check-in desks.  The elevators are to the rights of the check-in desks and if you continue towards the right you access the business center (computers and printers in the lobby), the bar, and the elevators which can take you up to the meeting area.  The lobby is very spacious and there are plenty of chairs and spaces for you to relax, but as I said before there is not a lot of natural light so the lobby can feel quite dark.  After check-in, I received my key and went to the elevator - the guest floors can only be accessed by key and its one of those elevators where you put in your key, press your floor and then you are told which elevator to proceed to.  It takes some getting used to at first and sometimes there can be a lot of people in one elevator.

When I got the room, the first thing I noticed was how spacious they were and how easily and comfortably 4 guests could fit in the room.  As you open the door, on the right is the bathroom and on the left is the closet.   The bathroom was standard with a toilet, a tub, a sink and toiletries but the main differences were that the bathroom was also a good size and the sink had a long counter to provide lots of storage.  The closet was standard with a shelf on top and places to hang your clothes on the bottom but the closet also contained the safe, an iron, and ironing board.  In the main part of the room, on the right-hand side, were the 2 large double-beds which were very spacious and very comfortable (they provided an excellent nights sleep).  In between the beds was a nightstand and in front of the beds was a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV on top.  There was a coffee stand next to the TV and there was a mini-fridge hidden as part of the chest.  Next to the chest was a large desk and chair in which you could do more work to add more storage space.  The room also contained a chair and lamp next to the bed that faced out to the windows – the windows faced onto Westheimer street and provided great views of the city down below.  As I said, the room was very spacious and the beds were comfortable so it provided for a great nights rest.
    

The Westin is a full-service hotel so there are many facilities for the guests to enjoy including a gym, restaurant, business center, meeting rooms, pool, wifi, and parking.  There are two parking options available, either valet or self-parking.  The self-parking is free, which is quite unusual in the Galleria area, and space was always available - even on the Thanksgiving holiday (the garage is the regulars shopping garage shared by all shoppers and there is an entrance to the mall and through this entrance there are elevators to take up to the hotel).  The wifi was complimentary for SPG members and it was relatively fast enough to check email and watch videos.  The business center was a bit odd as it was just some computers and a printer near the escalators in the lobby; given the size of the hotel I expected a dedicated business center.  The fitness center was nice but it was in an odd location; to access the fitness center you took the elevator the basement in which there was the mall access as well as garage access but this was the access to both for guests of the hotel as well as guests of the mall.  To access the fitness center, you had to cross this pathway to get to the other side of the hallway to access the fitness center.  The fitness center itself was very nice with updated equipment and enough of them to get a decent workout.  (Since this gym is smaller, guests of the Westin Oaks are able to use the bigger gym of the Westin Galleria which is located on the other side of the Galleria Mall).  

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

When I stayed at the hotel it was still part of SPG so I was able to take advantage of 2 Starwood programs – the ‘gear lending’ program and the ‘stay friendly’ program.  The ‘gear lending’ program is a partnership with New Balance and it allows guest to rent tennis shoes, gym shorts, gym shirt, and a mesh bag for $5.  These are fresh clothes that are laundered and they come to your room in a mesh bag and you can use them throughout your stay; upon checkout leave them in your room (or you will be charged the full price of each item).  You also get a pair of socks but those you get to keep.  The ‘stay friendly’ option is an environmental/eco option in which you do not choose housekeepings ervice throughout your stay, and for this you get either a coupon to the restaurant or 500 starpoints.  This means that no one will come in your room even to tidy up or make the bed or vacuum --- nothing.

Overall, it was a nice and comfortable stay in a hotel that is very conveniently connected to the Galleria.  The hotel provides comfortable and spacious rooms, complimentary self-parking, and easy and convenient access to the Galleria.  There are not many negatives to the hotel so that is why the Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria is at the top of my list of hotels to stay at in Houston in the Galleria area.