Stay Report: Element Houston Katy (Katy, TX - September 2020)

 Stay Report: Element Houston Katy 
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I travel to Houston a lot and normally I stay in or near The Galleria but this time I was going for a different reason and needed to be near Sugar Land, Texas.  Even though Sugar Land is a part of Houston it was further out of my way so I wanted to find a happy medium and through search I found the Element Houston Katy.  I have previously stayed at Element Hotels and have enjoyed them, from the environmental approach to the mini-suites and complimentary amenities.  I checked the distance and the price and both seem to be good so booked the hotel through the Marriott website, which was easy to do.  

The hotel's location is a bit odd as it is basically located in the Costco parking lot and behind some apartments.  It seems like the track of land was divided in half, with half of the land going to Costco and the other half going to apartments and the hotel.  From the roadway, the apartments come first and then the hotel is in the back; it just seemed unique to me.  In the front of the hotel was the parking lot and then the entrance to the hotel.  As you entered in to the hotel, there was a small check-in desk on left and left was the kitchen where generally the complimentary breakfast would be provided.  Straight ahead was a long and narrow sitting area/communal area with lots of couches and chairs.  These faced to the large windows and patio which also contained chairs and a bbq area.  After check-in, we received the key and proceeded to the room (the Element always provides their own luggage trolley's to assist in transporting your luggage - a great idea).

Element rooms are designed as mini-suites and resemble a New York studio apartment with a bed, a

sitting area, bathroom, and a mini-kitchen.  As you entered the room, on the right was a long but narrow bathroom with a large sink on a counter (the size of the sink reduced the counter space), a toilet, and a shower; there was soap for the sink and refillable shampoo/conditioner and body wash in the shower. In the hallway, across from the bathroom, was a closet with an iron, ironing board, and a place to hang your clothes.  Further into the room, along the left-side of the wall was the mini-kitchen which contained a sink, a stove, a large fridge, a dishwasher, plates, glasses, a sponge, and dishwashing liquid.  There was also a mini-sink and a coffee maker on the large counter space.  Continuing along the left-side of the wall, next to the kitchen was the TV which was mounted on the wall.  Along the right-side of the wall were the two beds with a nightstand in the middle.  The beds were comfortable, large for two people, and provided a goodnights sleep.  There were also plenty of outlets near the bed or on the nightstand to charge all your electronic items.  In between the beds and the kitchen was a desk and chair on side, which faced the kitchen, and a chaise lounge chair which was against the side wall and also faced the kitchen.  Running along the side wall, above the chaise lounge chair, was the window which was large and let in lots of natural light.  Even though there were lots of items and amenities in the room, it did not feel compact or stuffed (like some other hotel rooms) but felt more like a studio apartment in New York City. 

The Element provides lots of amenities for its guest including complimentary wifi, complimentary parking, complimentary breakfast, access to luggage carts, a full-stocked and large gym, a bbq grill for guests to use. a large patio to host bbq and outside activities, as well as a large indoor seating area for guests to enjoy.  Due to the pandemic some amenities were not available or were curtailed, including breakfast which was not as extensive and mainly included mini-packs of cereal, yogurt, and breakfast bars which you could take to-go.  Also, due to the pandemic their housekeeping services were drastically reduced and this put pressure on the front-desk, which having difficulty in responding to this pressure.  Safety-wise, masks wearing and social-distancing signs were plastered everywhere but these were not enforced nor were guests ever reminded by staff.

Overall, it was an interesting stay at the Element.  The hotel room was nice, the amenities were still available, and the general vibe were good.  The service was a bit strained and the lack of adherence to safety protocols was a bit concerning.

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: 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.