Hotwire Hotel: Nice, walkable, area in Houston

[rd456]

Hi,

I was wondering if any folks from Houston or familiar with the city could make a general recommendation. We're a family of four who are going to spend one week in Houston in August with no car. What's a good area for food and shopping ON FOOT? I'm guessing that the Galleria is good, but then it is pretty expensive. Anywhere else that's cheaper?

I'm trying to do some research, but it's hard to get qualitative information like that.

Thanks,

RD

[Romelle]

I don't know Houston personally, but this might be a good start for you.

Romelle

[thereuare]

I'm guessing that the Galleria is good, but then it is pretty expensive. Anywhere else that's cheaper?

What is the nightly budget you're targeting?

What's a good area for food and shopping ON FOOT?

Hopefully somebody local to the area will reply, but if not (or in the meantime), i would look at the smaller zones on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, find an address or cross streets in the middle of the zone, then plot that address at walkscore.com.

Before getting started note that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. If this is not a risk you're willing to take, HOTWIRE may still be an option as they allow you to search for up to quad occupancy and ensure sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search (although this usually means two beds, the second 'bed' could be a sofabed, rollaway, etc).

With the above info let us know if you find zone(s) that are likely to be acceptable as well as your budget (and dates if known), we'll take it from there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[themahoneys]

I live in Houston, and there's quite a few places that are good on foot. Downtown is nice, but after 6PM, food gets kind of scarce. Our downtown seems to shut down after everyone leaves their office buildings. If you stay towards the east side of downtown, there is quite a few places within walking distance, and it's pretty safe as well. Sure, you'll run into your typical homeless person, but not anything in the way of being unsafe. Once you start moving out of downtown, things can get kind of sketchy. One the west side of town is Katy, which has a fairly big outlet mall for shopping, but food choices are more limited to mostly fast food. You can walk to the other side of I-10 and get to old Katy and find some nice hole-in-the-wall mom and pop places that are great, but that walk can be a bit long. Another area that you may want to look in is north of Houston in an area called The Woodlands. That area is very nice as well, and there is a ton to do up there. Let me know if you want some more suggestions.

[carpediem888]

I also live in Houston and I live "inside the Loop". If you look on a map, we have concentric rings of freeways: The Loop is the innermost, followed by the Beltway 8 (referred to as the Beltway or BW8), and the Grand Parkway (aka State Highway 99 but no one calls it that).

First, Houston is really designed for having a car so, while admirable that you're trying to plan a 1-week stay in our city and want to do things on foot, you really should book a car. Plus, you're coming in August, when it is blazing hot. You or your family members will tire quickly of walking anywhere in the Houston heat. Lately, we've had torrential rains - so this is another con to walking more than short distances.

Given all of that, you could stay downtown, in the Midtown/Museum district, or the Medical Center area. We have one rail line that is a total of 7 miles and it runs through those 3 areas. Few hotels are right along the line but, if you are going to walk, at least you'll be close to a mode of transport.

The museum district has museums and the rail line runs past Hermann Park (which also holds our zoo and Miller Outdoor Theater for free performances). As themahoneys said, downtown can be a sleepy place after 6 PM and food choices will be limited.

Keep in mind that Katy (a suburb about 25 miles west of downtown) is on the western edge past the Beltway, almost to the Grand Parkway. The Woodlands is another far-flung suburb in another county to our north past the Bush intercontinental airport. While both are in the Houston area, they aren't Houston per se.

Again, Houston is best explored with the use of a car since you have to cobble together food options, hotels, transport from the airport, and attractions. Sort of like a trip to the Los Angeles area.

[rd456]

Hi All,

First, thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I got swamped at work and forgot to come back again and check.

@Romelle Thanks, that's a great resource! Haven't explored all of it yet.

@thereuare I hadn't seen walkscore.com before, that's really useful.

Timing: August 9th-18th.

Budget: I can manage up to 100 a night, all inclusive, but would like to do less.

@themahoneys Thanks for the info. I'm looking at downtown as well.

@carpediem888 Thanks for the response. Your point about the difficulties of traversing Houston on foot is well taken. We might rent a car for a few days to get around more. We are willing to take the bus here and there.

The thing is, and I realize this may make this trip a poor fit for Hotwire/Priceline, we'd really like to get a place with a kitchenette or at least a microwave. We don't really want to pay 60-70 a night for a 4-star where a meal at the restaurant will run us half the nightly rate. Plus it's a bit of a long stay to be eating out the whole time (as least to our tastes). So I've actually started looking at places like Extended Stay America, but they aren't on Hotwire/Priceline. Homestead is (I think) but I saw a lot of bad reviews about them so I'm not sure. Some places on Hotwire do list microwaves.

Side note about Hotwire amenity listings. If a hotel has an amenity like microwaves or accesible showers or something that is only available in some rooms, will they filter those out of the list when rooms with those amenities aren't available for the selected dates?

Anyway, thanks for all your help. Because of our requirements, Priceline is probably out of the question, but Hotwire still might work. I'll keep an eye on their listings for the next few days. If I can't get something I'm comfortable with I'll probably just fall back on Ex. Stay Am.

RD

[AaronJB]

Extended Stay properties do appear on PRICELINE and HOTWIRE. However, the only to guarantee a kitchenette is to look for a listing with kitchenette on HOTWIRE as one of the amenities. Only one listing will appear at each star level in each zone for each set of dates - listings may change or disappear between now and your stay (there is no way to know if/when.)

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[rd456]

Oh, ok. That's good to know. I will definitely keep an eye out. If we're going to a cheap place, might as well get it really cheap, right? ;)

[Romelle]

Oh, ok. That's good to know. I will definitely keep an eye out. If we're going to a cheap place, might as well get it really cheap, right? ;)

Some Springhill Suites have kitchenettes, and people have reported winning them in Houston. You'd need to do some research as to just which PL zones and star levels are the ones that have the kitchenettes.

While they are relatively inexpensive, the ones I've seen are actually quite nice.

Also, some Drury Inns put out an evening snack that really is more like a meal.

There probably are others that offer this sort of thing, but those are the only two with which I'm familiar.

It does seem the lower star levels are more likely to offer free breakfast. If you eat a hearty breakfast, you may only want one more meal for the day.

Romelle

[rd456]

Thanks for the tip. It seems several of them do have kitchenettes, although not with a stove. The thing is, I see some in the PRICELINE list (for Houston) here, but not the HOTWIRE list. I can't see how to guarantee a particular 2 1/2 star (which they seem to be) via PRICELINE.

RD

[Romelle]

You aren't missing anything. There isn't any way to guarantee a feature with Priceline.

All you can do is improve the odds a bit with your research.

Romelle

[rd456]

Yeah, I realize that. I've done some more research about which hotels have kitchenettes (and how fully equipped) but it's not clear it's going to do me much good. I haven't seen one on Hotwire yet for the areas I'm interested in and, as you say, there's no way to guarantee one via Priceline. If you shoot for three stars in the Galleria area in Priceline you have a decent chance of getting at least a microwave as there. The place I'd really like to get is the Residence Inn Marriott Galleria, and I see some one got it the other day for $48 plus taxes and fees, but it's not in the Hotwire list here. The Medical Center area also has a lot of kitchenette equipped hotels.

RD

[chuckd83]

What you're looking for is Rice Village. It is the area immediately north/west of Rice University. Lots of neat shops, good restaurants, kind of like a small college town within Houston. It also has a nice 3-mile walking track around the campus. All other areas in Houston either do not have shopping/restaurants within walking distance or get scary at night. The only problem is I don't know of many hotels in that area other than the Medical Center which also gets scary at night. I could be wrong though.

If you have a good price at the Galleria, I would take it. The Galleria has restaurants and shops within walking distance along with hotels, but just not my cup of tea...very concrete.

[chuckd83]

If you are considering the Medical Center, it could be a good fit because of Rice, the Museum District, and the rail that goes to downtown. Just one word of caution...immediately south of the actual Medical Center (Old Spanish Trail area) gets really sketchy. I've had my car broken into at one of the extended stay hotels there. I do not recommend walking at night. If you can find something north of Braeswood and west of Main, that would be best.