I will be visiting Belize and need to arrive there in early afternoon in order to make my charter flight to Chan Chich. All of the flights I can find do not arrive until 3:30 or 4 pm, which is too late. I don't want to stay in Belize City overnight so my thought was to stay in Houston and then take the first flight out in the morning to Belize, arriving in plenty of time.

I am a birdwatcher and nature lover. Does anyone know of any Houston hotels which are not too far from the airport but also near wildlife? I'd love to be able to fly into Houston and spend the afternoon watching birds. Or is the arboretum bird friendly and if so, any recommended hotels near there? Is that also sort of near the airport? We don't really want to have to rent a car.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
Joni

Hi Joni - Well, this won't be real easy. The Houston Arboretum (near IH610 Loop and Memorial/Wooday Dr.) is very nice and bird friendly and very near the Galleria area, but it's not close to airport (I'm assuming you're flying in/out of IAH) - probably about 20 mi away. There are lots of hotels in the Galleria area and Priceline etc should be able to give you some good choices as well as info on which ones have hotel shuttles to the airport. You should be able to get cab from hotel to Arboretum, which shouldn't be expensive since it's about 2-3 mi. I'm not familiar with any nature centers etc near IAH, but maybe someone else has that info. Good luck.

I remember reading about this place when I was in Houston a couple of years ago. Looks like it may be just what you're looking for. It's about five miles from IAH.

http://www.hcp4.net/jones/

How about the area called The Woodlands? It is supposedly 20 minutes to the airport and there is a lot of open space preserved in this area? I am looking at the Woodlands Resort and Marriott Woodlands Waterway Hotel. Is anyone familiar with these hotels and if so, is there a lot of open space around them so I could just go walking around, birding directly from the hotel grounds?

Thanks,
Joni

The Woodlands is an extremely nice area with lots of nature trails, bike paths, lakes, woods (as the name implies), etc. I've been to the two places you mentioned, but went for meetings and have not stayed there. While their settings are beautiful, these hotels include fairly large conference centers. Not having stayed overnight, I simply do not know what they offer in terms of birding and the like. Also keep in mind that The Woodlands is about 20 mi north of IAH. Yes, it's 20 min IF there is no or little traffic so it may or may not be any closer than places like the Houston Arboretum. BTW, the Houston Arboretum is adjacent to Memorial Park, which is Houston's largest with about 2,000 acres. However, it's a very active park and the "wildlife" you'd encounter are more likely to be joggers, golfers, picknicers, bicyclists, softball games and the like.

I did think of one place we've been to that might be closer to what you're looking for - the Mercer Arboretum. We've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's about 5 mi or so from IAH and comprises about 250 acres of nature preserve. You could easily get a cab from IAH. I don't know of any hotels in the immediate area of Mercer, but it's close enough you could stay at or near the airport and still visit. If you type in Mercer Arboretum - Houston on Yahoo, etc., you can find their web site. LOL.