We decided on the Courtyard by Marriott IAH due to we needed the extra points for our Southwest account. Appears that their restaurant is for breakfast only. What restuarants are within walking distance of this hotel?

Also their shuttle service on a Sat. starts at 6:00am. Our flight leaves at 7:00am. Are we better off taking a taxi?

How far are you willing to walk? If less than a quarter-mile, there isn't much. Closest good restaurants are Jimmy G's (seafood) about a mile away and a Dairy Queen about 1/2 mile away.

As for shuttle, depends on many factors including

∙ airline you are flying (Continental's pretty crowded, the other domestics aren't, some of the internationals are pretty slow),
∙ whether you are carrying luggage (if so, you should be there at least an hour before the flight),
∙ date you're flying (if Saturday or Sunday, lines will be short. If weekday, lines are long in the mornings),
∙ destination of your flight (if International, you need to be there at least 2 hours ahead of time),
∙ weather (if raining, traffic is slow, even for that short a drive), and
∙ whether you trust the hotel to leave on time (I doubt it).

Personally, I would take the cab.

Yes, IAH is definitely lacking in restaurants near the airport hotels. A dilemma I face every time I stay in the area before an early flight.

KVR, I would also advise taking the cab. I have found that most hotels will pick up the tab if you need to arrive the airport before the shuttle service starts. Even if they don't, it's worth the cost.

Other factors:

- Can you do online check-in for your airline?
- Do you have Elite status with your airline? For example, if you are CO Elite, there's hardly any wait at IAH for check-in of any type, and you have a shortcut through security.

So, if you're flying domestically without luggage, is CO Elite and can do online check-in and print out your boarding pass, then you can arrive at the airport 6:30am on Sat morning and have time to spare.

If not for any of above, then you'll be taking a risk...

Also, there's a Marriott between terminals B & C. If you factor in the taxi cost, you might as well stay at the one in the airport.

[The hotel's website says taxi fare is approx $10, but I think that's low. First mile of Houston taxi fare is $4, and $1.65 each mile thereafter. Courtyard's website says it's 8 miles from the airport, and that's over $15 by my calculations.]

rkkwan is correct. When I've had to pay the taxi myself, it runs about $12 average from the area by Comfort Suites, but it would be a good idea to check if the hotel will pay the fare for you. Note, however, that the hotel must arrange this with the driver on pick up.

We were told it would be taken care of one time and the driver still charged us when we arrived IAH. Otherwise, we've never had a problem if the driver goes into the hotel and speaks to the receptionist.

We are flying to St. Thomas, USVI on a Saturday morning with American. We do not have preferred status with this airline, and will check 2 bags. We are rapid rewards members with Southwest, which we will fly to Houston and have to spend the night coming and going. We got a rate of $55 for the Court Yard on Southwest's web-site. I also looked on Expedia and there was no vacancy for our dates at Courtyard. The Marriot's lowest price was $119.

That's a good idea to ask the hotel if they will cover the taxi fee since it looks like we need to be at the airport by 5am. When I confirm our reservations I will ask. Our return flight comes in on the following Saturday at 10pm, so we will need late check-in and transportation to the hotel.

Is Jimmy G's a good restuarant? We like seafood. It is expensive? We won't be needing anything fancy that night. I hate to take a cab that short of a distance just for dinner.

I've only eaten at Jimmy G's once about 12 years ago and I remember it as being very good. I can't comment on the prices since it was a private birthday dinner and the menu was set. However, I don't think they are too expensive. Probably mid-range. I would say that is a safe choice for dinner that night.