28 Best Hotels in Houston and Galveston, Texas

Just 30 minutes from downtown Houston (on a good day), this lakefront lodge is set on acres of manicured lawns, creating a quiet and lovely retreat with all the amenities anyone could ask for. There are 21 tennis courts, more than 190 miles of hiking/biking trails, and a luxurious spa. Minutes away are the Woodlands Mall and Market Street, with 400 upscale retailers and restaurants.

Developer Giorgio Borlenghi (Uptown Park, Four Leaf Towers, Four Oaks Place) doesn't do things on the cheap. Witness this magnificent European-style residential palace that's big with the international crowd. The super-luxurious all-suites property is just steps away from the Uptown Park shopping and dining village. A multilingual staff anticipates your every need. Suites come as big as 2,100 square feet.

Easily Downtown's most glamorous hotel, Hotel ICON combines historic architecture with shabby Chinoiserie, contemporary finishes, overstuffed furniture, and attentive service. Rooms have large flat-screen TVs, Molton Brown bath products, and marble bathrooms. Right on Main Street, the former Union National Bank building also houses BANK restaurant, the ICON Bar, and the Balance Day Spa. The top-floor multilevel suites are almost unbelievably grand and gorgeous.

With flashy, over-the-top decor, the party at the ZaZa never ends. Think taxidermy, chandeliers, prints on prints on prints, video walls, a pool area that rivals Vegas casinos, and lots of lacquer. It can come across as trying too hard, but there's nothing else like it in the city. Eight themed guest suites ("The Magnificent Seven") pay homage to the international jet set, rock stars, and Texas cowboys. The Monarch Restaurant and Lounge has some of the best food in town, but the bar clientele is not always as sophisticated as the diners. The hotel's location at the foot of Hermann Park means all rooms have gorgeous views.

This small luxury boutique hotel is decidedly modern and well located near bustling Main Street and the ballpark. The guest rooms are stylish, with fine linens, granite bathrooms, high-tech workstations, and suites with plasma TVs. The hotel's restaurant, 17, is just as modern and attracts a hip international crowd of epicures hungry for contemporary American food.

Well-heeled travelers enjoy the hotel's plush accommodations and thorough service (including butlers on some floors), and local swells arrive for afternoon tea. Rooms are luxuriously furnished, with individually selected artwork, plus Pratesi linens, fully stocked minibars, terrycloth robes, and marble bathrooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows let you gaze on the magical downtown skyline or lush Memorial Park. In River Oaks, the St. Regis is convenient to Downtown and the Galleria area. The pool area is elegant and relaxing, and there's a spa on site to melt your cares away. In addition to a restaurant, the hotel has a tea lounge and a bar serving light fare.

This full-service business hotel is right in the middle of downtown and within walking distance of the Theater District, Bayou Place, Minute Maid Park, and the George R. Brown Convention Center. Sky bridges connect the hotel to the Allen Center office complex, as well as to Texaco Heritage Plaza. It's also connected to the downtown underground tunnel system. Guest rooms have views of the Sam Houston Park and Memorial Park greenbelt, the Downtown skyline, or the Allen Center Courtyard.

In a leafy, wooded complex known as the World Houston Business Development, this hotel is 1 mile from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Rooms are decorated in a sophisticated, modern style of cool blues and greys, with oversized work areas designed with business travelers in mind.

This landmark downtown hotel is a bit dated, but services and amenities are top-notch and it has a great location close to the convention center, Downtown businesses, and major sports facilities, including Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros) and Toyota Center (home of the NBA Rockets and the AHL Aeros). The hotel's restaurant, Quattro, which serves Italian-accented cuisine, is a glamorous outpost for business-lunchers and nighttime event-goers. The lobby bar is always a lively scene. The fitness center and pool area are awesome.

Now part of Marriott's Autograph Collection , this renovated six-story Spanish colonial hotel offers an upscale, beachfront option for those looking for more historic ambience. Built in 1911, it was once called "Queen of the Gulf," when guests such as Teddy Roosevelt and Howard Hughes stayed there. Both public and private areas boast traditional dark wood and plush upholstery, and there is a full-service day spa on-site. A pool, swim-up bar, and outdoor grill have been added to the tropical garden facing the sea.

Finally, Houston has a great convention-center hotel right in the heart of downtown's sporting venues. Massive, ornate, and luxurious, this is the largest hotel in Houston, with 1,203 rooms. Almost a city within a city, the Hilton Americas has three restaurants and lounges, a gigantic fitness center, and a rooftop bar/grill that's not cheesy at all. The views from its 24th-floor location are pretty amazing, especially at night when the downtown skyline comes alive.

On the shores of Clear Lake, Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake is a suburban resort hotel with a number of water sports—including jet skiing and waterskiing —and easy access to NASA/Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston, which are just across the street.

Two miles south of the airport and 18 mi from downtown, this Holiday Inn is convenient to Redstone Golf Club, home of the Shell Houston Open. Rooms are pretty much what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn—nothing too luxurious but well equipped for both business and leisure travelers.

While service and general atmosphere seem to be slipping lately, the Hotel Derek is still a good value for its location and sophistication. Modern furnishings grace the glossy-floored lobby and the 314 sleek, contemporary rooms. It's a favorite of both business and leisure travelers looking for an alternative to a traditional chain hotel.

This no-smoking hotel is on the grounds of Bush Intercontinental Airport and has complimentary underground train service to the airport. A rooftop restaurant provides great views of all the arriving and departing flights, and downtown's skyline in the distance. All rooms feature luxurious bedding and linens, including down pillows if you like.

Spread over 18 acres in a wooded area near Memorial Park, the quiet, lodge-like Houstonian has luxurious rooms and sports facilities galore—golf (off-site), tennis, a climbing wall, and indoor racket games, plus one of the nation's largest fitness centers, weighing in at 125,000 square feet.

Directly across from the Galleria mall, this completely no-smoking hotel is a shopper's haven. Business travelers enjoy easy access to Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the I–610/Uptown corridor. Rooms have opulent granite bathrooms and the finest bedding and fabrics. You can play basketball and racquetball on-site.

This exclusive, European-style hotel, originally the W. W. Fondren mansion, has lost some exterior charm due to the addition of a banquet facility, but the rooms, lounge, and restaurant nevertheless draw the rich and famous (and discreet). Genuine antiques, usually of dark wood with luxe brocade, do much to complete the Montrose hotel's old-world charm. The tiny but warm bar and a small library are both perfect spots for a cozy drink.

In the heart of the Theater District, this small luxury hotel has the feel of a European manor house. The Chippendale furniture, plaid upholstered chairs, oil landscapes and portraits, and brass cachepots contrast with the steel-and-glass surroundings. Power breakfasters crowd Bistro Lancaster, and the hotel's wine bar is both highly rated and highly popular.

Formerly the Houston Post-Dispatch newspaper building and the original corporate headquarters for Shell Oil Company, the chic Magnolia takes a historic property in a modern, well-designed direction. Guests enjoy a complimentary nightly cocktail reception, as well as a milk-and-cookies buffet right before bedtime. The rooftop pool offers great downtown views. Bedding and linens are amazing, some of the best we've experienced.

This upscale resort-style high-rise has a dramatic modern lobby and an especially large pool, as well as fountains and sculpture. Guest rooms have sitting areas, marble vanities and bathrooms, dark-wood furniture, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The Black Swan bar is consistently popular with the young social set.

With a peaceful water garden in its atrium lobby and grounds with a 2-acre lake, being at the Omni is not like being in the city at all. The hotel is convenient to the Energy Corridor, is within 3 miles of the Memorial City and Town & Country malls, and 16 miles from downtown. Rooms are clean, current, and comfortable, and the fitness facility is well equipped.

Ideal for people on longer stays, this no-smoking, all-suites property is close to the Medical Center and 1½ mi from the Reliant Park complex, where the Houston Texans play. All suites have fully equipped kitchens.

This elegant beachfront resort is big and sprawling, with modern rooms; it's a popular venue for weddings and other events. All rooms have balconies facing the gulf, and prices rise with each floor. Club Ten guest rooms on the 10th floor offer upgraded linens, down comforters, and huge plasma TVs. Back on ground level, step into the meandering (and heated) grotto pool with a rock waterfall set amid coconut palms and bougainvillea; then have a Balinese massage (or a wildflower compress) at the Spa San Luis. The resort offers free parking for the duration of a cruise as well as transportation to the cruise terminal.

This Queen Anne mansion, complete with wraparound porch and rocking chairs, is in the historic Heights neighborhood and 4 miles from Downtown. Each room has its own theme and is decked out with antiques and floral-patterned linens.

Just a mile from the airport, the Sheraton is a full-service resort hotel perfect for business travelers or golf enthusiasts: six of the city's leading courses, including Tour 18 and the Redstone Golf Club (home of the Shell Houston Open) are just minutes away. Rooms have contemporary furnishings, with sitting and work areas so you can really spread out.

Now part of Marriott's Tribute Portfolio, this upscale historic hotel is right downtown, the closest full-service lodging to the port. The hotel's four-story atrium lobby, with ironwork balconies and full-size palm trees, showcases an 1872 hand-carved rosewood bar in what was once a busy dry-goods warehouse. This actually is a historic place: Republic of Texas president Sam Houston presented his last speech at this hotel, both Confederate and Union soldiers bunked here, and Great Storm victims took refuge under this roof. Rooms have high ceilings and 11-foot windows. Rooms have been modernized but still have wood floors, and some have exposed brick. It's the closest full-service lodging to the port, great for meetings and events, and just a short walk from shopping on the Strand.

Rooms and suites at this 18-story hotel are oversized and elegantly decorated in cream and white. The hotel (and its near-identical sister property, The Westin Galleria) is within the Galleria shopping and office complex in Uptown Houston, so Neiman Marcus and 350 other stores and restaurants are just a short stroll away. There is an outdoor jogging track.