The Whitehall Houston Hotel, set in the heart of downtown Houston, offers modern amenities, spotless guest rooms, and classic Southern Hospitality, amidst the excitement of city attractions.
Heading to Houston for the First Time
As a city girl originally from New York, I always get excited when we plan a trip to a big, metro city. I was eager to be heading to Houston, a destination that I’ve never visited before. As part of our itinerary, I thought it would be rewarding to see a Joel Osteen church sermon at Lakewood Church in Houston. Unfortunately, it did not work out.
While this may sound like an exaggeration, I immediately thought of the famous words from the 1970 Apollo 13 mission, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Joel Osteen only led church service on Sundays and we would be in town Monday night to Friday night. While not seeing Joel was sad, I was still excited to arrive in Houston with many other attractions to see.
Houston’s Innovative History
Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, is a vibrant metropolitan area with a rich history and a dose of warm Texas Southern hospitality. This city is known globally for oil and gas production. With thousands of energy-related firms in the city, it’s referred to as the “Energy Capital” of the world.
But Houston has other nicknames including the “Space City,” “The Livable Forest,” and the “Bayou City” because of its role in space exploration, innovation, culture, lush green landscaping, and bayous. There are numerous parks, waterways, art galleries, museums, and restaurants.
Our love for sports was also satisfied in Houston as the city boasts numerous professional teams, including Houston Astros baseball, Houston Texans football, and Houston Rockets basketball. Houston is also known for hosting the world’s largest livestock exhibition and rodeo. And it’s the home to Rice University and the University of Houston.
If that’s not impressive enough, the queen of music, Beyoncé Knowles, was born and raised in Houston. I knew that fact would catch your attention.
History and Location of The Whitehall Houston Hotel
For the first time in a very long time, we chose to stay at a hotel not part of any hotel chain. The best part was that we did not have any brand expectations upon check in. The Whitehall Houston Hotel is independently owned and managed by OTH Hotels Resorts.
This hotel was established in 1969, featuring a rich history of exceptional service, classic charm, and welcoming esteemed guests such as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and President Obama.
The Whitehall Houston offered us a central location that made for convenient sightseeing. As for getting to the hotel, you can fly into the William P. Hobby Airport or the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Welcoming Atmosphere and Renovated Guest Rooms
The lobby of The Whitehall Houston Hotel felt upscale yet casual and welcoming. Marble floors, wood columns, a spiral staircase, and a friendly staff were features that stood out to me. I was also impressed with the classy midcentury modern look of the decor. The check-in time was nice and early at 3:00 PM and the later than usual 12pm check-out was also appreciated.
There are 259 guest rooms in the hotel. We had a standard room with 2 double beds, a work desk, and a sitting area. The minute I walked inside, I recognized the clean, fresh smell, along with the attractive wood flooring, luxurious soft linens, and free Beekman 1802 brand bath amenities.
Our guest room was renovated in 2016, but it still looked newish, modern in a comfortable setting. The room had complimentary Wi-Fi, high speed internet, a safe, Keurig coffee machine, iron, ironing board, hair dryer, and a flat panel television with complimentary movie channels.
Note: There is no microwave or refrigerator in the room.
Hotel Amenities and Side Notes
The Whitehall Houston offers a range of amenities designed to enhance your experience.
The food and beverages at the hotel were a nice perk. We picked up fresh coffee at the hotel’s Buffalo Bayou Coffee. You can also get breakfast, lunch, and dinner from Edgar’s Hermano Restaurant. For beverages, the Part & Parcel outdoor bar was another great amenity, but I’ll tell you about dining later.
So many hotels these days do not offer a shuttle but this hotel generously offered a complimentary shuttle from 7am to 11pm. This made it convenient to go places when we didn’t want to walk.
The parking at the hotel is valet only. Brace yourself, the overnight parking rate is $50.00 plus applicable tax.
Now for my favorite part … the outdoor rooftop pool is surrounded by private cabanas, lounge chairs, and dining tables. The pool opened at 7:00am and stayed open until 10:00pm daily.
The state-of-the-art fitness center offered cardio equipment, treadmills, ellipticals, and weights.
The large windows overlooking the hotel’s patio area was a nice feature.
The on-site gift and souvenir shop was a nice perk, and we did buy a few Houston trinkets to remember our trip.
Hotel side notes:
This hotel does NOT accept cash payments. You’ll need a credit or debit card to complete transactions.
Hotel is pet friendly with a $50.00 non-refundable pet fee. Policy is one dog per room, 50-lb maximum weight.
While the hotel is good for business, pleasure, and family vacations, children are not permitted to stay free of charge, so additional fees may apply.
Dining, Beverages, and Room Service
From Tex-Mex and barbecue to Vietnamese and Indian, Houston is a contender among other big cities for great food. While it was fun to venture outside of the hotel for sightseeing, dining, and shopping, we did take advantage of the three dining offerings at The Whitehall Houston Hotel.
Buffalo Bayou Coffee is located on the second floor. Enjoy a wide variety of locally roasted coffee and espresso in addition to a variety of sandwiches, pastries, salads, and more.
Edgar’s Hermano Restaurant serves Mexi-South cuisine including an extensive buffet breakfast. Note that some hotel offers include breakfast but for most (like us) there was a fee. We loved the corn bread and Big Tex Steak Nachos.
We enjoyed cocktails and Southern-inspired small bites on the Part & Parcel outdoor patio with beautiful views of downtown. Note: Patio is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and inclement weather.
Room service is available from the Edgar’s Hermano Restaurant menu.
Exploring Space and other Houston Activities
We had lofty goals when it came to seeing the best of the Houston attractions in three days. Of course, we spent the most time at the Johnson Space Center, the NASA headquarters for human spaceflight activities. It’s a major tourist attraction and quite popular. The Space Center Houston serves as the official visitor center of the Johnson Space Center.
The 250,000-square-foot educational complex and museum features 400+ space artifacts, including the world’s largest collection of moon rocks. There were many interactive exhibits like “The Artemis Exhibit.” Be sure to reserve a spot on the behind-the-scenes tram tour.
The Houston Theater District is a 17-block district with multiple professional performing arts organizations. The 130,000-square-foot Bayou Place entertainment complex is huge. Similar to New York City, Bayou Place features productions from Broadway shows to ballet and even opera. The surrounding area was filled with restaurants, movie theaters, plazas, parks, and more.
Hermann Park, spanning 445 acres, features green spaces, gardens, and attractions like the zoo, aquarium, and an outdoor theatre. The Houston Zoo houses 6,000+ animals from 900 species in its 55-acre park. Houston’s Downtown Aquarium is a 500,000-gallon aquarium with 200 species of aquatic life from around the world.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science offers four fun-filled floors of interactive exhibits including a collection of dinosaur fossils that were “out of this world” like a Tyrannosaurus rex named “Stan.” The Cockrell Butterfly Center, part of the museum, is a magnificent, 3-story glass enclosed rainforest, home to thousands of butterflies.
We couldn’t go home without seeing an authentic Texas rodeo. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was more than just rodeo competitions like bull riding, bareback riding, tie-down roping, and barrel racing, but there was an incredible lineup of musical performances as well.
Takeaways/Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Renovated in 2016 but maintained like new
- Central location to many Houston attractions
- Contemporary, clean, and comfortable rooms
- Three restaurants plus an outdoor patio bar
- Impressive outdoor pool area with cabanas
- Complimentary downtown shuttle
- Pet friendly (fees and pet policy apply)
As for cons, children do not stay for free. There is only valet parking with a hefty daily fee. Rooms do not have a microwave or refrigerator. Breakfast is not free.
Author Bio: Originally from Long Island, New York, Donna Wright now calls Deland, Florida her home. An avid traveler, she has journeyed by air, land, and sea, to many cities in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean to exciting destinations like California, Arizona, Las Vegas, San Diego, Myrtle Beach, Lake Tahoe, Reno, and more.
This content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered travel or consumer advice. Inn amenities, prices, policies, and availability may change. Readers should verify all details independently and use their own judgment when planning travel.