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If you want to catch a glimpse of the future of Texas, look no further than Houston's new Vintage Park community. This upscale lifestyle shopping destination has it all, from the greatest designer shops and art galleries to some of Houston's best restaurants. And soon, it will boast the latest thinking in hotels as well. element Houston Vintage Park is slated to open in January 2009, ushering in a new category of accommodation in which your every need is considered, and no desire is left unfulfilled. element by Westin is a new kind of hotel, with a full kitchen in your guest room, healthy food choices, a cutting edge fitness facility, and large, airy public spaces so you can connect with others while always feeling free to think big. Of course, coming from a name like Westin, you can be sure that you'll always feel rested and rejuvenated, especially after a blissful night's sleep on the Westin Heavenly Bed. You'll wake up with enough energy to tackle everything there is to do in Houston, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to the Johnson Space Center and beyond. Houston, we have no problems at all.
Recently in Houston Category
21st Century Texas Comes Alive in Houston's Vintage Park
Tuesday April 1, 2008
MoreHouston's Spring of Photography
Thursday March 13, 2008
This March, while the world's coolest bands descend on Austin for South By Southwest, the world's coolest photographers converge 160 miles east, in Houston. Photography usually doesn't come to mind when you think of Texas' biggest city, but every two years, a little festival called the International Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art, or simply, Fotofest, takes over Houston's museums, galleries, studios, corporate spaces, retail spaces, restaurants, and pretty much every other space where a photograph can be displayed. This year the festival runs through April 20, and the focus is on China. Exhibitions like Photography from China 1934-2008, and Ethnography, Photojournalism, and Propaganda, 1934-1975, reveal the ways in which the medium has helped shape the nation over the past several decades, while highlighting the diverse styles that have emerged in its photography and photo-art.
Lucky you, when you book a room at the St. Regis Hotel, Houston, you can get a pair of tickets to the Museum of Fine Arts which plays a big role in this year's event. Works by Japanese photographer Miwa Yanagi, British photographer Bill Brandt, and American photohistorian Beaumont Newhall will all be displayed in three separate exhibitions. Not Chinese, but good photography nevertheless. Plus, the museum is hosting a free symposium on March 12 called The Evolution of Photography in 20th Century China; and a film program entitled New Cinema in China, featuring current movies by Chinese directors including Jia Zhang-ke's Still Life.
Starwood Insider - Jae Knowlton - Lost and Found in Houston
Friday February 29, 2008
Jae Knowlton is the Operations Manager for Starwood's Austin Customer Contact Center and thelobby.com's expert on family travel and hospitality.
I was attending Westin Service Culture training at the Westin Galleria (pictured) in Houston. I was one of only 2 attendees who was not an employee of the hotel but everyone made me feel like a part of the team. My wife & kids came with me for the trip because we have family on my wife’s side in Houston. It’s a bit of a trek to get bags from the parking garage to the guest room, and as we were settling into our room we discovered that Kasey’s little bag with her MP3 player was missing. We retraced our steps from the room to the car and back but couldn’t find it. We called lost and found for the hotel and the mall but it never turned up. Somehow this reached the ears of the hotel’s GM, Beth Thomas, who presented me with a brand new MP3 player before we left. There was absolutely no reason to do this other than to demonstrate her and Westin’s values in a very tangible way.
Houston's Swimmingly Fresh Seafood
Thursday August 16, 2007
It's easy for us non-Texans to forget that Houston is a coastal city. But the Gulf of Mexico is just a short drive away, and so is the bounty of the sea. One of the latest restaurants to shine in Houston's restaurant scene is REEF. It's a upscale-casual seafood joint that also throws a few down-South twists and fusion flips into the mix, not too far from the University of Houston campus and the St. Regis Houston.
The decor is decidedly Caribbean — brisk blues and sea greens color the walls, and white waves crest at the back of the room. Circle 'round the 3rd Bar (named for the third sand bar from the beach, past which sharks are known to hunt) for cocktails while your table is readied, then start your meal off with the much-raved-about tempura softshell crab with pickled cabbage or the pink grapefruit snapper carpaccio. For the main course, you could go with the most popular choice — the crispy-skin snapper over sweet-and-sour chard — or try the roasted grouper over collard greens, the mussels steamed in Shiner Bock beer or the slow-baked salmon with lemon risotto.
One thing to note: this isn't the place for a dinner meeting — the biggest complaint is that it's a rather noisy space. (Blame the wide-open floor plan and an enthusiastic public.) The owners have recently deployed some sound reduction, but it still might be a bit much for some people.
[Photo courtesy of Texas Monthly]
Prison Tacos In Houston
Friday March 9, 2007
A few years ago, Mexico City restaurateur Alex Garcia emigrated to the United States after his restaurant chain collapsed because of the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico. His chain, La Jaula de Tacos (The Taco Cage), based its theme on the musical La Cage aux Folles and served up a menu of incarceration-themed sandwiches and tacos like the "fugitiva," the "convicta" and the "silla electrica" (electric chair) grilled cheese sandwich. These days, Garcia plys his trade in Houston at Mexico's Deli. The Houston Press's Robb Walsh praises them at serving up one of the best al pastor in taco-obsessed Houston and for their sandwiches, like the "cell number 6" (a sausage, cheese and mushroom sandwich), the "Guantanamo" and a cilantro-and-blue cheese soup that recalls the sophisticatated fare of Garcia's old restaurants. Mexico's Deli is just a quick drive from the Sheraton Suites Houston, the Westin Oaks Houston and the Westin Galleria Houston.
Starwood Southwest Discounts
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Unfortunately, August isn't the top month for travel in the Southwest due to that whole scorching temperature thing. But hot weather outside means cheap rates for Starwood hotels in Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Missouri. $149 nightly for a shot at playing the PGA course at Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort? A chance to stay at The Phoenician, a Conde Nast Gold List and AAA 5 Diamond Award winner, for $169 nightly? Or a chance to stay at Houston's St. Regis, yet another 5 Diamond winner, for $159 a night? Yup, yup and yup.
Houston's Top Bartenders
Tuesday May 16, 2006
You know, the minute that the New York Times writes about "mixologists" and scientifically trained bartenders, other newspapers get in the act immediately afterwards. Call it the "Style Section Effect" if you will. In this case, the Houston Chronicle recently wrote up a handy little guide to Houston's top bartenders, or "startenders" as their lil' neologism has it. Among the glitterati of the Houston bartending scene profiled by the Chronicle is Harry Spitzer of the Remington Restaurant & Bar at the Houston St. Regis, who is given props for a "bracingly slushy classic margarita."
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