AC Hotel Houston Downtown — Hotel in Houston

I stayed here on one of my business travels to downtown Houston because it was a block from one of our offices. I normally stay at the Alessandra but decided to give this hotel a try. Please note that I am only putting all these notes because there are people that want to know about all these small details. I am not a s port person and I don’t care about anything except that it is clean and that the people are friendly.

Valet

I pulled up in my vehicle to get valet service and was greeted right away and told me where the front desk was. I got a cart to help me take some cumbersome items I had with me. On thing to note: Make sure you pull up on Rusk street. There is a sign that tells you to do so but I didn’t see it until I pull up to the other side and had to drive around to get it right no big deal.

Check in

I had a reservation so the check in took about two minutes tops. I had one key and was escorted to the elevator by the friendly staff.

Elevators

Elevator didn’t feel janky and was very pleasant. Elevator didn’t jerk or give you that roller coaster feeling I dread.

Room

The room was nice and cool and the TV was on. It was clean and tidy. It is pretty basic and I think this is geared more towards professionals on business trips so don’t expect anything cozy and inviting. The room is dark at night so there aren’t a lot of things glowing if you are like me and prefer total darkness. I ended up turning off the mini fridge because it was rattling very loud so I am glad it had an option to turn off. The AC vent was also rattling but unfortunately I couldn’t turn off the AC because I don’t like being hot. It took me a bit to fall asleep because I couldn’t go to sleep with the rattling vent but I was too tired and mentally drained to call the front desk and possibly switch rooms, I figure if this was the worst of my problems I think I am in a pretty good place in life. I’m glad they have USB ports to charge your device but I always have my fast charger because I don’t know if these ports fast charge.

Bed The beds are okay to sleep in. They aren’t like my memory foam mattress at home. The blankets are thick so I had to turn down the AC because I got really hot but I can’t sleep without being covered. I ended up feeling claustrophobia as soon as I got in the blankets because they were tucked in at the bottoms really tightly, not a big deal so I just pulled the out. Pillows were okay too and I ended up throwing two to the other bed because I got pillow overload. They are commercial hotel pillows so if you want something better just bring your own.

Toilet

I’m not the type of person that is going to break down on a rant about the toilet type or shape. As long as it is clean and it flushes I am good to go.

Shower

I do like a good shower so I really liked the rainfall shower they had. The handle was on the opposite side of the shower so you can open it without getting soaked with cold water. You can do the shower head or flip a switch and get the handle and soak up your nether regions. I just like a plain shower.

View

I don’t care about views at all so I guess if you want to See the street below and another building across the street then this room is perfect for you. There is plenty of light pollution from across the street so the black out curtains will be your friends.

Other

They don’t use scented cleaners for the bed covers or towels so they smell like nothing. Personally I like a little scent to make me think it’s been cleaned. I always wonder if it was really cleaned when I don’t smell something but with that being said I understand that a lot of people have sensitivity to certain smells.

Netflix’s and HBO are available but you have to log in so jut remember to log yourself out. I don’t ever use the TV. All in all I was very pleased with my stay here. The hotel is definitely not my style but I definitely recommend this to the business traveler looking for...

On 10/02/19, I was in Houston for work and decided to stay at the AC Hotel. I got a good deal at $179/night with breakfast.

Let’s just say I was severely disappointed with my overall stay. The highlight is the design/look of the hotel. I really like the modern and minimalistic aesthetic a lot. The place is brand new and very clean.

On service, valet was terrible and the employee could not communicate very well. The valet app was nice and easy to use. The front desk employees were a mix bag of helpful and indifferent employees. The servers for breakfast really picked and chose who they interacted with that morning. I didn’t get addressed until I was fidgeting with the espresso machine. A server made a latte for me. I would of done it myself except the pods weren’t readily available. Also, a server just dropped off my check without even saying anything to me. Thanks? Not really.

I did have the following requests, since I’m a Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite member, high floor room away from the elevator and early check in at 10 am since I was arriving at that time before work.

My room ended up being 310 (on the 3rd floor of 10 floors) right in front of the elevator. I also didn’t get my room until 2:30ish pm. I’m not counting that against the hotel, but it would of been nice to get into my room earlier.

I ended up getting to my room around 7 pm after work. The room itself is not that big, but that was fine since I was by myself. The bathroom was nice and modern. The shower was really great with a waterfall shower head and the shower handle on the opposite side of the shower head (so you wouldn’t get wet when you turn the water on).

Here are the really bad things about my room. Room 310’s AC vent above the door made a buzzing/humming sound when I turned the air on. It was really annoying and I ended turning off the air. I woke up to the room temperature at 75 instead of below 70.

Also, I heard a weird water sound above my bathroom. It did not sound like a normal plumbing sound at all. I’m in construction management and it was terrible sounding. It really sounded like gallons of water were being dumped above my bathroom, so that’s not a good sign.

Lastly, I was over billed for my stay. I was charged for breakfast, when it was included with my booking. So, I had to call the hotel after I left to get a refund. It’s a hassle, nonetheless. The person I talked to wasn’t apologetic for the over billing. Also, I told her about the AC vent noise and the weird water sound. She said she would tell engineering. So, the employee did the bare minimum of refunding my money and reporting my room issues. No apologies or sympathy. So, that’s that.

Design: 4 Stars Room: 2 Stars Service: 1 Star Overall Value & Experience: 1 Star

I’ll pass on this AC Hotel. Oh well. I would t recommend this hotel due to the poor service and the noises (room, hallway, door banging, and outdoor light...

I stayed over the weekend and had good expectations going in. However, I left feeling unsatisfied and this hotel missed the mark.

Pros: the shower was great with the handheld shower head or the overhead waterfall shower head. The TV and mini fridge were new. The AC worked well. The beds had a lot of pillows on each side.

Cons: The staff didn't recognize or mention my Marriott status, and I ended up in a small corner room with no view, despite checking in more than a day in advance. I have a very high Marriott status and this is the first time I've ended up with a room this poor. Also, the front desk staff said they had checked me in early, so they had the time to do better. The staff forgot to ask if I wanted points or a restaurant credit on check in. the water machine in the fitness center didn't work. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but the staff ignored my chat request for water bottles in the app. First time I've ever had my message ignored. The power outlets are a "modern" design, where you can only use one at a time. There were additional USB outlets but they weren't fast charging, which makes them basically useless. The bed was a spring mattress, which surprises me because every new hotel at least has a memory/pillow top mattress. Overall, the bed was not very comfortable. The halls of the hotel were loud with other guests yelling all night long til 2 am. The door and walls were clearly not very thick. The light switches were poorly placed for which lights they controlled and funnily enough a little weird to figure out. The light over the mirror was at a bad angle. Most hotels put the lights facing forward in the mirror, but not this one. For some reason, a lot of the new marriott hotels have larger containers for soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the showers. However, they don't have one for lotion. there were no cabinets in the restroom so nothing could be put away and had to be out on top. the valet line was not well managed and there was not a lot of space to pull up. This is to be expected in a downtown area but the valet service didn't use cones or anything to direct traffic and guests. They mostly stood by the desk and I had to go to them when I pulled up. I saw one fender bender in the valet line while I was here, which I've never seen anywhere.

Overall, it may seem like I'm being overly critical. However, I've stayed at many Marriott's this year (200 nights) and this one stood out for its mediocrity. Small things add up and I wouldn't come back. I'd rather try my luck at the downtown Westin or Autograph collection Hotel ICON in...