Hotel ICON, Autograph Collection — Hotel in Houston

My husband and I are locals and chose to stay downtown for our Anniversary. I chose this hotel because of its historical feel and beautiful features. It is a luxurious hotel which made us feel as if we had stepped back in time. The room and bathroom were beautiful and very clean.

Even though it is very beautiful, I feel that a standard is set by the little details of a stay. Here are the concerns that I experienced: When I booked the room online through the Marriott site, there was a place for you to list your preferences for your stay. It has a place for us to list the number of extra towels and pillows (including type of pillow) and other requests. On the site, I had asked for additional towels and feather pillows along with a bottle of Champagne set up in the room for when we arrived (wanting to surprise my husband). When I "checked in" the day before on the app, it once again asked about towels and pillows. Needless to say, none of my requests were provided. When I checked out, I mentioned to the man at the desk about a better way to notify them next time, he said that I should call and let them know because sometimes, they don't see the comments left on the reservation. My thought is "Why not?". Why have the box if no one is going to read it?

Second, when we arrived to get our key, I mentioned to the lady (who was very nice) that it was our anniversary. She congratulated us and said she was going to give us 2 free breakfast buffets to help us celebrate. I thanked her but, needed to point out to her that I had purchased the bed and breakfast package, so I should already have breakfast provided. She apologized and asked if we would like a cake sent to the room instead. We were thrilled and said thank you. However, the cake never arrived. Even though it was not expected, my thought is to never offer something if you aren't going to follow through with it.

My next concern is about the bar area. (before, I begin, should say that it was empty at 3:30 pm on the day after New Year's Day). It is a very beautiful space with dark wood, chandeliers, and character. After we checked into the room and got settled, we decided to head to the bar for a glass of wine (by the way was $17 each, didn't know because I had asked for Kendall Jackson, which they didn't have, and the bartender suggested something else). All fine, but a little taken back, but okay. We sat at the table and decided to order an appetizer with our wine. Since we didn't see any menus or were given any, my husband got up to go get one. The bartender came back and I asked about the charcuterie board, she said it was a great choice. When it arrived, we were a little underwhelmed and disappointed. It had plenty of meats, cheeses, and grapes, but instead of the rye bread rounds stated on the menu, we were provided a piece of cinnamon toast cut into thirds to use with our meats and cheeses. You could even tell it was a piece of toasted cinnamon bread because it still had the round crust on the top. When the bill arrived I chose to not say anything because we had already eaten and what good would it do, however, the waitress did take off a charge for one of our glasses of wine because we had to walk over to get a menu (her choice not ours). We hadn't said anything to her about the board or the cost of wine but were appreciative of the gesture.

Finally, at 8:15 am, I heard someone trying to come into our room. I had to yell that we were still here. The door shut and nothing else happened. Check-out time was set for 1 pm and we had not checked out yet. A little surprise and an adrenaline dump to the system since I was still asleep, but all was well. At that point, we decided to get up.

As I said at the beginning of the review, this hotel is very beautiful and we enjoyed learning about its history. We are from Houston and weren't aware of this hotel and the story behind it. However, our disappointment lies within the tiny details. If we are going to pay this much for a single-night stay, we would hope for more attention to the...

Hotel ICON is a beautiful hotel, conveniently located in Houston's theatre district. The hotel is in a 1911 bank building that has been renovated. The designers and architects did a wonderful job of maintaining many true-to-the-period Art Deco touches in the common areas and rooms. We stayed here for a weekend when we were attending the Rockettes Christmas Show at the nearby Hobby Center, and we couldn't have asked for a more conveniently-located hotel. The theatre was only a few blocks away, and although we opted to drive, we could have utilized the hotel's shuttle service for free (the shuttle cannot be reserved in advance, though, and we were worried about its availability to pick us up directly after the show. It likely wouldn't have been a problem, but we decided to drive and park at the theatre, just to be safe). We ate dinner one night in the hotel restaurant, Line and Lariat, and it was a wonderful experience. We ate quite late, so there was only one other couple dining in the restaurant, and it was a quiet, delightful experience. The decor in the restaurant is lovely --- a neat mix of the Art Deco architecture with mid-century furnishings and appointments. The different styles blended beautifully to create a refined, elegant, yet relaxing atmosphere. I am generally skeptical of hotel restaurants, but the food was actually delicious and the menu had a good variety. I tried the potato cakes, which were very tasty and a welcome change from the usual boring-rice-dish vegetarian options that most restaurants offer. My husband had the brisket sandwich and thought it was delicious! Our room was located on the 10th floor, so we had excellent views over the city. Because it was a corner room, we had windows on two sides. The room was very clean. The bathroom was the best part --- it was huge, with plenty of mirrors, good light, a magnifying mirror, and a huge walk-in shower. The tile and pattern on the walls was really neat --- again, that Art Deco look. Loved it! The only negatives we experienced were sharing an elevator with an extremely-ill-sounding housekeeping staff member (coughing, sniffling, sounded like she had a cold or flu) which made me nervous, and also there is no concierge on-site. Parking is valet-only, which is fine, but you do have to tip each time you take your car out. Overall, this was a lovely experience in a beautiful (upscale, but not 5-star) hotel with a truly...

This hotel is the worst combination of dated and poorly cleaned. Positive reviews for this hotel are from people that are charmed by the hotel being a former bank, while ignoring the glaring lack of cleanliness. Between the positive reviews and the fact that this is an Autograph Collection hotel, I fell for what turned out to be a very disappointing 3-night stay. As soon as you enter the lobby, you are greeted by a nice air freshener. But as soon as you get your key and step into the elevator bank, you smell this hotel’s overwhelming musty odor. This is the same smell that exists in the guest rooms. The only way to mask it is by turning down the air conditioning temperature. In my first room, I found pieces of cockroach in the closet. I told this to the front desk and they changed me to a different room. In the second room I found a sock left behind my a previous guest. The sink also drains slow. At this point I did not feel confident about the hotel’s housekeeping standards. Unfortunately, there weren’t any other hotels available downtown for me to change to as there were 3 conferences going on at the same time, so I ended up staying here three nights. The hotel’s management, seemingly used to this sort of situation, were unfazed by complaints and did very little to try to make the situation right. They said they would clean my room more thoroughly, but I came back to the room and still found the abandoned sock in the closet (It’s likely going to be there forever). They also offered me a refund and 10,000 points, neither of which I ended up receiving, but I will follow up with the property to see if I can get what was offered. The location wasn’t perfect but walking distance to coffee and food. If your room faces Main St, you will experience noise from nearby nightlife even on higher floors. The staff at the front desk was kind and professional. Housekeeping starts knocking on doors at 8:30-9am on weekdays. I did not try any food or beverage at the hotel given the cockroach pieces I found in my first guest room. This hotel taught me that Autograph Collection means absolutely nothing in terms of quality. This hotel needs to be shut down...