Hotel Saint Augustine — Hotel in Houston

I greatly enjoyed my staycation at Hotel Saint Augustine. It was a relaxing oasis in the middle of a wonderful neighborhood and walkable to many restaurants, shops, and the Menil. There are some definite points of improvement - namely bugs - that I addressed directly with the staff during my stay, who were appreciative of the feedback. Personally, given the price point of the hotel, I do believe they should be addressed rather quickly. Until they are, I do not know if I could recommend staying here for $350+ per night (for the cheapest room).

I was staying in the Petite Queen accessible and it felt as though it had everything I needed for one night. If you are staying longer than one night or are visiting from out of town, I would not recommend booking one of these rooms - go up a level.

Pros: The design is immaculate and you feel as though you are in an art gallery as soon as you walk through the door. There is an element of the hotel that is evocative of Italian and French mid-century modern style.

The room: the bed was so comfortable, it felt like sleeping on a cloud. I loved the color palette and the velvet frame. The room also had a safe, blackout curtains, two robes that were large enough for someone plus sized, the “leave key in holder” for power, a steamer, wonderful toiletries, a hairdryer, and a Bluetooth speaker.

The pool, while on the smaller side, is relaxing and has poolside service. The pool lounge chairs were comfortable and there was plenty of seating. Umbrellas at each chair too.

The entire lobby, lounge, and listening room area is truly wonderful. It felt like an old school curio room, as it was filled with antiques, art, and modern pieces.

The grounds of the hotel are beautifully landscaped and create a lush, verdant environment that is welcoming to guests.

Cons:

Unfortunately there was a massive con to my stay: bugs. The hotel staff were very accommodating and gave me $50 off my stay, which I appreciated and did not ask for. However, given that I like to give full reviews, I have to mention this. There was a massive spider that was building a web right next to my bed. I only noticed it in the morning before I was going to check out, and took photos and videos to show the staff. Thankfully I’m not scared of spiders and when I bent down to shine a flashlight on it, I saw that under the bed there were quite a few of cobwebs. There was also a cobweb I had noticed the night before in the doorway between the bed and the bathroom. Hopefully it was just one spider! There were also three small centipedes that showed up in my room as well. I was able to get these onto a piece of paper and take them outside. At the pool the night before there were lots and lots of little centipedes - to the point where they were crawling on/in my shoes and I picked them up to sit on the lounge chair with me. Obviously, the lush foliage is an attractive home to the bugs, and bugs are wonderful for the environment ! However, given the price point of the hotel, I think management needs to find a solution quickly to solve this.

I had dinner at Perseid and the portion was massive (and delicious)! I looked online for the room amenities of the Petite Queen Accessible - the room I had booked. It clearly states on the website of both the Petite Queen and Petite Queen Accessible that the room is equipped with a minifridge. I ended up calling the front desk to ask if there was a minifridge in my room because I could not find it. They said no there was not and that the Petite Queens do not have minifridges. I let them know that their website states that the rooms do have minifridges, just as an FYI, and the staff member offered a new room for me with a minifridge. I said thanks but I’m okay with staying in my room, just wanted to let them know so they can update their website.

Coffee - in the booklet it says that there is complimentary coffee in the lobby from 5am-7am. At least extend it until 9am.

Add more hooks to the area around the sink...

Arrival at the hotel was pleasant- with a campus of low modern airy buildings set amidst lush new gardens and outdoor seating areas that will someday be exquisite.That was the big disconnect- as our first room was dismal and dark, entering from a hallway so dark, we couldn’t see the door. They changed us from a street level room with no privacy to a second floor with balcony so small that you could only squeeze one chair. Don’t ask for room 2200. Most other rooms appear to be more spacious. ( we weren’t there on a discount)||Excellent staff, with friendly service for every need. The physical rooms, however, are highly disappointing. Weird color and style choices, but worse functional layout. The closet and hidden dresser were totally inadequate for 2 people staying several nights. The size of the room is not an issue. The designers simply opted for style over function. And that style is a total disconnect from the pleasant exterior. The sofa is uncomfortable, more suited as a stiff suitcase holder. It certainly doesn’t work to watch the tv, which is hidden behind a silly curtain. The bathroom is spacious, which is why one wonders that they didn’t provide anywhere for keeping toiletries. They have to all be squeezed on the pedestal sink edges. With so much space, they could easily have provided 2 sinks so that we weren’t tripping over each other at the sink. The towels were apparently intended to be hung on poorly located hooks, so one had to drip across from the sink to wipe one’s face. Not a room I’d ever want to pay for again.||The public spaces were much more peasant. The lighting was soft and inviting rather than too dark. The furniture seemed comfortable, thus encouraging one to not stay in their rooms. The restaurant and bar are inviting. We partook of their breakfast, and had lovely service as well as tasty omelet and pancakes. ||The location suited us, as it was across the street from the Menil museum complex. Ubers had no trouble picking and dropping us off. The neighborhood felt safe, although the street with entry and drop off faces a mud lined transition lot. |Someday, the hotel might be more attractive. For now, I’d say the landscape needs to grow, and hopefully someone will make the rooms...

While there is obvious and great attention to textures and colors offering a grand luxury visual, it was at the expense of the luxury comforts one expects from luxury prices. Well, we were underwhelmed with service and rooms.

We are two experienced, luxury travelers - a chef and an architect - and we didn't have any idea upon booking that the hotel was not even finished - no promo offered, no 'excuse us' while there are large boxes everywhere getting unpacked, people moving plants, furniture and items for photo shoots during breakfast service, no restaurant service (just bar menu) and almost no one around acting as an obvious concierge or even once asking us about our stay. In fact, we often arrived and entered without any contact. Save Juston the valet who was very friendly. So, if you want a stay where you want to feel 'unseen', then it's a good options. For us, with all the commotion and dedication to the opening, we felt not only neglected, but in the way.

The room had no seating other than the beds. So, no desk, no chair. No carpet which was inconvenient for the cold weather snap and having to be extra caution not to wake the other during the night. No shower bars for the elderly architect and an odd pile of tissue paper instead of a whole box of tissues for guest use. And, albeit cute velvet beds with wings, it made turning the lights on and off awkward - we managed to reach the wall lights from the bed with the tall Perrier water bottles we got to supplement the tiny bottles of complementary water. Doors were very heavy, but did not shut out hallway noise, at all. So, yes, great color schemes, smooth velvet beds, fancy tiles but didn't make up for missing comforts.

All in all, after many stays in many luxury contexts over decades, we find the newer hotels often sacrifice the almost more important attention to service and comfort over the all luxury eye candy in design and being amazing on a magazine page. One thing is to offer something different which is beautiful, albeit lacking adequate elevator service, concierge service, and guest attention, but to compare the cost with the more well established hotels in the area, much is lacking.

We were looking for a possible new landing pad for our trips to Houston, will not...