I spent a night in the St. Regis, a Starwood property, when my normal choice in the area, the Houstonian was sold out. This hotel is a slightly dated but fairly nice up end hotel. The staff is excellent, though the room I had was a bit tired and dated.

I had a junior suite which was nice, but it was on a smoking floor. Beware - it smelled as if Philip Morris himself had just polished off a pack of cigarettes in the room. The stench of smoke permeated the room, the towels, even the pillows. In defense of the hotel, they warned me about the room - it was the only one left and I should also point out, I have a sensitive nose. Others might not have noticed... as much.

The furnishings in the room were a bit worn out and dated. There was a small couch, a few chairs, and a small work desk. There was also an HP USB printer and copier in the room.

The linens on the bed were very nice, despite the smell of smoke. The pillows and the actual bed weren't the best. Frankly, I think other Starwood and Hilton properties have much better beds.

The bathroom was clean but showing wear. The actual bathroom hardware was dated and had come loose. the bathroom was clean, but you could see signs of age all around. The shower knob was loose and a piece of framing on the mirror was falling down. The shower itself was great - especially the water pressure, though tub itself was slow to drain. The towels were fairly small and cheap. You'd find better in your average Hilton or Sheraton. They had a very nice soap and shampoo set.

The hotel is in the Galeria area, but not that close. This is a nice hotel, but nothing to write home about.

Have stayed in many St. Regis hotels in the US and abroad and this one is by far the worst. I am not sure how these hotels are managed but this one is dragging down an otherwise great hotel brand.

My compliments:
1. very good club sandwich and tortilla soup

My complaints:
1. 4-night minimum stay that I wasn't informed about until arrival
2. $605 per night, room no larger than a holiday inn
3. For such an expensive hotel, many "little things" were not covered off -- including the hotel running out of lids for coffee cups
4. small, CRT-style TV with limited channel selection
5. very old, worn furniture in room
6. small shower with moldy curtain
7. "butler" service messed up orders / took forever
8. hotel provided fruit free of charge but it was rotten
9. smallish gym with limited equipment
10. felt i was being nickled and dimed during my stay, despite spending almost $3,000 in the hotel for 4 nights, was still getting hit for $12.00 / day for internet, co-worker ordered skim milk instead of whole milk for his coffee and was charged $5.00, big signs in the room saying that if you take the newspaper bag they will charge you $5 -- just tacky and not in keeping with the other St. Regis hotels I've stayed in

When confronted with the above, the general manager was extremely arrogant and refused to even engage in a discussion with me, especially seeing as I had already paid my bill.

After finishing a frustrating telephone call with hotel management on the way to the airport, my driver mentioned he has heard several similar conversations from other unhappy guests. According to him, the only other hotel which is worse is the Zaza.

I'm fairly confident this is location-specific and not a systemic St. Regis issue, but would never stay here again and will advise those I know who are traveling the Houston to stay away.

We stayed at this hotel five years ago and thought it was a great hotel. For our return visit to Houston we had some reservations about staying here again because of some of the reviews on this site. In the end we forged ahead and came back to an old favorite and we were glad we did. Yes the hotel is tired in some areas, but overall this is a great property on many levels.

Our room was large, with the comfortable bed facing the window, a nice change from the way most hotel rooms are set up. The décor is traditional with room for a couch and several chairs. The carpet was in great shape and the furniture in pretty good shape. One lamp shade was damaged on the inside and another lamp had a very tarnished base. The bathroom is nice and elegant but standard in size and very 80s looking. There is no separate water closet or shower.

Other nice features of the room included floor to ceiling wall to wall windows and a small entry area that gave the room an almost apartment feel. Our one complaint about the room was that there was a connecting door to the adjoining room. There did not seem to be anyone in the other room so we cannot comment on noise levels.

The public areas of the hotel are very attractive and are decorated in an “Old World” European style. Flowers are abundant on the main level. The staff was good to very good and overall very friendly.

The pool is nice, with a waterfall and expansive deck area. At night this area is beautifully lit. However, if you want to relax, there are only twelve well spaced out lounge chairs. We got two of them for our one afternoon by the pool, but several people got stuck with upright chairs after us.

Overlooking the pool is the gym with limited equipment, but it is a nice room with lots of windows. The spa is also located here. It is upscale, but falls short of what you would expect at high end hotels these days.

The St Regis does need some upgrading, but as it stands now it is still a very nice hotel. The staff is first class, the hotel overall is still very nice, and the location is central. The rates in general seem to be very reasonable which may explain why an upgrade is slow in coming.

I am a frequent guest of the St Regis. They really go out of their way to make everyone feel at home. I do agree with some of the other survey comments that the accomodations are beginning to wear a bit but still think that the service here tops all others in the Houston area.