My work often takes me to Houston and over the last couple of years I've stayed in a variety of chains, from Holiday Inn Express to Extended Stay to Candlewoods.

On my last stay, I was placed in the Comfort Suites at Westchase (on the basis that it was near the Fox and the Hound!) and, on the whole, was happy with the selection and will be returning there for my next trip.

The foyer is certainly impressive with a chandelier hanging down and a breakfast area, gym and business centre coming off it. For a Brit it is quite novel to get breakfast in an American hotel (especially hot breakfast) so this was a pleasant surprise.

The rooms/suites are very large (especially going by UK standards) and the separate kitchen & sofa areas made it feel more like home. The room itself had somewhat of a musty/damp smell and the air conditioning unit was easily the loudest i've ever heard but neither stopped me sleeping soundly.

It is located at the end of a shopping centre but seemed quiet and safe. Aside from the supermarket, the shops were of an unusual nature although we did have a great meal in a small Thai restaurant on the strip.

Overall, a pleasant stay.

I made reservations for Sunday Night and my flight was cancelled. I called the hotel property direclty at 6pm from the airport. I was informed about the 24 hour cancellation policy and was charged full price for my room. Efforts to correct the billing went unsuccessful. Be careful when booking this hotel especially if travel includes the airlines.

We needed a suite because of the young children, and found this to be quite comfortable, as well as reasonably priced. There is hot, complementary breakfast every morning (not the best one we've had but quite reasonable). The suite itself is clean and we were quite satisfied. It is equipped with a microwave and mini-frig. Not a full size kitchen but enough to meet our needs.

The Comfort Suites in the Westchase area is at the end of a strip mall in a very business-focused area (lots of mirrored, repetitively-built office parks in Westchase, which I see as being a lower cost part of Houston and far from everything else in Houston).

I begin by writing I have stayed in every type of hotel or motel imaginable and am not a "hotel snob"....my work takes me various places around the country and to Europe and in some places I have no real choices. In Houston, I did. I also believe that if one must travel often, one should have a pleasant sleep with pleasant surroundings. This was not the case for me at the Comfort Suites.

To be frank, I am unclear how this hotel is ranked in the Top #40 (#30 as of this date) of all hotels in Houston. I chose this hotel due to its reviews and ranking as I was unfamiliar with this part of Houston (Westchase).

The hotel lobby is spacious with the usual sitting area, etc. The staff are very kind and helpful and the breakfasts are the usual "waffles in a cup, boiled eggs, juice and coffee." The business center was an added plus as I did not bring my laptop for this short trip. The bathrooms were stocked with plenty of towels.

That said, the room I had was spacious but extremely plain and rather "mish-mosh" in design, as if the furniture was bought at a liquidation sale and thrown together. I would not have even considered sitting in the area with the little mini-sofa (scratchy upholstery) and table that makes these room "Suites" instead of a regular "Comfort Inn". This area was a non-entity. Besides, of the five lamps in my room, only three worked, and not the one in the <ahem> sitting area.

The room also had the oddest odor, which was noticeable as soon as I opened the door. I don't know if it had anything to do with all the rain that Houston had been getting in the prior weeks, but being on the 2nd floor I doubt it and it was not a musty smell.

Also, along with many other "budget" hotels, this Comfort Suites has sadly replaced good lighting with the cheapest possible blue-tinted irridescent "stick" bulbs. They give off the most horrific light. The bed was firm but the sheets, blanket and pillows were of poor quality.

The weather outside was around 50 degrees and rainy....but the room seemed to have no "air quality" so I turned on the A/C to "clear the air". I also like to sleep with the room temp. quite cool. The A/C gave out and blew only warmish air and rattled, so I turned it off and endured the odor and the stuffiness. Needless to say, I moved to another hotel (a Doubletree) the next night. (I was to have stayed at this Comfort Suites for two nights total.)

In Westchase, there are many other hotels to choose from and I have to say I would look elsewhere, like the Holiday Inn Express or other chain hotel around the corner if you are on a budget.

Truly, this is an odd area in Houston, and I would go further to say it is off the "beaten path" of Westchase.

On a complete side note, don't stay in Westchase unless you have to due to business....stay by the Galleria or downtown. Westchase has some great restaurants and hotels, but the area is a bit seedy and it is like you died and went to strip mall purgatory with the ugly facades and the oddest conglomeration of rental planning. It is as if the realtors/owners have given up on Westchase and are taking whatever they can get to occupy the empty spaces.

In the strip mall next to the Comfort Suites, you have a great Whole Foods Market and a great but tiny Thai restaurant and then a deeply discounted bookstore where shady characters hung around, and then two types of "spas", one of which is not at all where a lady would go to have a facial or massage if you get my meaning. You get this info from a quick internet search.

There were more than a few shady characters at night hanging around checking out cars in parking lots near this Comfort Suites as the area is not heavily traveled at night. I am from a large city myself and have seen it all, but this was too much for a woman traveling alone on business.