A little kindness goes a long way...

Most of the employees at The Magnolia Houston were not very kind or hospitable. I had to remind the front desk employees that they were working in the Hospitality Industry. When I was checking in, the front desk associate made me feel as welcome as a cold sore. No hello. No smile. No thank-you. Not a good start.

The room was large, although already run down. I believe the hotel is only a few years old. The carpet was not laid well so there were many trip hazzards in the room. It was rather stained as well. We chose the hotel because we would be there for 2 weeks and wanted a kitchen option. There was a stove top and mini fridge and small sink. But no pots, pans, dishes, silverware. Just a few cups and plates. We called down and they seemend suprised at our request for cooking utensils. They finally brought a few. We made due.

The happy hour (which is indeed an hour...not 5:00 until 7:00, as stated in the Guest Info Books) was pleasant and the staff in the lounge was great, A nice change of pace. The breakfast was enjoyable when the food was there. They never seemed to have enough of anything, and we are early risers. The free cookies at night are tasty.

Back to the not-so-good-stuff...PARKING! They charge $26.00 a night to park behind the hotel in an $8.00 lot. We used it the first night but saw that our car was not even safely parked in the garage. It was on an exit ramp. For $26.00. I suggest parking on your own across the street. Very convenient and it cost us $70.00 for the entire 2 weeks.

There was very liitle water pressure in our unit and virtually no hot water during our stay. The response from the friendly front desk..."It's a big building...let the water run." We tried and we never had hot water.

The gym is nice, and usually not too busy. Forget about the pool in the evening. Although signs state no glass or alcohol on the rooftop patio, there were always loads of heavily drinking and loud folks up there. Many of them were not guests. We asked. They said they just come to use the pool and hot tub. One person books a room and 20 others come over to party. No security to tell them otherwise. Oh well. During the day, the pool is usually OK.

Overall, like the other Magnolia Hotels (I have stayed at all 4 now), they are trying to be 5 star, trendy, hip, classy and exclusive but The Magnolia Houston falls short. They just do not know how to hire hospitable folks or else they are not trained well. I am not asking for any special treatment. I just want to feel welcome and that my business is appreciated.

This Magnolia, like the others, is wilted....

Design-wise, the Magnolia is sleek and modern, like a mid-priced W. The free-form metal staircase between the first and second floors is a bold design concept that makes a great first impression. There was a lovely library adjacent to the bar/breakfast area. And people really seemed to be enjoying the ample, down-home food at the complimentary breakfast buffet. But when you're trying to fill this cool, edgy, boutique hotel niche, everything must be perfectly designed and flawlessly executed. The Magnolia falls short in many respects.

Our room was a Junior Suite on the 6th floor, adjacent to the elevator and, thus, very noisy. Inside, there was too much furniture--so much that the room felt crowded--but it was not all that functional. There was no coffee table, just two little glass-topped end tables in front of the couch. I pushed them together and they looked somewhat less strange. Combined, they were just about big enough for a glass of water and a book. On one side of the couch, there was no end table at all. On the other side of the couch, there was a table that was too tall for the couch (with a chair sitting in front of the table, blocking it--and the pull for the drapes--and making it even more non-functional). There were two more of these too-tall tables on either side of the bed. Instead of siting the mini-bar in the entertainment unit under the TV, where it clearly belonged, the minibar was sitting all alone, by itself, on the rug in front of the windows. Huh?

In the kitchenette area, there was a big hole where the architect had obviously intended a big refrigerator to be installed. Instead of a fridge of the correct size, there was a tiny unit, identical to the mini-bar in the bedroom, surrounded by a bunch of open space. The blond woodwork in the kitchenette did not match the black lacquered woodwork elsewhere in the suite.

On to the bathroom. There were two sinks with ample counter space, in two connecting rooms, which is always welcome when two people are traveling together and need to dress at the same time. The inner room (with the tub and toilet) had lovely hammered stainless steel accessories: soap dish, toothbrush holder, toothbrush rack, tray and trash can. It was quite nice. But the sink in the second room had no accessories at all. Not one. No soap dish. No bar of soap. You couldn't even wash your hands. It was baffling.

The toilet was heated. This may be a welcome feature in Vermont, in the dead of winter, but in Houston, Texas, on a warm spring day?! The seat was so hot that steam was literally coming up from the water in the toilet bowl. Sitting down was very unpleasant indeed.

Other small but annoying things: the safe was inoperable. There was a concierge desk, but I never saw a concierge there. Toiletries were generic with no country of origin labeled (translation: Made In China). I didn't dare use them, but my husband did, and they were not replenished at all during our stay. There was only one bathrobe for two people. There were only a couple of coat hangers. A second bathrobe and a dozen hangers were brought when I called and requested them, but still: why bother asking how many guests there will be during the reservation process if you are not going to outfit the room for that number of guests? How hard can it be to get housekeeping to stock a room, reserved for two people, with two bathrobes?

When we returned to our suite at 3 in the afternoon after being out all day, it had not been cleaned. I had to go find a housekeeper and drag her back to the uncleaned suite. She seemed surprised that I still wanted service so late in the day! So, instead of getting a brief nap between meetings, my husband and I had to sit in the bar for an hour while the housecleaner did her job.

Finally, before we went back to our room, my husband and I went up to the roof to check out the pool and jacuzzi, thinking we'd spend an hour there, unwinding, since we had missed our nap. The jacuzzi was small, but there was a drop-dead view of Houston and environs that went on for miles and miles. But, unfortunately for us, the jacuzzi was full of falling-down drunks--men not just pleasantly buzzed, but totally wrecked. At four in the afternoon. Amazingly, this didn't surprise me, because, when we checked in, I found this bizarre sticker on our bathroom mirror, which I quote in full:

"LOOKING FOR A BUDDY?

"Business travel can be so lonely and there's no better cure than making a few new friends. Why not leave the comfort of your room and visit the hotel bar where our buddies Johnny, Jack and Jim are always happy to join you in a drink or two.

"Just don't get trashed."

The accompanying photograph features a man in a shirt and tie....sitting in a trash can.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the photos for this hotel actually looked like the hotel and possibly was even nicer. We were worried because this hotel was so much cheaper that hotels surrounding it. We paid $109/nt and were blown away. It's a smaller hotel, so if you're looking for grandiose lobbies, you won't get that here. But the hotel is located in the heart of downtown Houston, and even though they have a free shuttle that will take you anywhere in downtown, we walked most of the time since everything (including lots of nightlife) was so close. When we did have to use the shuttle, they seemed to always be available, we never had to wait and they were incredibly courteous.

We checked in very quickly and were impressed with their art-deco style lobby. We arrived in time for their happy hour from 5:30-6:30 each night where beer and wine was FREE. It was a great opportunity to meet other guests. This place also serves milk and cookies at bed time (from 8-10pm I believe). We're not talking out of the box cookies either. These were freshly made, soft and huge cookies that were mmmm mmmm good. They had 3 or 4 different kinds too.

And when we woke up the next morning... what did we find? A free FULL breakfast buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits n' gravy, bagels, toast, muffins, 3 different kinds of juice, coffee... I think the only thing I didn't see was pancakes. But both days, the buffet changed a bit, and since we were only there for 2 days, we may have missed pancake day, not that we're complaining. The food was divine too!

The staff were all eager to help. The beds were quite comfortable as well. There's a nice garden tub and shower (in one), and everything seemed very clean. You get a good size TV with the standard cable channels that most hotels provide. The basic room that we were in was larger and nicer than the few 5 star hotels we were in. I personally liked the purple velvet curtains.

I almost don't want to leave a review for fear my secret find will become so popular the rates will go up. But this place makes me want to travel back to Houston (a town I'm not terribly fond of) just to stay there again. I highly recommend this hotel.

We stayed here at a great weekend rate on 3/21/08, while attending the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Didn't spend much time in the hotel, but would come back and stay for sure. Easy check-in and out, immaculately clean rooms, and nice hot breakfast. Our room was very quiet - not a sound from any side. We didn't use the rooftop pool/spa or fitness room, but we checked them all out, and all were clean and well-kept (check out the view of Houston from the roof - a nice place to take your coffee early in the morning).

We didn't use hotel parking. The hotel is walking distance to many downtown Houston attractions, and only a block from the Metro (electric train) which takes you to the Medical Center, Museum District, and Reliant Center - very convenient and affordable ($1.00 each way).

The hotel is a refurbished office/newspaper building from the early 1930's - some of the old "character" has been maintained, but it definitely has all the modern conveniences. We stayed here based on other recommendations on this website, and were not disappointed.