Stayed here for one night while attending a seminar in Houston. The location was good for me and the complimentary shuttle service to downtown locations was great for a quick trip to the theater. My room was both quiet an clean, and the bed was soft and very, very comfortable. I paid $124/night which was reasonable considering other downtown hotels. Very nice and helpful staff. I would come back here again.

I booked this room via Priceline for $48 a night. When I tried to check in early, I was told to wait until later. When I returned, the front desk said that there were no more NS rooms. I had confirmed my reservation for a NS king the night before as well as two hours earlier. I demanded that she call the Residence Inn which shares the building with the Courtyard and ask if they had any NS rooms. They did but they would not honor the Priceline reservation. I then asked to talk to the manager. Suddenly, the clerk found a NS room with two double beds in the computer. The common areas and the room smelled of body odor, like a locker room. The renovated historic building formerly housed an oil company. The rooms were odd shaped. One side of the building is the Courtyyard by Marriott and the other side is the Residence Inn. An unlocked door separates the two hotels on each floor. They both share the same pool, fitness room, and laundry room. The Residence Inn side get the traffic noise, The Courtyard side gets the street car noise.

I stayed in the Courtyard Houston Downtown for one night and came away with a favorable impression. I stayed in this hotel because it was relatively close to the convention center and did not cost nearly as much as many of the other downtown hotels.

The negatives: Like the previous reviewer, I too found chunks of food on the floor....bizarre. I was also forced to take a smoking room, which was unfortunate but the convention left them overbooked. The food service menu leaves a lot to be desired, as does the quality of the food. Unless you want to park several blocks away, your only option is valet parking for $20. The valet service is very slow.

The positives: Free high-speed internet, high ceilings, modern fixtures in the bathrooms, free newspaper, comfortable bed with unique bed linens. The staff were friendly and attentive. Although meager, they did have a small 24 hour market with snacks and drinks.

All things considered, I would stay here again but I would request a non-smoking room and not order room service.

I stayed at the Courtyard from March 2 - 7, 2006, for a convention. The hotel is in good proximity to the convention center and is within walking distance of several good bars and restaurants. The staff - both desk and housekeeping - were very friendly and the range of TV channels was great. My biggest problem was room cleanliness... I don't think housekeeping vaccuumed well beyond the front entryway. There was a large chunk of candy bar on the carpet left over from the previous guest in my room, and I collected quite a bit of gunk on my feet when I walked around barefoot. Yuck. There were also things stuck behind the dresser. Regarding food service, the restaurant didn't serve lunch on the weekends, which surprised me, especially since most lunch places in the downtown area are closed on the weekends. (Probably because they get most of their business from the nine-to-fivers who work downtown.) Also, room service was only available from 5 - 10 p.m. Given the choice, I would probably stay elsewhere the next time I'm in Houston. A note about downtown Houston in general... It's pretty dirty. I wouldn't recommend walking around alone at night. (My co-workers and I traveled in groups, and we were fine.)