I had a great stay here on a recent business trip to Houston. The shuttle service was always available to take me to my meetings at the Hilton, and the staff was very attentive. I had a huge bathroom and nicely appointed room. Funky decor, but very tastefully done. The lobby and hallways are a bit dark, but you get used to it. I used the exercise facilities (downstairs in the spa) and found them to be more than adequate. Definitely a nice change from the usual "business" hotels, and good downtown location. Would stay here again.

We stayed at the Hotel Icon on our wedding night, before flying to Cozumel. We got there late Saturday night, and the hotel had a very "rave/party" feel in the lobby, and if you stood by the window in the room you could hear the techno club across the street. That said, the room was wonderful. I had requested a bottle of champagne in the room - they went a step further and put fresh rose petals on the bed and included some chocolate covered strawberries. The front desk clerks congratulated us at both check in and check out. The valet was very helpful, giving us very good directions to the airport. I would definately stay here again for any romantic weekend.

This was my second stay at the Hotel Icon, as I wanted to give it two chances a month apart.

Here's the skinny: the hotel is far, far different from your average chain hotel, luxury or otherwise. Everything about the place is unique and you definitely feel like it's a hotel that needs "exploring", from the enormous lobby to the wonderfully dark and moody Whiskey bar to the spa in the basement. Note that the staff at the Whiskey bar are wonderful, but it is REALLY really smokey, so I can't spend as much time there as I would like.

The decor is quite ornate and heavy, and will make you feel as though you are staying in a hotel from 100 years ago (this is a good thing; you might not love it, but at least it's different from 99% of other hotels with bland white walls and grey carpet). Dark red carpeting, green wallpaper, heavy drapes and bedspreads, and my room had illustrations of various cows on the walls (really). It is Texas, after all.

The rooms are quite large, and the bathroom I had was larger than some apartments I used to live in. The rooms are spotless and are maintained very well. The rooms are quiet for INTERIOR noise, but leave a bit to be desired for EXTERIOR noise. If you're on the non-street sides of the hotel like I was, there's no traffic noise but instead you get to listen to the giant industrial-sized air conditioning unit all night. You get used to it, but it's a bit surprising for a hotel of this class. The single-pane windows are the biggest reason, I bet.

For those that like top-notch service, you'll enjoy the evening turn-down service (complimentary and standard). It's always a nice suprise to come back to chocolates, flower petals, and your robe draped on the bed, with a light on too. Note that the beds and pillows are quite comfortable, if a bit overly soft, and the linens are great.

If you stay downtown often, you'll know that parking is always an issue. The Icon, hands-down, has the best and quickest valets, and they are exceptionally polite. Plus, the hotel has its own parking garage, unlike many other boutique hotels in the area, so your car is close at hand and relatively safe. By comparison, the Alden Hotel (old Sam Houston hotel), a few blocks away, parks your car all over the block, so the valets have to run down the street to get your car. This is a pain all around.

On the downside, here are a few strange incidents:
1) The first time I stayed, I didn't arrive until midnight because of my flight. I was informed that I had already checked in and somebody was in my room. I pointed out that since I was standing in front of them, it wasn't me, and I was on an airplane and hadn't been there yet to check in. It took 30 minutes to resolve (they had to send the doorman up to see if anyone was actually physically in the room or not). This was very confusing and annoying, when all I really wanted to do was sleep.
2) As I stayed on lower floors both times, I often used the stairs instead of waiting for the elevators. I complained about a pile of broken glass on one of the landings (tells you how often the STAFF use the stairs), and had to tell someone a second time on a different day before it was resolved. All in all, took 48 hours to clean a pile of broken glass from a fire-escape stairway. Yikes.
3) On this trip, my robe spontaneously disappeared from my room. Since I was worried about them charging me for it as though I had packed it and taken it, I told them about it. I got a pretty suprised and blank stare from the front desk, as opposed to the "we'll look after that right away" that one might expect at these prices (and the hotel's reputation). Took a bit of prodding to get a satisfactory response.
4) Room service is exceptionally expensive ($30 for a fruit plate, toast, juice, and milk) and has a mandatory 21% gratuity, on top of the $3 delivery charge. Wow, 21% tip for riding the elevator with my food! Bravo.

So, did I like it? Yes, enough to stay a second time, because it has a great location on Congress and Main with lots of great restaruants within walking distance. It's convenient to the Metro light rail (right on Main a block away), and it has some great amenities.

Will I be staying there on my next trip? No, I'm still searching for the "best" downtown hotel in Houston. I'm hoping this isn't it, because there are enough "misses" that have disappointed me with each stay. I've definitely stayed in better hotels for less money, although not in Houston. The search continues.

Starting with the good....I loved this hotel, the decor, the employees who were all very nice, the wonderful fitness center and the free high speed internet access. The beds are VERY comfortable and the rooms and bathrooms are gorgeous.

The bad....It can get expensive if you opt to order room service. My breakfast of yoghurt with berries, coffee and bacon came out to a whopping 25 dollars!

Also, the parking is expensive at 20 dollars per night, athough I think this is standard in Houston where parking is at a premium.

The rooms are not sound-proofed. The jazz club across the street seemed pretty cool until it kept me up for most of the night.

And why is the lobby so dark? I felt like I was walking into a funeral parlour!

Despite all of this, I'd stay there again. It has a charm that can't be matched by the other big-name hotels.