I stayed in a 3-bedroom suite at the Granduca to visit my father who was having treatment at the nearby MD Anderson Cancer center. The suite was very spacious and just about everything in it was great. The master bedroom was huge as well as the master bath and space is definately not a problem in this place. We stayed in the 2nd master bedroom and were very comfortable. The bed was huge and very soft, but the pillows were very uncomofortable and we brought our own from Kansas City. The shower for the 2nd master is shared with the 3rd bedroom and is pretty nice. There are 2 vanities in the master bathroom and only 1 vanity in the 2nd bathroom, which is not that big of a deal if you do not have a fully occupied suite. However, you would think that a place with the quality of the Granduca would have a bathroom for each bedroom. The dining room and living room were great and had tons of room. The TV in the living room was HDTV and was huge and great for watching sports or movies on the DVD player. You could even order movies in HDTV through the TV if you wanted to. The full kitchen was also a great feature and it is a great thing to have the ability to cook your own meal if you wanted to. I used to excercise room once during my stay and was very impressed with the equipment. All of the equipment was top of the line and it was nice to be able to watch TV while I worked out on the elliptical. The pool and hot-tub were right outside from the main lobby and looked very nice. However, since the weather was cold and rainy we never got to take advantage of the pool facilities. Each morning a complimentary breakfast was served near the bar area and it was pretty basic. They had all of the basic stuff (cereal, fruit, bread, eggs, tea, coffee, etc.) and it was not very impressive. However, the breakfast was complimentary and it was nice to have a free breakfast every morning. There was no restaurant in the hotel which I found quite odd for a hotel of this stature. You could order room service from the restaurant next door for some pretty hefty delivery charges if you really wanted room service. Overall, I would have to say that this hotel is a great extended stay hotel and does not have all the features that a full service hotel might have. If I were staying in Houston for a short amount of time I might stay in a hotel that is fully featured.

Stayed 2 nights in the Granduca only 30 days after it opened apparently. Modelled on an Italian palace, the hotel suites are clearly aimed at the longer term visitor. I had a suite on the 5th floor with kitchen, dining space and lounge in one open plan style. The next room was the bedroom, a l-shaped space with a large, high bed and a desk area with cable network access. Off there were two other rooms, a dressing room with a very small safe and the other room was the bathroom. The Granduca aims to live up to the luxury of a palace and it is clearly a cut above the usual hotel suite. The bed was one of the best parts - one of the most comfortable I've ever slept in. However, some of the decor is clearly 'faux' and the acrylic bath let down an otherwise deluxe feel. The only real quibbles I'd have with it were:
there was only one wastebin in the entire suite (in the bathroom)
the shower temperature fluctuated and took time to run warm
the safe was too tiny to put anything other than papers and other small items.

On the plus side:
Large plasma HDTV in both lounge and bedroom
Individual environmental controls in both main rooms
Fully-featured kitchen
A home-from-home feel in the decor (books, pictures, objects, etc.)
Great toiletries and the thickest towels I've ever used
Complimentary wireless (throughout) and wired internet access from the desk area in the bedroom

I didn't eat at the hotel at all, so can't really comment on that aspect. However, the options available appeared to suggest that there was an assumption that guests would either self-cater or go out.

A really good longer-term option or for self-catering. The hotel offers up to 3-bedroom suites, so potentially a great option for families. The area is about 5 minutes drive from the Galeria (huge shopping mall).