14 Best Hotels in Greater Houston, Houston and Galveston

Developer Giorgio Borlenghi (Uptown Park, Four Leaf Towers, Four Oaks Place) doesn't do things on the cheap. Witness this magnificent European-style residential palace that's big with the international crowd. The super-luxurious all-suites property is just steps away from the Uptown Park shopping and dining village. A multilingual staff anticipates your every need. Suites come as big as 2,100 square feet.

Well-heeled travelers enjoy the hotel's plush accommodations and thorough service (including butlers on some floors), and local swells arrive for afternoon tea. Rooms are luxuriously furnished, with individually selected artwork, plus Pratesi linens, fully stocked minibars, terrycloth robes, and marble bathrooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows let you gaze on the magical downtown skyline or lush Memorial Park. In River Oaks, the St. Regis is convenient to Downtown and the Galleria area. The pool area is elegant and relaxing, and there's a spa on site to melt your cares away. In addition to a restaurant, the hotel has a tea lounge and a bar serving light fare.

In a leafy, wooded complex known as the World Houston Business Development, this hotel is 1 mile from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Rooms are decorated in a sophisticated, modern style of cool blues and greys, with oversized work areas designed with business travelers in mind.

On the shores of Clear Lake, Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake is a suburban resort hotel with a number of water sports—including jet skiing and waterskiing —and easy access to NASA/Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston, which are just across the street.

Two miles south of the airport and 18 mi from downtown, this Holiday Inn is convenient to Redstone Golf Club, home of the Shell Houston Open. Rooms are pretty much what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn—nothing too luxurious but well equipped for both business and leisure travelers.

While service and general atmosphere seem to be slipping lately, the Hotel Derek is still a good value for its location and sophistication. Modern furnishings grace the glossy-floored lobby and the 314 sleek, contemporary rooms. It's a favorite of both business and leisure travelers looking for an alternative to a traditional chain hotel.

This no-smoking hotel is on the grounds of Bush Intercontinental Airport and has complimentary underground train service to the airport. A rooftop restaurant provides great views of all the arriving and departing flights, and downtown's skyline in the distance. All rooms feature luxurious bedding and linens, including down pillows if you like.

Spread over 18 acres in a wooded area near Memorial Park, the quiet, lodge-like Houstonian has luxurious rooms and sports facilities galore—golf (off-site), tennis, a climbing wall, and indoor racket games, plus one of the nation's largest fitness centers, weighing in at 125,000 square feet.

Directly across from the Galleria mall, this completely no-smoking hotel is a shopper's haven. Business travelers enjoy easy access to Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the I–610/Uptown corridor. Rooms have opulent granite bathrooms and the finest bedding and fabrics. You can play basketball and racquetball on-site.

This upscale resort-style high-rise has a dramatic modern lobby and an especially large pool, as well as fountains and sculpture. Guest rooms have sitting areas, marble vanities and bathrooms, dark-wood furniture, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The Black Swan bar is consistently popular with the young social set.

With a peaceful water garden in its atrium lobby and grounds with a 2-acre lake, being at the Omni is not like being in the city at all. The hotel is convenient to the Energy Corridor, is within 3 miles of the Memorial City and Town & Country malls, and 16 miles from downtown. Rooms are clean, current, and comfortable, and the fitness facility is well equipped.

Just a mile from the airport, the Sheraton is a full-service resort hotel perfect for business travelers or golf enthusiasts: six of the city's leading courses, including Tour 18 and the Redstone Golf Club (home of the Shell Houston Open) are just minutes away. Rooms have contemporary furnishings, with sitting and work areas so you can really spread out.

Rooms and suites at this 18-story hotel are oversized and elegantly decorated in cream and white. The hotel (and its near-identical sister property, The Westin Galleria) is within the Galleria shopping and office complex in Uptown Houston, so Neiman Marcus and 350 other stores and restaurants are just a short stroll away. There is an outdoor jogging track.

Just 30 minutes from downtown Houston (on a good day), this lakefront lodge is set on acres of manicured lawns, creating a quiet and lovely retreat with all the amenities anyone could ask for. There are 21 tennis courts, more than 190 miles of hiking/biking trails, and a luxurious spa. Minutes away are the Woodlands Mall and Market Street, with 400 upscale retailers and restaurants.