Hotel Icon, Houston, United States
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Suite Bathroom: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Hotel Icon -
Gym: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Suite: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Voice Restaurant: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Voice Restaurant: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Lobby: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Spa: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas -
Suite: Hotel Icon in Houston, Texas
Hotel Icon 5 Stars
"Ornate European glamour, this luxury hotel in Houston is bursting with period charm and old-school style."
Hotel Overview
Review of Hotel Icon, by Ken Scrudato
The latest luxury hotel to burst onto the escalating Houston scene, Hotel Icon bypasses all that tired postmodern cool, and offers up, instead, an unabashed dose of old glamour. Indeed, many American luxury hotels love to tout themselves as "European styled," but Icon is a truly successful nod to the continent's grand hotel tradition. Located in an impossibly dramatic former bank building downtown, the unfettered opulence of the lobby makes it feel as if it could be a luxe hotel in Florence.
The facilities
The Icon's Voice restaurant has an overall feeling of being in a place of excitement and decadence-it has the social vibe of the grand old hotels of Europe. Serving up delicious Modern American cuisine, Voice offers an original and eclectic menu in an opulent setting. What it doesn't have is dowdy, stodgy décor. Rather, a mix of Moroccan, modern and period furniture makes it feel a bit more playful, less uptight, yet still elegant.
The rooms
Icon's 135 rooms and 9 suites are luxurious and romantic, done in a sort of quasi-empire style, with rich fabrics, sumptuous bedding, and old cow prints on the walls. The style continues in the bathrooms (stylised bathrooms-such a rarity!), and huge, yellow-tiled showers. A fabulous hotel.
Facilities
Awards
"Gold List" Condé Nast Traveler 07Who stays here?
Attracts a hip, urbane crowd.Come for...
- Seeing and being seen
- The funky bank conversion design
Not Suitable for...
- Squares
Children
Cots and extra beds available.Eating in
Voice restaurant serves Modern American cuisine with a creative edge.The Press Say
“An intimately scaled grand hotel, and ideally located next to a light rail stop. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant Bank... is a destination in itself.” Travel + Leisure 06Reviews
Review of Hotel Icon, by The TI Review Team
By TI reviewer Benji Lanyado
A powerhouse of a hotel in the heart of Houston's downtown arts and entertainment district, the Hotel Icon has transformed an imposing bank - one of America's earliest steel and concrete skyscrapers - into arguably the finest hotel in Texas.
The exterior sets a mighty tone, with an imposing brick and Bedford limestone facade adorned with Corinthian columns and keystones depicting Greek gods of commerce and trade. But nestled inside the august frame of the building, luxurious pied-a-terre style rooms are soft and homely, and primed for relaxation after a day exploring this sprawling metropolis.
The stars of the soaring lobby are two rows of 30 foot Doric columns, towering over polished dark wood surfaces, distressed mirrors, tall potted palms and marble floors. At the heart of the room, segregated by a glass-encased wine cabinet, the 360-degree walnut bar of Voice restaurant is one of the finest spots in town to enjoy a drink.
If a more intimate setting is required, tucked away beneath the colonnade the private Wine Vault serves as a popular location for business dinners and parties. Also beneath the lobby level of the hotel is the Balance day spa and a 24-hour fitness facility.
The Hotel Icon's 135 guestrooms are pasted in hand-blocked striped pastel wallpaper and dark wood furniture, with high ceilings and great views over Main Street. The show-stealers, however, are the bathrooms, which feature oversized Jacuzzi bathtubs placed next to inlaid pocket doors that open out into the bedroom, allowing guests to watch TV while reclining in bubbly heaven.
Fitted around swirling marble countertops and a mosaic floor, huge glass-encased showers with rainfall showerheads offer a quicker, equally luxurious bathing option. At the perch of the building, the three-storey penthouse is a showstopper, with separate living, sleeping and reception areas, and a private 600-square-foot rooftop terrace with views across the city.