Hotel Saint Augustine At 4110 Loretto Dr.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

They are supposed to use sand not clay mud for the groundbreaking. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by hindesky

[004n063]

I'm trying to think of a better location for a Houston hotel, and I'm coming up empty. It's very easy to imagine this quickly becoming the best hotel in the city.

[Texasota]

I just wish it were 6 stories instead of 2.

[jmitch94]

9 minutes ago, Texasota said:

I just wish it were 6 stories instead of 2.

Why? This blends into the neighborhood much better than some overbearing block.

[gene]

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

I just wish it were 6 stories instead of 2.

 

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

I just wish it were 6 stories instead of 2.

 

i think the whole point of this hotel is to fit within the area and be more like a Hotel St Cecilia or Hotel San Jose, both in Austin...and we don't really have anything like those here...if you ever go to Austin check them out. Hotel St Cecilia in particular is my favorite hotel in Austin...it really does have this cool, homey, but luxury vibe...it is just incredible.... and the first time i ever went was during sxsw and got to meet Jake Gyllenhaal who was staying there! made my whole sxsw haha

Edited May 10, 2023 by gene

[Texasota]

I don't think 6 stories is overbearing. I am familiar with the comparison, though Austin is *not* my go-to for urbanism to emulate. 

[Texasota]

I say this with all love and respect:

Austin is bad and people who like it should be shamed for their wrong opinion.

[springcityparts]

I agree. This is a great location. Looks like Heights will be getting its own Bunkhouse operated hotel. Hopefully this will be the spark that gets both neighborhoods dotted with boutique hotels - a few around museum district would be very nice too 

7 hours ago, 004n063 said:

I'm trying to think of a better location for a Houston hotel, and I'm coming up empty. It's very easy to imagine this quickly becoming the best hotel in the city.

 

[bobruss]

I believe that the Menil, wants to keep the height of all buildings surrounding the Menil  to two stories or less.

I remember someone stating that Mrs. Menil encouraged keeping building heights down near the Menil as to not cast shadows on it. 

Here is an excerpt taken from the Menil's stated development strategy.

There are a variety of potential building typologies that could break away from the traditional four-story stick built model employed through- out Houston, including tower-on-base, slab-on-base, and tower-in-the- park, which would encourage a richer variety of forms while maintaining a balance between building density and the new public open space. Building scale will decrease in height as one moves north from Richmond Avenue, with the tallest buildings anchored along the avenue, and step- ping down to mid-height in the blocks north of Colquitt. The greatest op- portunity to create iconic and meaningful architecture lies in the use of a variety of different building massings modulated across the development sites, and marrying each with its own architectural vision. The Menil will name a private development partner.

[CREguy13]

9 hours ago, 004n063 said:

I'm trying to think of a better location for a Houston hotel, and I'm coming up empty. It's very easy to imagine this quickly becoming the best hotel in the city.

Totally agree. If the Daphne hotel at 20th and Ashland breaks ground as they plan, it's going to be great for Houston having excellent boutique hotels in our best Inner Loop neighborhoods. Hotel SA should crush it, and would love to see Bunkhouse doubles down on Montrose + look at the Heights.

Tourism would grow for our food scene and cultural institutions, and given the option, many business travelers will way more prefer to stay in Montrose/Heights than our core Business districts.

Edited May 10, 2023 by CREguy13

[editor]

6 hours ago, gene said:

St Cecilia in particular is my favorite hotel in Austin...it really does have this cool, homey, but luxury vibe...it is just incredible.... and the first time i ever went was during sxsw and got to meet Jake Gyllenhaal who was staying there! made my whole sxsw haha

The company my wife works for put a bunch of people in there for a while while in Austin on business.  They loved it. 

She wanted to stay there on our last trip to Austin, but availability was a problem.

[talltexan83]

A bit off-topic, but I've heard rumors (from multiple sources) that a boutique hotel group is looking to add a property in the Rice Village (on the block where Beautique is closing).  I think a small property would do well there as well.  Keep the party going Bunkhouse!

[bobruss]

10 hours ago, 004n063 said:

I'm trying to think of a better location for a Houston hotel, and I'm coming up empty. It's very easy to imagine this quickly becoming the best hotel in the city.

I can think of one other area that would really be a great location for this type of hotel. Rice Village. With it's proximity to Rice, TMC, Greenway Plaza, The museum district, and all of the shops restaurants and bars. You could literally walk to anything you wanted to see or do.

[004n063]

34 minutes ago, bobruss said:

I can think of one other area that would really be a great location for this type of hotel. Rice Village. With it's proximity to Rice, TMC, Greenway Plaza, The museum district, and all of the shops restaurants and bars. You could literally walk to anything you wanted to see or do.

Rice Village would definitely be a good spot, but I have a deep personal bias against Kirby Drive and everything west of it that prevents me from considering it fairly.

[Texasota]

But... the village is east of Kirby. 

[bobruss]

Even more the reason, it's a great location. And there is not a more condensed walkable area in Houston with as many options to partake in.

[X.R.]

22 hours ago, CREguy13 said:

Totally agree. If the Daphne hotel at 20th and Ashland breaks ground as they plan, it's going to be great for Houston having excellent boutique hotels in our best Inner Loop neighborhoods. Hotel SA should crush it, and would love to see Bunkhouse doubles down on Montrose + look at the Heights.

Tourism would grow for our food scene and cultural institutions, and given the option, many business travelers will way more prefer to stay in Montrose/Heights than our core Business districts.

The "problem" with nice boutique hotels in areas like the Heights, Montrose, Rice Village and even the Museum district is that it will 100% take away from the big boy hotels in the Galleria and Downtown, Downtown especially. I'd imagine they would be unhappy. Edit: I love all the potential sites and this hotel, I'm just pointing out something I thought about.

The boutiques definitely will take away regular tourists, and probably some business people too. If you've ever been to the Patio/Pit Room during the week, you'll see quite a few business people who were told its the best place to get bbq near their hotels in Downtown. Then when you talk to them its alot of "we love this area" etc. This hotel will do well.

Edited May 11, 2023 by X.R.

[Houston19514]

4 minutes ago, X.R. said:

The "problem" with nice boutique hotels in areas like the Heights, Montrose, Rice Village and even the Museum district is that it will 100% take away from the big boy hotels in the Galleria and Downtown, Downtown especially. I'd imagine they would be unhappy. Edit: I love all the potential sites and this hotel, I'm just pointing out something I thought about.

The boutiques definitely will take away regular tourists, and probably some business people too. If you've ever been to the Patio/Pit Room during the week, you'll see quite a few business people who were told its the best place to get bbq near their hotels in Downtown. Then when you talk to them its alot of "we love this area" etc. This hotel will do well.

Yes, but...  that assumes zero sum/no growth.  With the addition of boutique hotels such as these, I think we can reasonably hope Houston will start attracting visitors it is currently missing out on.

[gene]

i don't think it will take away from big hotels as much as add to boutique hotels a traveler or even local guest that likes a smaller intimate hotel and prefers not to stay at the large or chain hotels. so, i doubt downtown or galleria will be effected much since most people want to be in the heart of it all and those guests will continue to stay in those areas. what this will get is more artsy, creative and specific clientele looking to stay in something unique...

now remember we are not talking about boutique hotels like Hotel Zaza that has 314 rooms but IF we are talking about hotels like Hotel St Cecilia, that only has 14 rooms up to this 71 room hotel, i don't think this will make much of an impact on downtown or galleria hotels 

 :) 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by gene

[Texasota]

Lots of people who travel regularly (especially for business) end up with a preferred hotel chain for points reasons. That translates to Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, etc. 

That can end up being a surprisingly strong influence in hotel choice.

[clutchcity94]

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

Lots of people who travel regularly (especially for business) end up with a preferred hotel chain for points reasons. That translates to Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, etc. 

That can end up being a surprisingly strong influence in hotel choice.

Definitely. I paid for my entire 3-week honeymoon around the world with points/miles! .

[hindesky]

[004n063]

21 hours ago, Texasota said:

But... the village is east of Kirby. 

Oh I know. There's (nearly) nothing wrong with Rice Village, and I think a boutique hotel would be very successful there. It's just too close to Kirby for me. Es mi frontera.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]