the houstonian hotel, club & trellis spa

If you remember, this past weekend I drove down to Houston for my friend Alice’s wedding! Since I’m all about exploring new places and going on new adventures, I decided to stay at The Houstonian Hotel. While I lived in Houston a few years back, I ate at The Houstonian’s amazing restaurant (Olivette) for dinner, but that was the extent of my experience with the hotel. Upon checking in on Friday, I met with the PR Director and Social Media manager to tour the 18-acre grounds right off of Woodway and 610 near the Galleria. The first thing you need to know about The Houstonian is that is really is a garden oasis within the center of the city. You don’t have to drive far to access this grand destination, but you still enjoy the privacy and exclusive experience you would traveling to the middle of nowhere. For the avid runner (or walker, should you prefer that), there is a beautiful jogging trail snaking throughout the grounds for guests to use. There are also three different pools for guests of the hotel to enjoy: the garden pool (the most secluded and quiet of the three), resort pool (perfect for kids – there’s a slide!) and club pool (exclusively for swimming laps). Each pool has dozens of lounge chairs for you to lay out and bask in the sun, and the hotel’s outdoor Arbor Grill serves a full menu right to your seat. Needless to say, I spent both Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes by the pool, working on my tan! Be sure to visit Houstonian.com to learn more about the hotel’s amenities.

For dinner Friday night and breakfast each morning, I revisited the hotel’s delicious restaurant, Olivette. Friday night I ordered a beef carpaccio appetizer that came served on a huge block of pink himalayan sea salt (see a photo of it below)! Every meal at Olivette was beautifully presented like that. Other things on the menu that I enjoyed during my stay include the bouillabaisse and the banana-stuffed french toast (both pictured below). I will also somewhat shamefully admit that one late night after going out I ordered the four-cheese pizza from the in-room dining menu and it was mind blowing. So delicious! To make myself feel a little bit better about myself after indulging in such decadent meals, I hopped on over to The Houstonian’s famous sports club. With over 6,000 members, The Houstonian Club is certainly the city’s most popular and finest. They have dozens of unique workout classes every day from 5am-8pm, ranging from cycling, kick-boxing, yoga, water classes, weight training, aerial silk Pilates, interval training and more! My favorite class from the weekend was the CuttingEDGE class which was a great mix of fast-paced cardio and weight training, but I also enjoyed a class called Just Weights. I’m usually very good about fitting cardio into my workout routine, but when it comes to free weights I just kind of give up – so that class was ideal following my 45 minute run. The Club was kind enough to offer a free session with a Pilates instructor to learn Aerial Silks. It was fun to do something I’d never tried before – definitely harder than it looks, and such a good workout! Maybe next time I’ll be a little more graceful in my aerial silks maneuvers now that I’ve done it once. Click here to discover all of The Houstonian Club’s fantastic group fitness classes and membership info!

Last but not least, on Sunday I was able to spend the afternoon relaxing at the world-famous Trellis Spa. It is actually the only spa in the Houston area to be listed on the Forbes Travel Guide Four Star List, and now I know why. Everything from the service to the waiting rooms to the treatments was beyond any expectations I could have had! The treatment I chose was the Citrus Drench, which is a signature treatment using Natura Bisse product exclusively. It first started with a light exfoliation, followed by application of the Natura Bisse C + C Vitamin Body Lift Gel and Body Cream (which I purchased following the treatment). Once those two products soaked in, I was covered from head to toe in a creamy, citrus masque. After letting it soak in and showering off the masque, I was treated to a 50-min massage. Let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep that night – I was so relaxed! The spa also has a full hair salon and nail spa, along with a fashionable boutique that carries everything they use in the treatments upstairs as well as other chic items like these Yosi Samra sandals and aromatic candles. Click here to learn more about the Trellis Spa, book your treatments and more.

Needless to say I had an amazing experience at The Houstonian – it’s a family-friendly spot that doesn’t lack luxury, and that packs a punch with fitness, food and a fabulous spa. I highly recommend you stay at The Houstonian on your next trip to Houston – for my Houston readers: if you haven’t eaten at Olivette or spent a day in the Trellis Spa, it’s a must. Scroll through the rest of the post to check out all of the photos from my stay!

 

{ all photography by The Style Scribe – a big thank you to The Houstonian Hotel for sponsoring this post! }