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Four Points by Sheraton Houston Greenway Plaza, TX [Master Thread]

Four Points by Sheraton Houston Greenway Plaza, TX [Master Thread]

Old Oct 8, 2003, 4:50 am
  #1  
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Arrow Four Points by Sheraton Houston Greenway Plaza, TX [Master Thread]

Starwood Opens Four Points By Sheraton Hotel In Houston, Texas; Former Ramada Plaza Reflagged As Four Points By Sheraton Houston Southwest

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Oct. 7, 2003 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced today the reflagging of the former Ramada Plaza in Houston, Texas as the new Four Points by Sheraton Houston Southwest. Santa Ana, CA.-based Khanna Enterprises, which owns and operates hotels in both southern California and London, England, has selected Starwood to franchise the property as a Four Points by Sheraton, the hotel company's mid-priced brand.

The 216-room Four Points by Sheraton Houston Southwest is conveniently located off Interstate 59 at Kirby Drive, in close proximity to the Galleria, Downtown, Texas Medical Center, Astrodome and Houston Hobby Airport. The hotel underwent a $6.5 million renovation in 1999, prior to its conversion to Doubletree Club. It has been a Ramada Plaza for the last year.

Other significant features and guest amenities of the hotel include a fitness facility and outdoor pool, Au Bon Pain Bakery Cafe, plus high-speed Internet access in all guestrooms and meeting rooms. The Au Bon Pain Bakery Cafe offers a menu that provides breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus room service. The hotel offers 2,400 square feet of meeting space, including a 1,890 square-foot ballroom and a 464 square-foot meeting room.

"The hotel in Houston is an important addition to the Four Points by Sheraton brand, which is a major destination for both the business and leisure traveler," said Hoyt Harper, the brand's senior vice president.

Starwood has six other properties located in the Houston area, including the Sheraton Suites Houston, Sheraton Houston Brookhollow Hotel, Sheraton North Houston Hotel at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, The Westin Oaks, The Westin Galleria and The St. Regis, Houston.
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Old Oct 8, 2003, 10:35 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">prior to its conversion to Doubletree Club.</font>
Would this be the same owner and property of the infamous Powerpoint Yours Is A Very Bad Hotel Houston Doubletree Club fame?

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 10-08-2003).]
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Old Oct 8, 2003, 5:18 pm
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Yikes. Finally finding the link (now embedded above) and cross checking the addresses...it appears that it is that very hotel. Hope they've shaped up since then.
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Old Nov 30, 2003, 12:06 pm
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Update:

Just visited this property. Still has temporary canvas Four Points signs covering the old Ramada signs.

Ample free self-parking. Lobby is okay, looks to be renovated sometime in the recent past, with a "living room" area with sofas and large TV. Also sort of an open meeting room area across from that. Next to that is a open work station with computer attached to a 56k modem. The only internet software installed was AOL, and I was told you could use it if you had an AOL account. That was kinda strange.

Hotel has a pool and a small Au Bon Pain Bakery Caf (employee looked bored to death with no customers), which is good because there is nothing within walking distance from this hotel as far as dining options go.

Arrived at the front desk to find a maid standing in front of it. She was trying to tell me something in very broken English which I finally determined was that I would have to wait as the one and only front desk clerk was gone for a few minutes. Did not notice any bell staff. Seemed to be a skeleton crew thing.

Shortly the front desk clerk arrived and the maid (who was minding the store) departed. She was very nice and apologized for her absence for a few minutes. I inquired if I might be able to see a room to inspect it. She said they "don't normally do that" but went ahead and gave me a key. I must not look like their typical television thief.

Out of elevator and momentary weird disorientation due to the hotel's Y design with 3 wings intersecting. Room was fine for a Four Points. Probably the same decor as when it was the Doubletree or Ramada. Nothing fancy, but fine and clean. Furniture a bit oldish looking.

Hotel has zero suites, just standard Traditional and Deluxe rooms. It's location on the parallel road of the freeway would make for possible noisy rooms if you got one facing the freeway. My guess for best upgrade would be simply a Deluxe room on the side facing away from the freeway.

This hotel is about a mile from the Galleria area as the crow flies. Much less than a mile to other shopping and dining areas, but you would probably still need a car. The hotel itself is in a very low to mid range commercial office and industrial area, so this is not a place you stay where you want an impressive address or to be in the heart of anything walking distance-wise.

If I were alone looking to save some dough and just using the room to basically sleep, I would stay here. But with your S.O. in tow or for any other reason, I probably would try to find something nicer.
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Old Jan 1, 2005, 8:55 pm
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Four Points Houston - Updated Review

I recently stayed at this Four Points which it turns out is a pretty decent hotel. Thanks to some help from a good friend got my room for a non refundable but great price of $59!

I checked in before 12 noon and Brian (think that was his name) said that really they could not check in guests before 4pm but he added "you are a Platinum and I'll take the time to find a nice upgrade room."

No prompting, all I said was that I was here.

Brian did some searching and found me a nice room on the 8th floor. He also offered me my Platinum amenity without prompting joking "I been here for months and I have yet to see someone take something other than the points." A very pleasant check-in experience.

The room was a little larger than I expected with a sofa bed and new furnishings. Note to all: High Speed WIRELESS Internet is FREE here! (I treated myself to a wireless card and I'm loving it.)

The facilities are limited food wise. The Au Bon Pain and the mini bar were both closed (I was hoping for one Shiner Bock as a nightcap but no big deal.) It has a nice small lobby and hotel. The nighttime front desk person happily honored my request for a late 1pm checkout, saying that I could stay as long as 4pm.

The one thing about this hotel is getting there by Car is a must - it is on Highway 59 near a Holiday Inn and kind of remote.

TO parapraise my BIG Bruddar PremEx said if you are just coming to sleep or get some extra stays under your belt it's not a bad place. Happy I have an alternative in Houston when the great Sheraton Suites (which also has FREE Wireless, THANK YOU!) or the Westins are overpriced.

It's not the Legendary Four Points LAX. It's definitely not the poor 4 Points EWR. It's good and gives me what I want:

*Clean well furnished room
*Comfortable bed
*Friendly, helpful staff.

One little nitpick and it's NOT about the HOTEL but what's on the spg.com website describing check in/out time:


CHECK IN 9:00 AM CHECK OUT 6:00 AM

With that way too early checkout time people will have to leave in whatever they are wearing at that hour!

Four Points Houston: Three Paws UP
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Old Sep 8, 2005, 8:08 am
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Originally Posted by stevekoe
Was just curious -- sometimes the *wood properties in TX seem a little behind the curve when it comes to these type of things. As late as September and October of last year, there were still some Sheraton properties in Dallas and Houston that had not yet installed the Sweet Sleepers.
Just stayed at the 4P Houston Southwest. Easy upgrade (I had to ask, but no arguing), clean room, busy but available staff. There was free wireless access, but I'm not sure it was intentional. The "linksys" network was open, but not a very strong signal. It's very possible it belonged to someone else in the area (neighboring hotels).

This property does NOT have the Four Comforts bed. There is a sign in the lobby saying it's coming soon, but the sign seemed old & a bit worn itself.

As others have said, it's an inexpensive property ($59 NOT pre-paid) and a decent enough place to lay your head for a night or 2. The deluxe room (king bed, double sofa sleeper) is roomy enough and a reasonable space to work from. My brief conversation with the front desk guy lead me to believe that they have good availability for deluxe room upgrades - but of course YMMV.
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Old Feb 21, 2006, 2:21 am
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Four Points Sheraton Houston

I do not recommend the Four Points Sheraton in Houston because of its horrible wifi connection and NO plug-in high speed connection for the internet. The wifi connection is so bad they give you some huge outdated-looking box to plug in the wall to "improve" the connection but it does nothing for me and has to be the worst internet I have had at any hotel stay in the US. If you are staying in houston I would recommend paying more for a hotel where you can actually USE the internet.

I emailed the mgmt at the hotel and heard nothing back about this problem and commented about this twice each time I stayed at this hotel but nothing has been done. If the hotel does not have an internet connection its ancient in my book. It is a shame because I would love to stay there for starpoints but I will definately be staying at the marriott instead!!
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Old Aug 21, 2007, 12:32 pm
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Does the Four Points have a free shuttle to the airport? Special treatment for Plats?
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Old Aug 21, 2007, 6:40 pm
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777
Does the Four Points have a free shuttle to the airport? Special treatment for Plats?
Definitely no shuttle -I believe they have free parking, though. Your best bet is to rent a car as IAH is about 25 miles from the hotel.

As for special treatment, aside from the standard benefits, I would not expect much
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Old Aug 21, 2007, 6:50 pm
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777
Does the Four Points have a free shuttle to the airport? Special treatment for Plats?
Is the Sheraton Brookhollow significantly more expensive for the dates of your stay? It's closer to IAH (I'm assuming you are not flying into HOU, given your handle), you would get a 500 point amenity, almost guaranteed upgrade to club floor or junior suite (quite nice by Sheraton standards), lounge access (or comped breakfast on weekends), all at a newly renovated hotel that's quite nice.

I would say that the new Sheraton Brookhollow compares favorably to the Sheraton AMS, and Sheraton Gateway Toronto Airport (though perhaps not quite as refined as both of those properties...still quite good by Sheraton standards).

Sheraton has no Airport shuttle, but does have a shuttle to the Galleria, I believe
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Old Dec 7, 2008, 1:14 pm
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Any update on the Four Points Houston Southwest, on I-59 at Kirby?

Has anyone stayed there recently and what has been your impression?

Is parking still free? Thanks in advance.
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Old Mar 31, 2009, 10:07 am
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I guess miracles do happen

They are actually starting to remodel this place, about d@mn time
2 rooms on the 8th floor were being worked on,that I saw.
Maybe I'll get lucky next time and can get one

There are no signs in the lobby announcing "The new look" but the front desk said more renovations are on the way. She also said guess you'll be paying double next time(eh, no)

Parking is still free
Internet is still free. Wireless is ify at best. Disable your wireless card(for whatever reason) and use the wired connection

The very run-down apartments that were behind this property are now closed and a new YMCa will take their place. The Holiday-Inn across the street is being rebranded as a CP.

There are a couple good restaurants around the corner on Richmond Ave
Sonoma-Califorina wine Bar(live jazz most nights,
Sushi King at Kirby and Richmond,Couple Mexicans and of course a Pappadeaux
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Old Jul 21, 2010, 12:45 pm
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Disaster Place

My Mother-In-Law was taking my daughter to the HOU airport and needed a place to stay prior to the departure. She selected the 4pts Houston. I used my points for their stay. I just heard about the stay from them and I was embarrassed for them. Here is a list of issues from their July 18th stay. Room 721

Arrived at 2:45pm and told a room was not available, only 10 cars in the parking lot.

Soiled toilet paper on bathroom floor.
Filthy Carpets throughout.
Sheets looked dirty and wrinkled on the bed.
Blankets not even the right size for the beds.
Towels on bathroom floor.
Electrical outlet missing cover, exposing wires.
Spilled substance under sink
Toilet seat Broken
Bathtub filthy
Housekeeper took the elevator when it came and made them wait for another one.

They were also told not to leave anything in the car, and that it was not a safe neighborhood.

She had such a bad experience with the incredibly rude front desk staff (thought it was the manager) that she was afraid to encounter them for fear of a confrontation. When asked how the stay was at checkout, she told them it was not good, and they replied, "oh, that's too bad".

She did say the lady at the Starwood desk was nice and did try and help.

Jim
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Old Jul 22, 2010, 9:08 am
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That's a horrible stay it sounds like, sorry your family had that. While I have never stayed at this property, I've passed it several times and can definitely comment on the part of town it's in. It's in a very nice part of Houston, sandwiched between the River Oaks neighborhood and the enclave's of Bellaire/West University Place, about midway between downtown and the Galleria. This is the nicest area in the Houston area so the crime around here is not bad at all. But since it's right on the feeder road, break ins can be common. Hopefully they are going through a full remodel which would include surly staff as well.
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Old Jul 22, 2010, 3:06 pm
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Just a follow up on my previous post/review. I got on the online chat with the plat desk and went over this with them. They seemed truly concerned about this. I gave them my in-laws phone number as well as my own to contact for more details. Within an hour the manager contacted my in-laws then called me. He said the weekend staff is different from weekday staff and had personally visited the room and did not find the same situation as was experienced. He attributed it to the different staff and said the rooms had been refurbished this year, but agreed the carpets in the hallways and the rooms are badly stained.

He also said that all properties warn you not to leave valuables in your car.... I would think this is just common sense no matter where you are staying, but they made a point of it here, I believe due to the neighborhood.

Manager was sincere that this will be addressed with staff and found this experience unacceptable. They also refunded my points back for the stay.

I have to admit, I was impressed with the way they handled this, but I wont be staying here....

Jim
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