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I am thinking of heading to Houston in March for a Bridge tournament. The tournament will be held at the Hilton Americas Houston hotel at 1600 Lamar.

Since my wife works for Choice Hotels, at times I can get a real great rate. Looking at the Choice website it shows 3 potential hotels that may be close. What kind of public transportation is there if I use one of the Choice hotels?

Comfort Inn Downtown--5820 Katy freeway

MainStay Suites--3134 Old Spanish Trail

Comfort Suites--1055 McNee rd East of Main street


Are any of these actually close to the Hilton Americas or are there other Choice hotels I should be checking out?


Thanks

Well it has been awhile, but Lamar is downtown and so is Main, so go with the McNee one.

Weyoun wrote:Well it has been awhile, but Lamar is downtown and so is Main, so go with the McNee one.

Try getting driving directions on Google Maps, kusch.

For that one, they say:

6.8 mi – about 14 mins (up to 25 mins in traffic)

Scratch that - if it is near Reliant, then go with Old Spanish Trail. But if distance is not a trump, downtown has way more going on than the OST area.

bah just ignore anything I say - I am on an iPhone and can't look anything up.

Weyoun wrote:Scratch that - if it is near Reliant, then go with Old Spanish Trail. But if distance is not a trump, downtown has way more going on than the OST area.

Google Maps says 4.2 mi – about 7 mins (up to 15 mins in traffic)

And the third choice is 6.7 mi – about 13 mins (up to 20 mins in traffic).

I don't think Google Maps or any other maps will help if he is asking about public transportation.

kusch wrote:I am thinking of heading to Houston in March for a Bridge tournament. The tournament will be held at the Hilton Americas Houston hotel at 1600 Lamar.

Since my wife works for Choice Hotels, at times I can get a real great rate. Looking at the Choice website it shows 3 potential hotels that may be close. What kind of public transportation is there if I use one of the Choice hotels?

Comfort Inn Downtown--5820 Katy freeway

MainStay Suites--3134 Old Spanish Trail

Comfort Suites--1055 McNee rd East of Main street


Are any of these actually close to the Hilton Americas or are there other Choice hotels I should be checking out?


Thanks

The Comfort Inn Downtown is a ways from downtown. It's in the Heights/Memorial Park area. But there is a city bus from that area to downtown. The #48 runs from Larkin Street, which is just north of the hotel, to very near the Hilton Americas. The schedule says it should take about 30 minutes. It runs about every 30 minutes on week days. It does not run the entire route on weekends and it looks like it does not go out to the Heights on weekends.

The MainStay Suites is near the Medical Center area south of downtown. There is a city bus from near your hotel that connects to the Light Rail in the Medical Center. Or you could walk the mile to the Light Rail. If you take the bus, you would take Route 26/27 to the TMC Transit Center and then take the Light Rail north to the Main Street Square Station and then walk six blocks to the Hilton. It's hard to say how long that would take. The 26/27 runs pretty often during the week but you might have to wait on the connections on the weekend.

The Comfort Suites on McNee is farther south and on the other side of Reliant Stadium. You would have about a mile walk to the Reliant Park light rail station and then take it downtown as before. There might be a bus that runs over to the light rail but I don't see it.


I don't know if any of that helps. I don't see any Choice Hotels that would be better.

From my visit to Houston in October (I rented a car) I got the impression that relying on public transit there is as adventurous as trying to drive through midtown Manhattan.

Here is the Metro site
http://tripplanner.ridemetro.org/

I tried some combinations and the only relatively short trip is the Comfort Inn and only on weekdays. According to the site it involves a 0.3-0.4 mile walk. If it is a weekend, unless you can't drive I'd suggest renting a car. Perhaps if you know others going there for the tourney a carpool could be arranged.

I say rent a car or take a taxi. Then you can stay wherever you want!

Ritterskoop wrote:I don't think Google Maps or any other maps will help if he is asking about public transportation.

That's true, Skoop. And I'm not a Houston BB, either. But I was thinking that, if he was staying downtown, the best transportation option of all would be to get a hotel within walking distance, which none of these three are.

Ritterskoop wrote:I don't think Google Maps or any other maps will help if he is asking about public transportation.

Not true. Google Maps has many city's public transportation and is adding all the rest of them. Try NY/NJ for example.

Come to Dutchess county.

I'll drive you around.

Thanks for the replies.

AJ's reply nailed what I was looking for, Snaxx also.
Pea, not so much.

If I go, and it is a big if at this time, I think my best bet would be to just
stay at the host hotel, the Hilton Americas.

kusch wrote:Thanks for the replies.

AJ's reply nailed what I was looking for, Snaxx also.
Pea, not so much.

If I go, and it is a big if at this time, I think my best bet would be to just
stay at the host hotel, the Hilton Americas.

There are some other options downtown near the Hilton Americas but typically not very cheap unless you catch them in a deal. I know people who have gotten good deals at the Residence Inn downtown and at the Courtyard by Marriott. There is also a Holiday Inn Express very close to the Hilton.

kusch wrote:Thanks for the replies.

AJ's reply nailed what I was looking for, Snaxx also.
Pea, not so much.

If I go, and it is a big if at this time, I think my best bet would be to just
stay at the host hotel, the Hilton Americas.

harumf

kusch wrote:Thanks for the replies.

AJ's reply nailed what I was looking for, Snaxx also.
Pea, not so much.

If I go, and it is a big if at this time, I think my best bet would be to just
stay at the host hotel, the Hilton Americas.

The boss is saving $200 per night by staying three blocks from the conference hotel. He said when he came aboard he would spend the company's money as if it were his, and he has been true to his word.

Bob Juch wrote:

Ritterskoop wrote:I don't think Google Maps or any other maps will help if he is asking about public transportation.

Not true. Google Maps has many city's public transportation and is adding all the rest of them. Try NY/NJ for example.

Screw the public transportation. If anybody needs a ride in New Jersey, just call me.