Doubletree Houston Intercontinental Airport

Famous, expensive, inept

I recently spent three days at the Hyatt at the George Bush Airport, and I was not impressed.

When I checked in, the guy at the desk told me that my room would be just inside and up the stairs from the "B as in Bravo" door. I entered that door and wandered for five minutes before finding my room. The room was really just inside and up the stairs from the "A" door.

When I opened the door, I noticed bedspreads and blankets on the floor and the TV playing loudly. I thought they had accidentally given me someone else's room. I called for help and spent about ten minutes on hold. They offered me a room upgrade for the same price, but I'm always uncomfortable that company auditors would give me grief about taking the upgrade. It would be half an hour before someone came and finished making the beds. The sheets were folded and looked clean, but I wasn't sure about the blankets and bedspreads. The maid didn't offer to change them and just told me that they must be clean.

I later learned from a colleague that she had been assigned to that room earlier in the evening. She discovered the same mess that I did and was reassigned. The hotel was nearly full, and I'm amazed that they didn't bother to have the room fixed when they first learned of the problem.

I found an unwrapped piece of "milled" soap by the sink but no soap by the shower. I used the soap by the sink for two days before a maid remembered to leave me bath soap for my last day.

I was charged for my calls to AOL to get on the internet even though the number was local. There was no high-speed internet access.

The TV didn't have FOX News, E!, History, TLC, Animal Planet, or ESPN 2. Whenever the TV was turned off, it would go back to the hotel's premium channel when turned back on.

My company was holding meetings in the hotel, and I wasn't impressed with the quality of the food that they served at most meals. A few of them were pretty good, but most were average at best.

Unique Quality: The Hyatt has a reputation as a high-class hotel, but I've never found them to be particularly nice places to stay. I received a group rate, and someone making private reservations would likely pay more. I didn't think that the quality nearly matched the price. They have a few fancy amenities, but they simply don't execute well on the little things that are important to a business traveler.