1. After joining Marriott’s luxury Autograph Collection brand, Hotel Icon completed a renovation that included a refresh of its 8,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a reconfigured entryway. The new Line & Lariat restaurant serves regional specialties like Gulf shrimp and crawfish grits and offers private dining for as many as 32 in the lower-level wine vault space.
2. Following a $20 million renovation to an existing building, the 207-room Crowne Plaza Houston Galleria Area opened in the Loop in June. Some 14,000 square feet of remodeled meeting space includes two ballrooms, the larger of which holds 500. Also on site: three hospitality suites and an outdoor heated pool and cabana bar.
3. The 124-room Courtyard Houston NASA/Nassau Bay opened across from the NASA Johnson Space Center in July; it’s one of the first hotels to showcase the brand’s new “refreshing business” makeover, with a blue, green, orange, and red color scheme throughout. Two meeting rooms seat as many as 125, and the lobby has several flexible workspaces.
4. One of the city’s most popular gala venues, the former Intercontinental Houston near the Galleria, was reflagged as a Royal Sonesta property in July The hotel began a renovation, slated for completion in June 2013, which will remodel the lobby and public spaces and modernize the decor scheme. More than 50,000 square feet of function space includes the Legend ballroom, which accommodates 1,500.
5. The former Inn at the Ballpark, across from Minute Maid Park, will be rebranded as the Westin Houston Downtown. It will reopen, following an extensive renovation, in March 2013, with 200 guest rooms and five meeting rooms that can accommodate as many as 350.
