The Laura Hotel, Houston Downtown, Autograph Collection

This will be our last stay here after several visits to see family. We usually booked because our credit card offered special deals, and now I understand why they need promotions. The room this time was musty and smelled awful. It had no fridge despite an empty cabinet for one, an odd layout dominated by a useless hallway, no drawers, outlets too close to the bed to plug in my charger, damaged furniture and cabinets, and broken light fixtures. It may once have been a nice hotel, but those days seem gone. During our previous visit about a month ago, we were short on towels and glasses and couldn’t get anyone to help. We called about a dozen times and no one answered. When we went downstairs, someone asked for our room number and said they’d bring things up. An hour passed, so we dried ourselves with the one hand towel we had and splashed water into our mouths at the sink. We left around 10 a.m. and returned to get ready for dinner, but nothing had been replenished. We finally had to leave the room so the cleaning crew could come in and bring towels, which made us late for an event.

Otis was amazing at helping guests. The Laura is a good fit if you’re after a quiet, upscale getaway downtown. The hotel allows pets, which I hadn’t known when booking, and its pool isn’t heated, though neither was a big issue for me. The Houston Marquise down the road has heated rooftop pools and is closer to a park, but it’s much busier and often hosts conferences.

My suitcase was stolen from my hotel room, and there were valuables inside that mattered to me and can’t be replaced. I called more than 20 times over several days trying to reach management about finding it. They got back to me three weeks later and said they’d been busy. They refunded my stay and said any internal findings would only be shared with the police department after a warrant was served. They were somewhat apologetic, but communication was terrible and I didn’t feel safe staying there. Something seems sketchy. Don’t stay here unless you want to be robbed.

Chef Richardo made one of the best omelettes I’ve ever eaten. It was cooked just right, flavorful, and beautifully presented, and it’s clear he takes pride in his work. Tonisha was attentive and friendly and made sure everything was right from beginning to end. Great food and genuine hospitality made my morning at The Laura Hotel memorable. I’ll definitely be back.