Detailed Review
A new concept in Personal Luxury Hotels, Hotel ICON is an inspired composition of timeless sophistication, anticipatory service and best of breed amenities. In less than a year since its debut, the destination property has been designated to Robb Report's "Best of the Best", New York Post's "Ultimate Hideaways" and Conde Nast Traveler's "Hot" lists of top new hotels in the world.
An intriguing alternative to mainstream four-star and current boutique offerings, the 135-room Hotel ICON represents a multi-million dollar historic reinvention of a landmark, 1911 bank building and evokes the opulence and attention to detail evident in the grand hotels of that era, but on a more intimate scale. From BANK, a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant, and The Whiskey, a Rande Gerber/Midnight Oil Company bar, to the full-service BALANCE Spa and unique modes of transportation that include a London taxi and pedicab, each facet of this Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide property has been designed to enliven and engage the senses.
Created by the award-winning San Francisco firm of Candra Scott & Anderson, the interiors deftly showcase the building's irreplaceable period detail, while incorporating every possible modern convenience. Visitors find themselves cocooned in luxury and surrounded by rich textures, plush fabrics and an eclectic collection of original European objects d'art, chosen specifically for the site.
Press Quotes
“…mixes boutique and classic hotel style, and its bar, the Whiskey, is one of Houston's trendiest.” New York Times, 05
“The black pepper crab dumplings with snow peas are superb; the seared foie gras with ginger and mango is, obviously, entirely decadent.” New York Times, 05
Independent Reviews
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"Ornate European glamour"
Hotel Icon
By Ken Scrudato
The latest to burst into an escalating Houston hotel scene, Hotel Icon bypasses all that tired postmodern cool, and offers up, instead, an unabashed dose of old glamour. Indeed, many American hotels love to tout themselves as European styled, but Icon is a truly successful nod to the continents grand hotel tradition. Located in an impossibly dramatic former bank building downtown, the unfettered opulence of the lobby makes it feel as if it could be a lux hotel in Florence. The Bank restaurant, run by celeb chef Jean Georges Vongerichten, extends from the lobby, and the Whiskey Bar, managed by nightlife impresario Rande Gerber (Mr. Cindy Crawford), sits theatrically on the mezzanine above reception, creating an overall feeling of being in a place of excitement and decadenceit has the social vibe of the grand old hotels of Europe.
What it doesnt have is dowdy, stodgy dcor. Rather, a mix of Moroccan, modern and period furniture makes it feel a bit more playful, less uptight, yet still elegant. The rooms are luxurious and romantic, done in a sort of quasi-empire style, with rich fabrics, sumptuous bedding, and old cow prints on the walls. The style continues in the bathrooms (Stylized bathroomssuch a rarity!), and huge, yellow-tiled showers. A fabulous hotel.
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