Houston hardly carries a reputation for having great hotels, but Forbes apparently disagrees.
Five Houston hotels received Four Star rankings in the new Forbes Travel Guide Star Rating List, giving H-Town the most highly-rated hotels in the state easily.
Although Texas didn't see any hotels earn Five-Star status, 13 Lone Star State hotels were Four Stars. Four Seasons Hotel Houston, Hotel Derek, Hotel Granduca, The Houstonian Hotel and Spa and The St. Regis Hotel are the Houston five on the list.
Only three Dallas hotels earned a Four Star Ranking — Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, The Joule and The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, and Austin garnered just two with the Four Seasons Hotel Austin and Hotel Ella.
The 2014 rankings saw more Four and Five Star properties than ever before overall. Forbes' professional inspectors traveled the globe to visit almost 1,000 hotels, restaurants and spas, testing each against nearly 800 rigorous standards.
Forbes' list recognized one restaurant in Texas as being Five Star worthy — The Inn at Dos Brisas in Washington. It deemed seven restaurants Four Star, but only one of those is in Houston — and surprisingly it's Quattro at the Four Seasons. The publication touted one other Houston restaurant as "Recommended" — Olivette at The Houstonian.
The restaurant at The Inn at Dos Brisas in Washington was the only Texas restaurant to garner a Five-Star rating on this year's list.
The Trellis Spa is the signature pampering space at The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa. Photo courtesy of The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa 