Hometown Glory

Houston hotels finally get some respect: Major honors belie the city's rep as a bad hotel town

Whether you’re looking to book a staycation or you have family or friends visiting from out of town, the reputable Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards leave little doubt where to stay.

2013's distinguished award list includes 15 top-notch Texas hotels with four Houston-area hotels among the top dozen receiving the notable honor.

It's an impressive showing for a city not particularly known for great hotels. Houston seems to be on the cusp of changing that stigma as making this prestigious list, first introduced in 1986, is no small feat.

The results are based on a standard five-point scale — excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor – for categories such as activities, food/dining, location, overall design, rooms and service. This year a record breaking number of Conde Nast readers, nearly 80,000, cast 1.3 million votes for more than 16,000 properties worldwide.

Out of the 15 top-tier Texas properties on the list, the Hotel Sorella at CityCentre earned the No. 2 spot. With a superlative score of 94.1, Hotel Sorella is not only the highest-rated Houston hotel, but a close second to San Antonio’s Mokara Hotel & Spa, which received the state's top honor.

Other Houston hotels voted first-rate: Hotel Granduca at No. 7, The St. Regis Hotel at No. 11 and The Houstonian Hotel at No. 12.

Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio, Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin and Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas made the rankings as well.

In addition to the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards, Hotel Sorella, on an award-winning roll, is the only Houston hotel named on the magazine's exclusive Gold List 2013 — chosen by a panel of Conde Nast Traveler editors and travel experts. Sorella, which opened in late 2009, is getting used to such honors. It also made the Gold List in 2011 and 2012.

The lobby at Hotel Sorella CityCentre

Photo by Shannon O'Hara

The lobby at Hotel Sorella CityCentre

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go rural

Tiny West Texas town tops Airbnb's 'off-the-map' destinations to visit

Matador, Texas, Airbnb, best rural destinations

Photo courtesy of Airbnb

Welcome to Matador, Texas.

More Texas travelers are shying away from tourist traps for their vacations and instead embracing the calming roadside with increasing interest in rural areas of the state, according to Airbnb, and one tiny Texas city in the Panhandle is generating buzz atop a brand-new list of under-the-radar rural destinations in America.

The vacation rental marketplace's inaugural "Off-the-Map" list features 20 rural destinations across the country where short-term rentals are bringing in "new opportunities for local tourism."

"From coastal fishing villages to Cajun bayou towns and alpine mountain escapes, America Off-the-Map invites travelers to discover something new and helps support local economies and communities across the country," the report said.

Matador, a small town about 80 miles northeast of Lubbock and 530 miles from Houston, was named the No. 1 hidden gem vacation destination in Texas. The report described Matador as a part of Texas that tourists "haven’t found" yet, which is what makes it all the more rewarding as an undiscovered treasure.

"Welcome to the seat of Motley County – where the wind is constant, the skies are enormous, and the history is deeper than the caprock beneath your boots," the report said.

Visitors can explore the Motley County Historical Museum, which explores the building's history as the Traweek Hospital that was originally built nearly a century ago. The museum also sheds light on Native American history, the life of ranchers, and other historical facts about the town and county.

Local restaurants like Chelle's Garden or TC's Ponderosa in nearby Dickens are good spots for travelers to eat like a local, while the Coffee Mill and Mercantile in Quitaque is the place to be for breakfast, lunch, and a cup of joe.

Matador is also less than an hour away from the newly expanded Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, a popular Texas state park known for its roaming bison herd and bat colony.

According to Airbnb's website, there are over 130 short-term rentals in Matador and the surrounding Motley County area, with some homes available for $172 for an overnight stay in April 2026.

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