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Upscale Houston hotel near Buffalo Bayou makes Esquire's list of best new stays

The Thompson Hotel was the only Houston hotel to make the list in 2024.

Thompson Houston Hotel/Facebook

With all the new hotels popping up around Houston, sometimes it can be hard to determine which is the best place to stay. Guest reviews are helpful, but sometimes we just need an expert's take. Luckily for Houstonians, Esquire Magazine has put together a master list of "The 41 Best New Hotels in North America and Europe," and one parkview Houston hotel has made the cut.

The annual list, now in its third year of publication, shares the most unique and unforgettable experiences compiled by Esquire editors. Hotels that were recognized steered away from "the grain of ho-hum luxury [and] change the vibrations of its neighborhood and its city."

The Thompson Hotel, which opened in late 2023, was Houston's lone representative on the list. The swanky hotel is located just outside of downtown across from Buffalo Bayou Park. Luxurious modernity is what makes this lodging stand out above the rest, as guests (likely those of high profile) are allowed to arrive and depart the property using the Thompson's rooftop helipad.

The hotel contains 172 rooms and suites across eight floors inside a 36-story tower that's shared with luxury condominiums The Residents at The Allen. Guest rooms are adorned with warm brass accents and deep green leather furnishings, weaving together a mid-century modern aesthetic with classic elements.

The picturesque wall-to-wall marble bathrooms contain floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook into downtown, beckoning guests to explore the city for themselves.

Thompson Hotel Houston Check out those city views.esquire.com

According to Esquire, the Thompson's best selling point is that it's specifically not located downtown. Guests can instead rent one of the hotel's e-bikes and explore Buffalo Bayou Park, or they can explore one of the on-site dining offerings, with more on the way.

"Opening soon are Chardon, a French bistro, and Buck 40, an upscale supper club, but for now there is Sol 7, a lively lobby bar and restaurant that embraces the outdoors with its vast floor-to-ceiling windows, which open up when the weather’s nice," the report's author wrote. (Read CultureMap's previous coverage of the hotel's restaurants here.)

Room rates at the Thompson Hotel Houston start at $379 a night, placing this right in between the's list two other Texas hotels.

Other top Texas hotels
Austin's The Loren at Lady Bird Lake and Hôtel Swexan in Dallas were the only other two Texas hotels that were recommended in Esquire's list.

The Loren at Lady Bird Lake opened in 2022, featuring 108 luxurious rooms with city and lake views across eight floors. The lakeview hotel boasts a beloved Austin spa, a rooftop restaurant, and an all-day coffee shop and cafe. Room rates begin at $270 per night, which is much more affordable than many other hotels in the area.

"Breakfast tacos, smoky barbecue, and live music beckon in Austin," the report says. "Cool down in the café with a margarita or a frozen espresso martini, or admire the sweeping skyline from the rooftop pool or from the restaurant Nido as you indulge in an octopus carpaccio, or take in Lady Bird Lake through the floor-to-ceiling windows of your stylish mid-century-modern room."

Loren hotel Austin The Loren in Austin was the most affordable Texas hotel on Esquire's list. Courtesy of The Loren

The hotel's popularity is bolstered by its ideal location right on South Lamar and West Riverside Drive, just steps from the Roy and Ann Butler Hike and Bike Trail and the Zach Theatre, and is a short walk to local-favorite parks Auditorium Shores and Zilker Park. Travelers can walk across the pedestrian bridge to visit the Austin Central Library, or dine at one of the nearby restaurants like Ember Kitchen or Hestia.

The Loren also has deep connections with Austin's creative scene and local artists. In summer 2023, the hotel partnered with The Contemporary Austin to commission a mural by local artist Manik Raj Nakra, and showcased his art inside the cafe.

Most recently, the hotel finished restoring the beloved Paggi House historic landmark that sits on its property. The new art venue is now showcasing its first exhibition, Explorers, featuring art by Matthew Ritchie, Rodney McMillian, Xylor Jane, and many more.

Meanwhile, The Hôtel Swexan is a stylish boutique hotel in Dallas' Harwood District, just north of downtown. This stylish spot pays attention to the little details that make a guest's stay as comfortable and hassle-free as possible, Esquire says. The thoughtful amenities also appeal to guests' deluxe tastes. And with room rates beginning at $625 per night, guests can expect no less than the utmost service and conveniences.

Hotel Swexan Dallas "Should you book one of the top-floor suites, know that they are spacious enough for the whole family," Esquire wrote.esquire.com

"You won’t have to ask for a toothbrush and toothpaste because you forgot to pack them — they’re already in the bathroom waiting for you," the report said. "The minibar? It’s stocked with both Burgundy and good California pinot (made in Burgundian style, of course)."

The report also praised Babou's — the hotel's upscale nightclub — the rooftop pool, and the live jazz nights.

The full list of hotels can be found at esquire.com.

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WILDFLOWER WATCH

The hunt for Texas bluebonnets could be tricky this spring, experts predict

Marble Falls bluebonnet field, bluebonnets

Photo courtesy of Visit Marble Falls

Bluebonnets could be sparser this year across Texas.

Bluebonnet bounty across Texas may be a little harder to spot this spring after a dry fall and mild winter, particularly across the Hill Country.

The 2026 wildflower bloom season is expected to vary widely across Texas, shaped by uneven rainfall, continuing drought conditions, and local microclimates that influence where seeds germinate and how wildflowers thrive, according to the experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. This forecast is similar to the 2025 season projection.

Across the Hill Country, from Austin to San Antonio — considered bluebonnet mecca each spring — the recent fall and winter weather helps explain why bluebonnets, in particular, may be sparse. Much of Central Texas saw a notably dry fall, followed by a mild winter with limited rainfall. The fall is the time when many wildflower seeds, and especially bluebonnets, germinate.

Bluebonnets rely heavily on fall moisture to sprout and winter rain to grow before blooming in spring, according to the Wildflower Center. When conditions are dry, fewer seedlings emerge, and roadside displays can appear patchier than usual.

“We may just have to look a little harder for bluebonnets on the side of the road this year in many locales,” said Andrea DeLong-Amaya, horticulture educator at the Wildflower Center, in a press release.

Caltrops in Big Bend National Park Caltrops on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park.Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service

Central Texas, in particular, has the native prairie ecosystem where hardy native flower species can thrive. Add to that thin, rocky limestone soil and the state's long-established roadside management practices, and it's no surprise that drivers see an abundance of bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and pink evening primrose emerge and thrive during the spring.

The lack of rain in early spring does not mean a paltry wildflower season. Bluebonnets dominate early spring in areas around the state, then retreat. With subsequent solid rainfall, later wildflowers such as firewheel, purple horsemint, and black-eyed Susans will take over as the wildflower season progresses into the summer, according to the Wildflower Center.

“If early spring bloomers are a little more sparse, later spring and summer flowers have more room to flourish,” DeLong-Amaya said.

Around the state
Wildflower displays can vary dramatically even within short distances. Small environmental differences, including soil moisture, shade cover, and pavement heat, influence which seeds will germinate and how flowers thrive. The Texas Department of Transportation, which has sown wildflower in highway medians since the 1930s, provides a map for the best wildflower weeks across the various regions in the state.

Across North Texas prairies, fields of Drummond phlox and prairie verbena often appear alongside bluebonnets, particularly around the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails south of Dallas.

ennis bluebonnets Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, 2026. Photo courtesy of Visit Ennis

The organizers of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival posted on Facebook on February 27, "Ennis Bluebonnet season is officially on the way! We are already monitoring the trails, and these sweet little baby bluebonnet plants are starting to pop up right on schedule. Bluebonnets plants start emerging as these green rosettes in late winter and typically bloom throughout the month of April here in Ennis."

Ennis bluebonnets typically peak around the second to third week in April. This year's Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, and the Festival will take place April 17-19.

In West Texas and the Big Bend region, desert wildflowers such as Mexican gold poppies and desert marigolds can produce dramatic blooms after winter rains.

Coastal prairies along the Gulf Coast can produce sweeping displays of yellow coreopsis and red Indian blanket wildflowers in spring.

Even in dry years, experts say Texans can still expect to find wildflowers somewhere across the state.

“I’ve never seen a year where nothing is blooming,” DeLong-Amaya said. “That just doesn’t happen.”

The Carolina jessamine is the Wildflower Center's 2026 Wildflower of the year.Photo by Stephanie Brundage via the Native Plant Information Network

The Wildflower Center also named Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) as its 2026 Wildflower of the Year. The evergreen vine produces fragrant yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and can climb along fences or trees.

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