home for the holidays

Houston's best hotels book the perfect staycation holiday getaway

Busy Houstonians who long for a chance to get away — but not drive too far or negotiate swarmed airports — can stay home for the holidays while escaping home — thanks to some of our best hotels.

From exclusive packages, super suites — including a must-see/must-stay honoring President George H. W. Bush — to beachy escapes, these top-tier hotels and resorts pamper weary staycationers and offer a new way to view explore the city.

Book quickly — these rooms are moving fast.

C. Baldwin Hotel
Head downtown to ring in 2023 at one of Houston's hottest hotels. A special New Year’s Eve package offers10 percent off the best available rate and a $100 food and beverage credit, which guests can use at Chris Cosentino’s Rosalie Italian Soul, Good 2 Go, or the chic Lobby Bar. Book online.

City Place Marriott
Spend the holiday season in Spring with the Home for the Holidays package. Book a consecutive stay of two nights or more from December 23 through January 1 and use the special booking code Z88 for 15 percent off. Book the You and Me in 2023 package for stays between December 30 and January 1 and receive welcome bottle of champagne or non-alcoholic beverage, a half-dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries, $100 food and beverage credit for the hotel’s SwitcHouse Plates & Pours restaurant and bar, and late check-out at 2 p.m. based on availability. Use code EVE at booking.

Four Seasons Hotel Houston
The chic downtown destination treats revelers to a New Year Celebration Package, which offers 30 percent off the published room rate, a 2 pm late check-out, and savings on valet parking. Reservations of two or more nights receive a complimentary upgrade to the next room category (dates are December 30 and 31, 2022, and January 1, 2023).

Christmas diners can also indulge in a bountiful Christmas brunch buffet at the acclaimed, in-house Toro Toro. The feast features an omelet station and housemade pastries, lobster bisque with caviar, double rack of pork, bone-in country ham, beef tenderloin, roasted leg of lamb, seafood station, dessert display, and a kid’s selection. Prices run $145 for adults and $65 for children ages 12 and under; reservations are required.

Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel
The sophisticated downtown address allows guests to take advantage of everything the city center has to offer. Book the ‘Tis the Season package and get a daily breakfast buffet, one complimentary ticket for ice skating at Discovery Green, basic in-room WiFi, and holiday cookies upon arrival. The deal is good through January 28, 2023. Book online.

Hotel ZaZa
Book the NYE 2023 package and ring in the new year at this boutique hotel in the heart of the Museum District. The rate includes accommodates, two tickets to ZaZa's new year's eve party, and New Year's Day brunch for two. The epic end-of-year celebration features a DJ, wine, beer, cocktails, bites, entertaining activations, and more. Book online.

Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa
The newly renovated Houston icon is offering a Unwind & Dine Staycation package. Guests can stroll outdoor trails, take a dip in three temperature-controlled pools, sip complimentary cocktails, book an indulgence at Trellis Spa, and sleep in — always a favorite. More perks include a special hotel rate, two complimentary cocktails, a $50 food and beverage credit per night, self-parking, latte check out, and access to the exclusive Houstonian Club with no resort fees.

For a truly Houston staycay — and over-the-top New Year's Eve/New Year's Day stay — a new 2-room suite christened the “Bush Suite” is available for $1,200 per night. Named in tribute to President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush, resided at The Houstonian during his presidency, the suite offers adjoining rooms, luxe accommodations, and photos and memorabilia from George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. An especially poignant photo depicts then-President Bush calling President-elect Bill Clinton to concede the election.

La Colombe D'Or
Book a new year's eve package at this upscale Montrose address and receive champagne and cake on arrival, breakfast for two in-room or at the hotel's Tonight or Tomorrow restaurant, and a late 4 p.m. check out. Book online.

The Post Oak Hotel
Tilman Fertitta's 5-star palace welcomes locals with the Renew & Revive package, which includes 15 percent off the best available rate, a $200 spa credit and a $50 food and beverage credit.

For some extra private pampering, families, friends, and companies can now reserve the entire Spa, including both locker rooms, steam rooms, tranquility pools, sauna, heated stone lounges and the Quiet Lounge. Stella’s Wine Bar offers will become a holiday chalet, while The Cellar, the hotel's opulent, expansive wine collection housing over 30,000 bottles with more than$5 million of the world’s finest wines, can be rented out for intimate dining experiences.

San Luis Resort
Get away to Galveston this holiday season to stroll along the seawall and relax to the sound of waves. The luxury resort offers a Bed and Breakfast package that includes breakfast in Blake's Bistro for each adult on the reservation. That's a perfect way to ease into your day of exploring this charming city by the sea.

The Westin at the Woodlands
This Woodlands retreat offers a New Year's Eve package that includes New Year's Day brunch for $429 per room. Guests can also take advantage of being able to make early reservations for the hotel's New Year's Eve bash, which includes music, champagne and more. The rate includes late check out on January 1, 2023.

Photo courtesy of The Post Oak Hotel

The Post Oak Hotel is a Forbes fave.

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.

wildflowers nature education weather