Hotel at a Glance: Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport

Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport puts you close to some of Houston’s biggest attractions, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center to the Galleria shopping mall. Complimentary 24-hour shuttle service takes you straight from nearby Hobby airport to the hotel, where you’ll have a nightly food-and-beverage credit you can use at the on-site restaurant and cafe.

• Where you’ll stay: Well-appointed guest rooms feature the hotel’s signature bedding and 32-inch flat-screen plasma TVs.
• Dinner is served: Chefs sear fresh seafood and steak at Latitude 29. The Great Room serves up a full buffet breakfast every morning.
• The indoor pool stays open year-round; there’s also a hot tub if you want to sit back and relax.
• Eco-friendly efforts: The hotel earned TripAdvisor’s GreenLeaders award in 2015.
• See a show at NRG Stadium or hit the rides at Kemah Boardwalk.
• Take a day trip to coastal Galveston, located about 40 miles southeast of the hotel.

Houston, Texas: Space History, Museums, and World-Class Dining in Nation’s Fourth-Largest City

As the nation’s fourth-largest city by population, Houston has established itself as one of the Gulf Coast’s most thriving cultural hubs. The city has 19 museums covering everything from history to art to science. For art lovers, the Menil Collection—which Frommer’s calls “one of the world’s great private collections”—is a must-see. Here, you’ll browse a wide array of 20th-century art from Jasper Johns, René Magritte, and Andy Warhol, as well as artifacts from Africa and the Pacific Islands.

You could also spend an entire day exploring Houston’s science institutions. When Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell famously stated, “Houston, we have a problem,” he was talking to mission control at Space Center Houston. Here, visitors can tour the historic mission-control room and get a behind-the-scenes look at astronauts training for the International Space Station. Along Houston’s Hermann Park, The Health Museum exhibits a large-scale human body that you can enter to learn about how your organs operate.

For shopping, visit Uptown Park, an outdoor mall that brings to mind an Italian piazza through Romanesque columns, stone fountains, and open-air bistros with strings of twinkling lights. According to a Zagat survey, Houstonians dine out more than anyone else in the country, and this mall offers some of the city’s best eats, from sushi to Spanish tapas to creamy cupcakes.

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