The Alden Hotel was very pleasant. We were greeted cordially and told that we would have a quiet room away from the elevator on the 8th floor. It was a great place to stay to walk to Minute Maid park as we took in the Astros/Yankees' game the night of our arrival. I was honed into the smell of the hotel as a former reviewer had mentioned that the odor was bad. I have to admit when we entered our room there was a peculiar odor kind of like mildew or sewage, but after turning the AC on to a lower temp, it dissipated. The whole area kind of has that smell....not overpowering, but definitely I picked up on it. Perhaps with all the new development associated with that area, infrastructure has not kept up with it. Also when we left early the next morning, a truck with a huge hose was pumping something out of manhole by the front entrance. Some more evidence that something just isn't quite right in that locale, I would think. The decor was quite new with contemporary accents and a nice granite-tiled bathroom and walk in shower. A good computer/work station below a large TV. Complimentary wireless high speed internet....a nice touch. Only one bedside table had a reading lamp....definitely, a 2nd lamp would be good. I certainly would stay there again for, like I said, the smells were only faint.....probably a lot like all big cities smell. And I don't think they were exclusive to this particular hotel. Overall, a nice stay.

We stayed here for our anniversary. I loved the corner room on the 10th floor. It was a mini suite. It had great views and an even better bathroom. It was somewhat noisey due to construction across the street. Room service was great. My husband had them serve us the top to our wedding cake as a surprise for me, but they had forgotten the silverware and we had to call them back for it. We had room service for lunch after we checked in, and for breakfast the next day. Breakfast wasn't all that great and cost $40! I had the best caesar salad with shrimp ever for lunch though. The stay could have been better but overall (less noise, better breakfast) but I really did enjoy it.

I booked my stay at the Alden back in March as I was planning a special gettaway for my boyfriend's birthday (two months in advance). I booked the "so smitten" package. Afterwards, I stummbled upon the reviews for this hotel. I was horrified. I was going to call and cancel and book somewhere else, but my co-worker talked me out of it. Im glad she did. Just one day before we were set to arrive, I called with a special request to have balloons in the room. The employee I talked with was so courteous and willing to fullfill my every need. We arrived at the Alden and from the very start we were treated like royalty. Even the vallet staff was courteous and helpful. The special request and items of the "so smitten" package were to be a suprise for my honey and the staff kept it that way during check-in ( which was 2 hours prior to actual hotel check-in time by the way). The front desk clerk was very discreet in explaining things and gave me the package information in an envelope. Then a staff member open the elevator door for us and took us to our room on the sixth floor. There my boyfriend found his beautifully arranged suprise. They had champagne, strawberries, whipped cream, and birthday ballooons arranged in a very classy way. He was impressed and over-joyed. The decor was modern and having the two spacious bathrooms was wonderful. The bed and pillows were so comfortable that I slept without a problem. That evening we ate at the hotel restaurant 17. The atmosphere was beautiful and the service excellent. Everything was plated with beautiful presentation. The food was good but wasn't as delicious as the price said it was, but the atmosphere and presentation made up for it. Now to address issues about the smell. The only time I smelled even a small odor was in the elevator and it was just a little musty. I never once felt unsafe. We travel to Houston on a monthly basis so we are familiar with the atmosphere. This is a large industrious city. Along with industry and a large city comes less desirable people and establishments. Over-all we had a wonderful stay and any complaints we could come up with would be very nit-picky , boorish, and with an arrogant state of mind. I think that some of the negative reviews are from people who don't realize what to expect when visiting Houston or just have a negative, high-maintenance personality. I have stayed in more expensive hotels that offered things they couldn't deliver and had mediocre service. I am very thankful that my boyfriend had such a magnificent birthday in Houston thanks to the Alden staff.

Hotel offers dry cleaning/laundry service. One option is to have laundry returned the same day if it is picked up before noon. On the day before I checked out I left my laundry at 11am and requested on the form for it to be returned the same day. The hotel did not return the laundry on the same day. When I complained, they said that, even though I checked the box to have the laundry returned on the same day, and even though they were aware I was checking out the next morning, I "still should have told someone." So not only terrible service, but dodging responsibility. Also, a few days earlier someone from the staff came walking right into my room without knocking (in the middle of the day), which I have never seen before.

This is a decent boutique hotel, no more and no less. The boutique feel isn't really carried through all aspects. The area is a bit rough. I live in a large city so it's not like I am just not used to urban areas. You definitely would not want to explore the area at night. We sure didn't. During the day, the surrounding area is pretty deserted and there really isn't anything to see. There are about 3 or 4 revitalized blocks near the hotel on Main street that are in sharp contrast to the rest of the area. They offer a car to run you to places in the downtown area for free, however there is only one car and it's first come first serve. One positive about the hotel is that the restaurant on the ground floor is really good for dinner. Far better than I expected. The hotel does not however have a good number of public spaces to spend time in. It's basically the lobby or your room. If there was anywhere to explore in the area around the hotel this would be less of a problem. Service was good for the most part and the staff seemed attentive and pretty eager to please, however there was a strange noise coming through air vents in my room that I reported but no one ever came to check out and try to fix. The rooms are small, but clean and pretty well kept. Overall it was an ok choice for business, but I wouldn't stay here again if it was for vacation