Minute Suites at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston [Review]

Sometimes the best lodging isn’t the one you aspire to but the one that’s there for you when you need it most.

In January 2025, I flew Frontier Airlines with my family of 5 and experienced a long delay on a late-night departure from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Our flight was scheduled for a 9 p.m. departure, but a 5-hour delay was announced shortly before boarding time. We were already at the airport, but we wouldn’t take off until 2 a.m.

Losing the Frontier lottery came at a terrible time with no other flight options for the night. All of the airport’s lounges and restaurants closed around 9 p.m., so we faced a long 5 hours of boredom at the gate. But I remembered IAH has a Minute Suites — and it was only a short walk from our gate. Better yet, we could get a free hour and a discount on additional hours with Priority Pass benefits, so it was an easy choice to get a suite rather than tough it out at the gate.

At Minute Suites, we were welcomed into 2 suites with a quiet, dark place to sleep, charge devices, and wait out our delay. Although the sofas we slept on weren’t very comfortable, Minute Suites did the trick for getting the rest we needed before our flight. I doubt we would have rested much, if at all, at the gate, but Minute Suites was just what we needed to get a few hours of sleep and hit the ground running on arrival.

Let’s look at my family’s experience at Minute Suites at IAH, from checking in to setting up beds and getting some shut-eye in the middle of the airport terminal.

What Is Minute Suites?

Minute Suites is akin to a short-term airport hotel. These lounges have private suites inside airport terminals where you can rest, work, or relax in solitude. They’re not like a traditional lounge where you can get food and drinks, but you can get a private place to sleep, charge devices, and use Wi-Fi. Each suite has a workstation, TV, and couch that turns into a trundle bed. Some Minute Suites have showers with a restroom.

Typically, Minute Suites are available 24/7, so guests can visit around the clock during layovers or delays. These suites are particularly useful if you need a place to sleep or escape airport crowds without leaving the airport.

Location

Minute Suites at IAH is in Terminal C North near gate C14. Terminal C primarily serves United Airlines. The lounge is airside, so you have to clear security to access it.

Our departure gate was in Terminal D on the side closest to Terminal C (gate D9), so it was a 10-minute walk to Minute Suites. We only had to walk about 5 minutes from where we’d eaten dinner and briefly camped out before deciding we needed to try to get some sleep at Minute Suites.

Gaining Entry

Minute Suites offers per-hour pricing or you can pay for an overnight stay. Up to 3 guests can share a suite for the same price. Priority Pass, employee, airline crew, and military and veteran discounts are available.

Suites are priced at $65 per hour or $215 for overnight. For $30, you can add a 30-minute shower or have a shower-only visit.

Priority Pass members can get 1 hour for free and a discounted rate of $40 for each additional hour, available in 15-minute increments. Showers are available for $20 per 30 minutes for Priority Pass members.

Availability is first come, first served, and reservations are recommended but not required.

When we realized we wanted to visit Minute Suites, we called ahead and found out there were just 2 rooms left — exactly what we needed for the 5 of us. We booked them and immediately headed to the suites.

We used 2 separate Priority Pass Select memberships to cover the rooms: 1 for the kids and another for the adults. I have a Priority Pass membership through my Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, and my husband has his own Priority Pass membership as an authorized user on my card.

Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

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Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

60,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$1,200

Annual Fee

$550

APR

21.49% - 28.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Excellent (740-850)

Why We Like This Card

If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is one of the best options out there.

The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options.  Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.

Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel^SM immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
• 10x points on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 through March 31, 2025

Cons

• $550 annual fee
• Does not offer any hotel elite status

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Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $120 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck^®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 21.49% - 28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

The front desk attendant explained that we had a free hour and would pay the Priority Pass member rate for additional hours. We stayed for 3 hours, only paying for 2 hours in each room at the member rate. Our total, including tax, was $173.20 for both rooms. The charge coded as travel, so I earned 3 Ultimate Rewards per $1 spent.

First Impressions

Walking into a quiet, private suite with a space to sleep for a few hours was a huge relief. We were tired and had been staring down the possibility of spending several hours juggling tired kids overnight in a mostly closed terminal. I was so thankful not to have to sleep in a chair at the gate or worry about luggage, and my kids were thrilled to be able to charge their run-down devices before boarding.

As we got into the first suite, we saw a sofa that doubled as a trundle bed with 2 small tables next to it. There was a mirror next to the sofa and a workstation with a TV on the other side of the room. The suite was plenty spacious to fit our luggage, too.

Amenities

We mainly visited Minute Suites so we could sleep for a little while, so the sofa was the most important amenity. It slept 2 people, with a spot on the main sofa surface and another that pulled out to create a trundle bed.

As we checked in, we asked for bedding and got pillows and blankets. Our 3 kids were in a suite with only 2 sleeping surfaces. Fortunately, we had an inflatable bed with us and used it with the Minute Suites bedding so they all had a comfortable space to rest.

Did I have the most luxurious sleep of my life at Minute Suites? Absolutely not. This was about on par with the comfort level of tent camping with a cot, though it was indoors and temperature controlled. I wrapped myself up in a blanket, sleeping bag style. On the top bunk, I was bothered by a hard rail running down the middle that jammed into my hip.

Still, the sofas at Minute Suites were far superior to the alternative (seats at the gate), and the suites offered darkness, peace, and quiet we wouldn’t have experienced in the main terminal area. We woke up refreshed from our nap, despite the less-than-ideal sleeping surfaces.

Across from the bed was a workstation with a TV. There was an outlet under the TV and a desk with an office chair. We didn’t use the suites to work, but this was a good landing spot for small items and charging devices.

The top of the workstation had the TV remote and a Minute Suites menu offering drinks such as sodas, juice, and water for $2.99 to $3.99, snacks such as chips, cookies, and trail mix for $3.99 to $5.99, and print and copy services for $1. The menu also had the Wi-Fi password.

Each suite had a thermostat we could use to change the temperature. That was great for bumping it down to a cooler temperature for sleeping.

The light switches had dimmers, so we could turn lights on or off completely or just turn them down a bit. A knob next to the light switch controlled white noise so we could drown out noises — though the area was quiet during our visit. These features were great for giving us a calm and dark place to sleep in the middle of the airport.

Since I prioritized getting as much sleep as possible, we didn’t try out the Wi-Fi or shower facilities.

Service

We got good service from Minute Suites. The front desk attendant who checked us in was helpful in explaining and applying our Priority Pass membership benefits, and she quickly got us set up with bedding so we could get much-needed rest. Checking out was quick, and the front desk applied our membership benefits seamlessly.

Final Thoughts

Visiting Minute Suites at IAH was just what we needed to turn a late-night delayed flight into a restful experience, and it made a huge difference in how the delay affected our trip. We made it back to the gate about 15 minutes before boarding, feeling somewhat refreshed. Without Minute Suites, we wouldn’t have rested well at the airport and would have likely been exhausted and in need of a nap on arrival. Sleeping at Minute Suites, combined with some shut-eye on the plane, had us more or less ready to start our day once we arrived at our destination.

I’m glad I can rely on Minute Suites to help out if we’re stuck at the airport, and I’m especially thankful we can get a free first hour with Priority Pass.