Hilton Americas-Houston Review: My Honest Take and Top 8 Insights

I stayed at the Hilton Americas-Houston with a friend in August 2025 for a 1-night staycation after a concert. This wasn’t my first stay at the Hilton Americas-Houston, so I noticed a few changes this time around — especially with Hilton Honors benefits.

This large downtown Houston hotel had a lot to explore, and I got a room with a great park view with my Hilton Honors Gold status. The hotel had nice touches, including a rooftop terrace and lounge with a view, a great setup for groups and convention attendees, and a fantastic downtown location across the street from Discovery Green park and the convention center.

Here’s a rundown of what stood out during my stay.

1. Hilton Honors Gold Members Typically Get Upgraded View Rooms

When I visited the Hilton Americas-Houston as a Hilton Honors Gold member in 2019, I was upgraded to an Executive Level room with a fantastic view and access to the executive lounge. The lounge had extended hours at the time, and we scored dinner, drinks, and breakfast there.

Hot Tip:

The Hilton Americas-Houston executive lounge isn’t what it used to be. It closes at 5 p.m. daily and offers drinks and limited snacks such as granola bars and fruit. The main draw is the hot breakfast served daily and the quiet space with a view.

Unfortunately, history didn’t repeat itself on this visit. I have Hilton Honors Gold with my Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card and got a room upgrade to a park-view room, nonetheless. I asked about an upgrade to an executive-lounge floor, but the front desk explained that it’s standard for Gold members to get view upgrades and Diamond members to get executive-level upgrades.

Diamond members get executive lounge access regardless of floor level. This was the first time I’d regretted letting my Diamond status go last year.

The window looked out over Discovery Green park, the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Houston Marriott Marquis on the other side of the park, and Daikin Park, home of the Houston Astros.

2. It Has Convenient Convention Center Access

The Hilton Americas-Houston is the only hotel directly connected to the George R. Brown Convention Center. From the meeting room floor, you can use a skybridge to walk directly into the convention center. This feature is a killer for avoiding Houston weather if you’re attending an event or just don’t want to have to cross the street below.

The hotel is well-suited for groups and events, with ballrooms and meeting rooms on the same level as the skybridge.

The morning we checked out, a huge group checked in, with meeting attendees arriving by the busload. The hotel was prepared to handle the group, with the main check-in desk fully staffed and a second desk around the corner full, too. Refreshment stations were set up at check-in for the attendees.

3. It Has a Parkside Location

The Hilton Americas-Houston is across the street from Discovery Green, one of my favorite Houston parks. Though not a particularly large park, this urban green space is packed with great features, including a spray fountain, a splash pad, a lake, interactive art, events, and dining.

Discovery Green is so close to the hotel that all you have to do is cross the street and you’re there.

In the summer, Discovery Green Park has bumper boats and kayaks. Lake attractions depend on the season — it transforms into an ice skating rink for the winter. Behind the lake is a stage for live performances and movies.

Right across the street from the hotel and Discovery Green is Avenida Houston, the walkway in front of the convention center. It features more public art and park-like spaces, including plenty of places to relax and take in the movement of the city and the convention center.

When I visited, an indigenous art installation featured 6 stations, each offering an immersive journey through the Atikamekw seasons with lights, sounds, and a restful bench to lie on.

4. There’s a Lovely Rooftop Terrace

Besides the fantastic location, one of my favorite features of the Hilton Americas-Houston was the rooftop terrace with tables, loungers, and conversation seating. Since it was so high up, there was a nice breeze, and we felt comfortable sitting there even in the heat and humidity of August in Houston.

The terrace was set up for enjoying multiple sides of downtown Houston views, with 3 sides of glass railings.

The only thing missing was dining, as it would have been nice to enjoy a drink or snack there.

Hot Tip:

From the rooftop terrace, we could see the roof of Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets. The stadium is next to the hotel, so this would be a great spot to stay the night after a game.

5. It Has an Indoor Rooftop Pool

Next to the terrace was an indoor pool and hot tub. On one hand, having an indoor pool is nice because you can swim no matter the weather and can probably skip sunscreen. But an indoor pool isn’t as fun as an outdoor one, especially during the summer in Houston.

We found the pool room humid and small, featuring more of a lap pool than a leisure pool. We passed on swimming this time — maybe we’d appreciate it more in cold weather. Still, it had nice, floor-to-ceiling windows and a bin full of shareable pool noodles and toys.

6. There Are Lots of Places To Eat

The Hilton Americas-Houston has a lobby bar and restaurant, rooftop lounge, Pappasito’s Cantina, Starbucks, and in-room dining.

The lobby bar is the first thing you see at the front door. It’s open daily at 4 p.m., closing at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The menu includes local specials, such as street tacos, Texas ribeye, and a cowboy old-fashioned cocktail with maple pecan syrup.

The hotel’s main restaurant is only open for breakfast and brunch, so you can get a late lunch or dinner at the bar.

1600 Bar + Grille is open for breakfast and brunch only Monday through Friday, 6:30 to 10 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

You can get a full breakfast buffet, a continental breakfast, or go à la carte from a menu including croissant sandwiches, avocado toast, pancakes, omelets, and a birria egg quesadilla. Weekend brunch has a longer menu, with deviled eggs, a Gulf Coast crab bowl, a steakhouse burger, and fried chicken and waffles.

Across the hall from 1600 Bar + Grille is a hydroponic chef’s garden, which features greens grown on-site and used in the hotel’s restaurants.

A Pappasito’s Cantina is on-site, open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Known for margaritas and fajitas, Pappasito’s is a good place for trying Tex-Mex flavors.

There’s an interior entrance at the hotel’s elevator bank, though you need to walk a few more steps to reach the host stand for a table.

Hot Tip:

There’s also a Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen across from the hotel on the convention center side.

The R24 Rooftop Lounge uses the same space as the executive lounge Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 11:30 p.m. It’s mainly a bar with small bites, but you can order food from the lobby bar menu and have it delivered to the lounge.

I visited the lounge with a friend, and we tried the charcuterie board, which included duck prosciutto, Texas cheeses (including Bosque blue cheese), a sour cherry spread, and pickled vegetables. We enjoyed it, especially the cherry spread and blue cheese, though it was pricey at about $30. My Hilton Honors Gold benefit of a $15 daily food and beverage credit for 2 adults ($30 for 1 night) covered it.

As with many other spaces at the hotel, the lounge on the highest level of the hotel had great downtown views. From our table, we had a view similar to the one in our room, just 13 floors higher.

The lounge had 2 sides of windows, so we could choose our view.

Room service is available for breakfast Monday through Friday, 6 to 11 a.m., Saturday and Sunday, 6 to 11 a.m., dinner daily from 5 to 10 p.m., and late night Sunday through Thursday, 10 to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.

7. There’s a Fitness Center and Spa

Skyline Spa & Health Club is on the 23rd floor and offers massages, facials, nails, and body treatments. It also features a steam room and sauna.

The 24/7 fitness center was next door to the spa, featuring extensive cardio equipment lining the windows.

There was more to the fitness center than it seemed as we entered, as it went around the corner with more equipment.

It featured chilled eucalyptus towels in a cooler near the entrance.

8. The Water Pressure Is Aggressive

Though we liked our room and appreciated the upgrade, I was surprised to have an issue with the water pressure. Usually, a hot shower with strong water pressure is a good thing, but this was way too much. It was so hot that I had to turn it to the cold side to get a usable temperature, and the water pressure was extremely strong and not adjustable. I had to stand at the back of the shower not to get blasted with water.

The entire bathroom had high water pressure. When we turned on the sink, water splashed back from the bowl at us and had to be turned down. The toilet had a loud “whoosh” flush sound similar to an airplane toilet, loud enough that I worried I’d woken up my friend by flushing it. I can appreciate good water pressure, but this was all too much.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed returning to the Hilton Americas-Houston and will be happy to visit again, especially if I’m visiting the convention center. The rooftop terrace, with its breezy city view, was my favorite spot in the hotel. The room upgrade was nice, and I liked being across the street from Discovery Green. There were plenty of places to eat, and this large hotel is built for events and convention attendees. Even during a busy check-in time, everything ran smoothly.