Best Western Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Inn Review

Booking & Stay Details

I needed to go to Houston for a project on Monday. With the first launch of SpaceX’s Starship around the corner, I traveled to Houston early and decided to take a road trip to Starbase to see the fully stacked rocket before its maiden flight. My flight would get in late on Friday night. Normally, I try to stay at Hyatt or Marriott but since I wanted to use the AAdvantage eShopping portal to earn additional Loyalty Points to requalify for Execute Platinum with American Airlines. I wanted to double or triple dip as much as possible and got lucky with Best Western. I called a few hotels in the area to make sure a shuttle would still be available during my late arrival. One Best Western I called stopped their shuttle service at 11 p.m., which wouldn’t help me. Luckily, the Best Western Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Inn has a shuttle that runs 24/7.

This is how I was able to stack promotions and bonuses to earn as many points/miles as possible.

• Credit Card miles
• American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping Portal
• American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping Portal Mystery Bonus by spending $200 in total within the promotion period
• Best Western Points for being part of the Loyalty Program
• Best Western Bonus Points for staying two nights at any Best Western to get 8.000 bonus points

Update: I had to contact AA eShopping to have them credit my stay at this hotel manually as it didn’t track. All other bonuses, including the mystery bonus, were earned without further interaction.

I think that’s not bad at all. Even though my earning through American’s shopping portal wasn’t that good, it gave me the possibility to earn more miles and Loyalty Points. Because I needed to spend $200 with the shopping portal and needed two nights with Best Western, I also booked a Best Western hotel in Brownsville, the same way. My second needed stay with Best Western was at the SureStay Hotel By Best Western Brownsville.

It was also interesting that the hotel had the same rate for the Best Flexible Rate as well as for the rate which gives you 1000 bonus points per night.

Location

The Best Western Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Inn is less than a 10-minute drive away from the airport. The hotel is close to I-69. There are a few other hotels in the area. Next to the hotel is a Waffle House and a Sonic.

Parking

There are plenty of parking spaces available for hotel guests. Parking for overnight guests is complimentary even with the proximity to the airport. That’s pretty good.

Shuttle Service

There is a 24/7 hotel shuttle that needs to be scheduled. At the airport you can call the hotel to send a shuttle to the airport and at the hotel you must schedule it ahead of time. It is not a dedicated shuttle for Best Western. It is a regular van that runs to a bunch of the hotels in the area and can be either black or white and has “24hrs Hotel Shuttle” written on its side in big letters. My shuttle driver picked me and a couple of other passengers up at the airport but didn’t check where everyone was going. He also parked in the wrong lane at the pick-up area at the airport. So, the first stop was at a hotel, nobody needed to get off. After that, he asked where everyone needed to go. I was the second stop on the route.

Check-In

Check-in was quick and easy. I showed my credit card and I.D. and had to sign the paperwork which says the rate and fees if there is any damage or such. Only lower-end hotel chains still require you to sign paperwork during check-in. I had the front desk store a few of my bags I didn’t need overnight, and it saved me the hassle of dragging them to my room only to bring them back down a few hours later. The elevator is just down the hallway from the front desk.

Check-In: 3 p.m.
Check-Out: 11 a.m.

Suite-1 King Bed (Room 321)

The room door leads straight into the bedroom of the suite. To the right is the bathroom door. In the bedroom, you find a King Bed with a nightstand on either side. Opposite the bed is a dresser with an attached suitcase stand as well as a work desk and office chair. On top of the dresser is a TV.

In the niche between the bedroom and bathroom is a small kitchenette which comes with a microwave, coffee maker, and a small sink.

A door next to it leads into the living room area. It’s a smaller area than the bedroom and comes with a sofa bed, sofa chair, and cocktail table as well as wall-mounted TV. The strange thing is, when you have the TV on in the bedroom and turn on the TV in the living room, the picture in the bedroom freezes. Turn off the TV in the living room again, and the TV in the bedroom works again. Never seen anything like this. There was also a lamp in the corner of the room, near the window, but it was unplugged, and the plug was missing one prong and therefore you couldn’t use it. 

The living room also has a door with access to the bathroom. This way, you can make this room a two-bedroom suite. The bathroom is relatively small. It has a shower/bathtub combo unit. Opposite the shower is a vanity with a single sink and a wall-mounted mirror. The light above the mirror was broken as well. 

The windows in the bedroom and the living room face the same way but don’t have any particularly beautiful view. There is only one control for the AC in both rooms. Both rooms have hardwood-styled floors instead of carpet.

Public Areas & Amenities

Lobby

The lobby is not very big and consists mainly of the seating area for breakfast. There are more dining tables than regular chairs just to hang out. The little desk next to the front desk was decorated for the upcoming easter weekend.

Business Center

The business center is just around the corner from the front desk. It comes with one workstation and a single printer.

Fitness Center

The fitness center is near the front desk, down the left hallway. It’s a relatively small fitness center with only a few pieces of workout equipment.

Pool

This hotel has no pool.

Guest Laundry

The guest laundry facilities are on the second floor of the hotel near the elevator. It only has one washer and one dryer which are coin-operated. Unfortunately, the washer was broken. Laundry detergent is available at the front desk.

Dining

Breakfast

The breakfast buffet was exactly what I was expecting of a Best Western hotel – a simple continental breakfast. You get the usual items like toast, cereals, juices, and fruits, and they had cheese omelets during my morning. There are only a few dining tables available in the lobby. Better get there early before everyone wakes up and it gets crowded at breakfast. Service during breakfast was great and the employees kept restocking items swiftly.

Hours
Monday-Friday: 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Conclusion

It was a great stay at Best Western Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Inn, even though I only stayed there for a few hours. I got in just before midnight and got up early as I had a long drive ahead of me. Another reason why I was comfortable staying here was when I read on the hotel’s website that the hotel got renovated in October 2020.

The rooms and hallways of the hotel have aviation-themed pictures, which I really enjoyed. Even with only spending a few hours here, I enjoyed my stay here. It is a location I would pick again in the future. All the interactions with the staff were great.