48 Hours Exploring What’s New in Houston
Houston, Texas is an eclectic city that’s home to an innovative dining scene, an entire museum district, historic areas, art galleries, shopping and places of interest that include the NASA Space Center Houston. Houston is also where you’ll find the world’s largest medical center and the beautiful campus of Rice University. It’s a diverse place to explore, with lots to see and do. That said, if you only have a weekend to scratch the surface of what Houston has to offer, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s our mini-guide to navigating the country’s fourth-largest city!
Stay
Blossom Hotel Houston is Houston’s newest luxury property. With luxe amenities that include a state-of-the-art gym and rooftop pool and lounge, Blossom Hotel offers guests a pampered stay.
The 16-story hotel offers 267 upscale guest rooms and suites and over 9,000 square feet of meeting spaces, some of which feature large lazy susan tables that are ideal for larger groups.
Further setting itself apart from other luxury properties is the fact that it was recently awarded the COVID Hero Award by Houston’s Asian Chamber of Commerce for its aid of the local community during the pandemic and winter storm of 2021.
The property itself is sophisticated, with an elegant minimalist design and lunar-inspired color palette. Luxurious touches include dramatic lighting fixtures, marble and a chic cocktail bar anchoring its main lobby.
Later this year, Blossom Hotel plans on opening two distinct dining concepts in partnership with Michelin-starred chefs Ho Chee Boon and Akira Back. Chef Boon will spearhead Duck House by Boon, a Cantonese-inspired dining experience with a focus on duck dishes, while Chef Back will launch a Japanese restaurant called AB Sushi.
Eat
Post Market is Houston’s new food hall featuring over 20 delicious food and drink vendors from both Texas and International vendors. It also is home to a sprawling rooftop park and farm; performance space; art installations; and a 5,000 person capacity concert venue. Popular eateries include Golfstrommen, from Chef Christopher Haatuft of Bergen Norway’s Lysverket restaurant. On his menu is a selection of the freshest seafood from the Gulf and beyond prepared via Neo-Fjordic cooking techniques.
Standout items on Golfstrommen’s current menu include Neo-Fjordic-inspired dishes like the gulf-caught Red Fish Ceviche; and the Grilled Skate Chop with beef fat chimichurri. The restaurant’s raw bar menu includes items like gulf- and Maine-sourced oysters, salmon tartar, golden kaluga caviar, red drum fish ceviche, gulf stone crab claws, and sashimi offerings that include bluefin tuna toro, Spanish mackerel, salmon toro and scallop.
Another unique place is Soy Pinoy, a Filipino spot helmed by James Beard Award-winning Filipino chefs Paul Qui, who’s also a Top Chef winner, and Tom Cunanan. This authentic Filipino restaurant offers traditional dishes with a twist. On the menu are flavorful dishes including kinilawin, Vegan Kare Kare, Fried Chicken Adobo, Chicken Inasal, Lechon and Lumpia. The new menu also features two family-style “Fiesta Platters.” An example is the Kamayan, which includes fried chicken, chicken insalal, lechon, sisig, oxtail, lumpia, achara and mango pico tomato salad.
Play
The Infinity Experience
The INFINITE Experience is an incredible 60-minute immersive virtual reality adventure. It’s the first-ever multi-sensory, interactive virtual reality experience to transport visitors aboard the International Space Station.
THE INFINITE experience allows visitors to freely explore inside a life-scale replica of the International Space Station as an extension of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning immersive series – Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. Shot for nearly three years, it’s the largest production ever filmed in space, producing over 200 hours of high-end VR footage.
The immersive series documents the life of eight international astronauts inside — and outside — the International Space Station. Guests of THE INFINITE get a chance to experience it themselves.
Museum District
The Museum District offers visitors 19 museums, including the Houston Museum of Natural Science; the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the Houston Zoo. Art installations can be found throughout this area, which also offers visitors four distinct walkable and bikeable zones. It’s an ideal area for those with a love of culture, art and history.