Houston
Houston City Guide
It’s sprawling; vibrant; relentless; and undeniably diverse. Houston, the unapologetically Texan city, defies easy categorisation. Its skyline rises amidst a patchwork of neighbourhoods, each with its own flavour and story. Yet, amid its ceaseless growth and ever-changing landscape, Houston remains a beacon of opportunity and energy.
A city of contrasts, Houston wears its complexity proudly. From the opulence of River Oaks to the grit of the East End, it is a tapestry woven with threads of ambition and resilience. Despite its challenges, Houston pulses with a spirit of innovation and determination, attracting dreamers and doers from every corner of the globe.
For some, Houston is a city of dreams, offering boundless opportunities in industry, technology, and the arts. For others, it’s a labyrinth of highways and strip malls, where the heat and humidity seem to conspire against you at every turn. Yet, beneath the surface, there’s an undeniable warmth to Houston – a sense of community that transcends its vast expanse.
Love it. Hate it. Houston elicits strong emotions in equal measure. Its swagger is as big as its Texas-sized portions, drawing people in with promises of bold flavours, vibrant cultures, and endless possibilities. Food, music, sports, and space exploration – Houston has it all, and then some.
Introducing our latest City Guide: Houston. A curated collection of the latest hotspots, hidden gems, and must-see attractions, designed to help you navigate the Bayou City with ease. From the heights of the Space Center to the depths of the Museum District, our City Notes guides are your passport to all that Houston has to offer. So buckle up, and get ready to experience the magic of Houston, one neighbourhood at a time.
Latest from Houston
Eating Out
Zaranda, Downtown Houston
Zaranda is the latest restaurant from James Beard Award–winning chef Hugo Ortega, opened in late 2025 with a vision rooted in Las Californias — Alta and Baja — imagined as a single, borderless region. Rather than relying on nostalgia or...
Hotels
Hotel Daphne, Houston
Bunkhouse Hotels expands its Houston presence with the opening of Hotel Daphne, a 49 room refuge in the historic Houston Heights. Following the success of the exquisite Hotel Saint Augustine in Montrose, the Austin-based brand continues its mission...
Shopping
Kindred Stories, Houston
Set inside Houston’s historic El Dorado Ballroom, Kindred Stories redefines what a bookstore can be. Designed by local studio gin design group, this vibrant space brings literature, community, and cultural legacy together under one bold roof....
Eating Out
Haii Keii, Houston
Blending cinematic flair with Japanese-inspired cuisine, Haii Keii brings an electrifying new energy to Houston’s River Oaks/Upper Kirby neighbourhood. Located at 3300 Kirby Drive, this 3,000 square foot dining destination — plus a 1,000 square...
Hotels
Hotel Saint Augustine, Houston
Bunkhouse Hotels open their first lodgings in Houston, Hotel Saint Augustine located in the eclectic Montrose neighbourhood and now home to 71 hotel rooms and suites, an all-day lobby lounge, listening room, event space, destination restaurant, and...
Eating Out
Late August, Houston
With a name references the time of year when the Sears catalogue would drop on doorsteps across the USA, bringing joy to all who would begin excitedly circling items to hopefully arrive for Christmas, 'Late August' is a culinary project from chef...
Eating Out
Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern, Houston
Husband and wife team Sara and Martin Stayers (the duo behind Houston favourites Nobie’s and Toasted Coconut) add a retro pizza joint to their list of eateries, the eclectic Montrose neighbourhood now home to Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern, where...
Eating Out
The Lymbar, Houston
Chef David Cordúa opens The Lymbar, a Latin-Mediterranean all-day restaurant, bar and lounge, located at the Ion, a hub of creativity in Houston, Texas. Named after Lymbar Drive, the street on which the chef-owner grew up, the restaurant is an...
Eating Out
Mala Sichuan Bistro M-K-T, Houston
Celebrating the distinctive flavours of China's Sichuan province, Mala Sichuan Bistro is a small chain of authentic restaurants found dotted throughout Houston, Texas. Unlike in the West, where 'spicy' refers to a wide range of tastes with the...
Staff Favourites
City Notes
Laval’s Salon Volta reconfigures the barbershop around shared work, material restraint, and a focus on craft and community...
Salon Volta is a new barbershop in Laval, Quebec, that rethinks the familiar codes of grooming through a concept centred on craft and community. Moving away from the traditional model, the project positions itself as a space where barbering unfolds...
City Notes
From espresso to Italo disco, an apartment block’s ground floor is the setting for a continuous social arc from duo Olia and Mimi...
Interior design studio and creative consultancy Ste Marie has completed Olia Ristorante and Mimi Bar, a pair of hospitality venues conceived as a day-to-night sequence at the base of new residential tower Citizen on Jasper. Commissioned by Corso 32...
City Notes
Drawing from cultural memory, YOD Group transforms the Ukrainian rural house into a stunning architectural getaway...
On a private estate in central Ukraine, YOD Group has reimagined the traditional mazanka — the archetypal rural home — for the contemporary era. These 50 square metre guesthouses reinterpret the vernacular, translating thick whitewashed walls...
City Notes
Between Montmartre and Pigalle, Hôtel Rochechouart revives its Art Deco past while unfolding as a distinctly modern destination...
Situated at the edge of Montmartre, where Pigalle’s energy meets Parisian rooftops, Hôtel Rochechouart is a 1929 Art Deco landmark given a contemporary pulse. Design duo Festen has restored the building’s historic details while threading a...
Dispatches
Dispatches
From impromptu couch conversations to end-of-life planning, more families are finding that money talks work best when no one's keeping score...
Most families don’t begin with a grand financial plan. It’s usually smaller than that. A random conversation on the couch. Someone asking, “Hey, are we actually saving enough?” And then… silence for a second. Because no one really knows...
Dispatches
Better scheduling software helps. But for healthcare providers and field service teams, the real problem runs deeper...
Scheduling problems rarely show up all at once. It starts with one double-booking. One technician running late. One patient showing up for the wrong time slot. Somebody shrugs, fixes it, moves on. No big scene. At least not yet. Then it keeps...
Dispatches
The Blue Cave near Dubrovnik glows differently hour by hour. When to visit, what the light does, and how to see Koločep’s sea cave at its best in 2026...
Ten kilometres west of Dubrovnik’s Old Town, on the south-facing flank of Koločep Island, there is a sea cave that briefly — and only briefly — turns the colour of liquid sapphire. The effect is physics, not folklore. For about three hours...
Dispatches
Anesthesia errors can have serious consequences, here's how hospitals and medical professionals are held to account...
Hospitals and medical staff are held accountable for anesthesia errors through medical malpractice laws, internal reviews, and professional standards. When a mistake happens, the key question is whether the provider failed to meet the accepted...