Hotel ZaZa – Houston

In December I took the same trip to Houston that Olivia and Taylor did in TWT: Chimera! We stayed at the fabulous Hotel ZaZa – Houston, prowled the Museum District, ate some authentic, smoky Texas barbecue, and shopped and played just like our two witches did – except for attending a witches gathering at Julia’s house, of course. The staff at Hotel ZaZa was incredible – they were warm, friendly, funny, and real the whole week we stayed there, and treated us like true family. We absolutely hated to leave when January 2nd rolled around and will definitely stay there again whenever we’re in Houston! (BTW, there are ZaZa’s in Dallas and Austin as well.)

We stayed in the “Fatal Charms” suite; one of the Magnificent Seven suites on the top floor of the hotel. Those suites truly are magnificent – they each have different themes and the decor is so eclectic and lush and visually beautiful that to take it all in your eyes nearly melt.                                                                                                I’m exaggerating, of course, but these rooms are exaggerated as well. In fact, they are absolutely heavenly. On this same floor are two of the suites that Olivia always stays in when she visits ZaZa: the Black Label Suite, and the Rock Star Suite.

Every morning we’d step out of our suite for coffee from the coffee bar, even though we had a full kitchen with crystal, and silver, an espresso machine, and a bar stocked with full-size bottles of the quality stuff. But the sign at the coffee bar in the elevator lobby said “come and get free coffee until 11:00 am and feel free to wear your robe in the hallway – after all, it’s ZaZa”. And so we did – every morning. So did everyone else we saw getting coffee and padding around quietly on the thick hallway carpet. We were pampered guests.

When we got to the lobby to start our day, everyone knew our names and suggested the best places for barbecue, entertainment ideas, and shopping ideas. They knew what was going on around town, chatted us up, and told us local stories with true, true Southern hospitality. Oh, and when we needed to get somewhere within 5 miles or so, they bundled us into one of their fleet of black Escalades with the longhorn steer head right on the front. And because it was New Year’s and the Holiday season, they’d adorned Mr.Longhorn with a green holiday wreath. Wonderful.

We miss ZaZa terribly and ache to be back … we will be … and so will Taylor, in the third chapter of The Witches Trilogy – Step. To Jonathan, and Michelle, and Rida, and everyone else there at ZaZa, thank you thank you thank you for a wonderful experience and we will DEFINITELY see you when we come back again.

In the meantime, THANK YOU for a wonderful stay!