Northwest Airlines Flights from Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA) to Houston (IAH)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Northwest Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA) to Houston (IAH), departing between 7:10am and 1:20pm. Usually a Boeing 757 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Guatemala City, Guatemala to Houston, TX is 2 hours and 55 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
During your Houston vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Houston Zoological Gardens
Located within Hermann Park is this 50-acre zoo featuring a gorilla habitat, rare albino reptiles, a cat facility, a large aquarium, and vampire bats. Every few years the zoo builds a new facility for a portion of its residents. The Brown Education Center, open daily from 10am to 6pm, allows visitors to interact with the animals.
Menil Collection
Here, on display in an unremarkable neighborhood near the University of St. Thomas, is one of the world's great private collections. Jean and Dominique de Menil arrived in Houston in the 1940s, fleeing the war in Europe. For more than 4 decades, they purchased and commissioned works of art; brought artists, architects, and academics to the city; organized groundbreaking exhibitions; and did much for Houston's art museums and for the art departments of Rice University and St. Thomas University. Their collection, especially the modern art, is vast, so much so that only a fifth of it can be exhibited in the museum at one time. The structure housing the collection was designed by Renzo Piano, who worked closely with Mrs. de Menil. It is graceful and personable and doesn't seek to impress the visitor or impose itself on the collection. In these qualities it is the physical embodiment of Mrs. de Menil's ideas about experiencing art. When you walk into the museum there is nothing between you and the art -- no grand lobby with marble stairway, no large banners or gift shop vying for attention, no tickets to buy, no tape-recorded tours. Viewing the art becomes a direct and personal experience.The Menil Collection is concentrated in four areas: antiquity, Byzantine and medieval, tribal art, and 20th century. This may seem an incongruous mix, but, strangely enough, it holds together. The collectors never intended to gather up the most representative of a period; they simply followed their own tastes, which were modern. And one interesting consequence of this fact (intended or not) is that, in walking through these galleries one right after another, the viewer gradually discerns a universality in some modern art that connects it all the way back to antiquity and across the boundaries of Western culture to the tribal peoples of other continents.In addition to the main museum, four satellite buildings form a museum campus. One of these satellite buildings is the much-talked-about Rothko Chapel, with its 14 brooding paintings by Mark Rothko, created specifically for this installation and the last works before the artist's death. In front of the chapel stands Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk. A block south of the Rothko Chapel is the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, which is worth seeing as much for the building that houses them (designed by François de Menil, son of Jean and Dominique) as for the frescoes themselves, which were ransomed from international art thieves. Across the street from the main museum, in a building also designed by Renzo Piano, is a permanent exhibition of the works of Cy Twombly, which, though perhaps difficult to approach, are easy to view because of the gallery's exquisite light. It lends a luminous quality to the large artworks, and somehow just being in the place livens one's spirits. Finally, Richmond Hall, 2 blocks south of the campus, holds an installation by neon light artist Don Flavin.
The Orange Show
This may not be the "greatest show on earth" but it must be the quirkiest. In truth it's not a show at all, at least not as we commonly understand the word. Rather, it's the life work of one man, former postman Jeff McKissack, who spent his last 25 years assembling a collection of found objects and building materials into an architectural collage that students of folk art call a "folk art environment." It stands in a quiet working-class neighborhood just off the Gulf Freeway, where it dares to be different. With the many flagpoles, spindles, wagon wheels, and wrought-iron birds rising up from behind its walls, it seems like an outpost for spontaneity in a wilderness of cookie-cutter ranch-style houses.Inside, the viewer is presented with all kinds of curiosities: two small arenas, observation decks, a small museum, and lots of cheerful wrought-iron decoration and tile work. Inscriptions adorn the walls; many of these honor that best of all fruits, "The orange: a great gift to mankind." Seeing the whole thing takes less than an hour. Upon the death of Mr. McKissack, The Orange Show fell into decay until it was rescued by the Orange Show Foundation, located in the house across the street and a center for Houston's folk art world. It is the organizer of the Art Car Parade and the Art Car Ball. It is also the organizer of Eyeopener Tours. If you like folk art, consider purchasing their driving tour audiocassette of Houston's other folk art treasures. (The tape comes with a map.)
The Magnolia Hotel
Opened in 2003 in what was the Houston Post Dispatch Building (1920s), the Magnolia goes for an anachronistic blend of new and old. The guest rooms mix gold scalloped trim and traditional patterned fabrics with the clean lines of modern furniture. The overall effect is charming and comfortable and can hardly go out of date. Rooms are large and comfortable. The bathrooms are loaded with amenities and quality fixtures. Suites are very large and come with a full kitchen and dining area. The studio suites are especially attractive and come with a kitchenette. The mezzanine club offers a free continental breakfast in the morning and cocktails and snacks in the afternoon and evening (the hotel doesn't have a restaurant but does have a kitchen for room service). This club is designed to be a comfortable place where guests can relax outside the four walls of their hotel room, socialize, perhaps play a little billiards in the game room, read the paper in the library, or surf the Web over a drink (the club is set up for high-speed wireless access). The lower rates listed are for weekends.
Hotel Derek
The creators of this hotel have gone to great lengths to separate it from the pack. They've even given it a persona -- its namesake, Derek, a fictitious aging rock star/hotel owner. Given the premise, it would have been easy to lapse into cliché, but not so. Yes, there are some nods to the 1960s, but these are cleverly mixed with unexpected touches and the playful use of materials new and old to express a light-hearted vision of the counterculture. With the guest rooms, the designers have succeeded in creating a space that is functional for the business traveler while having the feel of a "pad" with all the accompanying informality. The decor is modern: The desk, side tables, and bathroom counter are thick glass with metal supports; the mattresses are mostly king-size. The sitting area is a wonderful mohair velvet built-in stretching the width of the room. Details throughout show thoughtfulness: Instead of drawers, there are baskets (which make a lot more sense in a hotel room) and safes that are big enough to accommodate a briefcase. Service is excellent, and the hotel is opening a new bistro that looks to be a great place to grab a bite.
Four Seasons Hotel Houston Center
This member of the luxury hotel chain does everything right. It stands out especially in the areas of service (reliable concierge, attentive staff, and a luxury spa) and spaciousness (everything about the hotel is large -- guest rooms, suites, and all common areas). Rooms are decorated traditionally: draperies with valances, furniture with neoclassic lines, upholstery with brocades and other rich fabrics. What impresses me the most about this hotel is the ease with which services are provided. Need a fridge, a fax machine, or a VCR delivered to your room? No problem. Need your suit dry-cleaned at 2 in the morning for use later that day? No problem. The hotel is located by the city's convention center, the baseball park, and the basketball arena. Connected to the hotel are the Park Shops, a shopping center, and the Houston Center Athletic Club, whose facilities are available to guests free of charge. (The hotel has a large, well-equipped health club of its own and offers guests access to a nearby racquet club, too.) Chef Tim Keating's cooking has made the hotel restaurant, Quattro, a favorite downtown dining spot.
