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US Airways Flights from Washington (IAD) to Houston (IAH)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on US Airways, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Washington (IAD) to Houston (IAH), departing between 8:27am and 4:55pm. Usually a Canadair Regional Jet 700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Washington, DC to Houston, TX is 3 hours and 32 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on any airline.
During your Houston vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
SplashTown
A 45-minute drive from downtown, SplashTown holds special events and live entertainment throughout the season. It gets really crowded here, mainly with kids from north Houston suburbs and The Woodlands.
Downtown tunnel system
There are 6 miles of tunnels below Houston's downtown; most of the system is private property. Along those corridors are restaurants, shops, and businesses of all varieties. You can get a map of the tunnels from the city's visitor center or you can take a guided tour if you schedule it in advance.
Houston Ship Channel
For those fortunate enough not to live among the industrial areas of the Texas Gulf Coast, the landscape of refineries and their intricate tangle of pipes, their forests of cooling towers and stacks, and their fields of tanks are as exotic as the Zanzibar coast. If you find this sort of thing intriguing you can take a free boat ride on the Sam Houston Inspection Ship, which tours the upper 7 miles of the deep water channel. The boat dates from the 1950s and has a lovely cabin trimmed in mahogany as well as fore and aft observation decks. I hail from Houston but rarely have the opportunity to see the ship channel up close, and I enjoyed this trip. You should probably make reservations well in advance during the summer months when it is quite popular, but I'm told that the ship channel is best seen in cooler weather, when there is no risk of bad smells. The trip takes a total of 90 minutes, during which you will most likely see large container ships, tall grain elevators, tugs, and barges. If after the trip, you want to see more of the channel, you can drive to the San Jacinto Battlefield, where the Battleship Texas is on display.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Houston area, including:
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.
Houston Airport Marriott
Don't let the address fool you -- this hotel is not on "Hotel Row." It's located smack-dab in the middle of the airport itself between terminals B and C, and it's on the airport tram line, which means no messing with taxis, shuttle buses, or rental cars. With this enviable location, the hotel gets a lot of business conferences. The revolving rooftop restaurant adds to the hotel's popularity -- you'll see planes landing and taking off with a view that is pretty much the same as that of the airport's control tower. Guest rooms at the hotel are large and attractively furnished. The bathrooms are not particularly big, but the beds are comfortable, and everything else about the rooms is great. The revolving rooftop restaurant is a lovely place for dinner, which is served from 5:30 to 10pm (open for lunch to groups only).
Best Western Downtown Inn and Suites
Located in the shadow of downtown's skyline, this hotel offers convenient location and extra large rooms with one king-size or two queen-size beds. On the down side, style takes a back seat to comfort and convenience, and there's no restaurant or room service. The greatest savings are had during the week; for a weekend, I would pay a bit extra to stay at one of the fancy hotels.
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