The Houstonian Hotel

The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa is a luxury hotel located in Houston, Texas. The 18-acre campus includes a hotel and conference center, several restaurants, spa and health and fitness center.

The developer of the Houstonian Hotel was Tom Fatjo, a Houstonian who had also founded Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI). The hotel opened in 1980. George Alexander of the Houston Press said that the hotel was "built as a health club for business executives trying to shed pounds and rediscover their inner velociraptor".

George H. W. Bush used the hotel as his official voting residence in the 1980s. After, signing an affidavit in April 1985, promising to build his retirement house in Houston, Vice President of the United States George H. W. Bush was permitted to use Texas as his official voting residence. Bush's official voting address was Suite 271, a three bedroom suite in The Houstonian. Bush's wife, Barbara, also used The Houstonian as her official voting address. The Bushes had moved out of Houston in 1981. Alexander said that, therefore The Houstonian became better known for being the designated residence of Bush than for its original purpose.

Bush spent most of his time away from Washington, DC in Kennebunkport, Maine. By making Texas the family official residence, Bush did not have to pay Maine income taxes. The Maine People's Alliance, a group advocating for fairness in taxation, said that by declaring Texas as his residence, he did not pay $244,000 (about $494110.30 in today's money) in income taxes. Money had reported that Bush was paying less than 1% of his gross income in taxes while most Americans paid around 10%.

In February 1992 Houstonian Properties Ltd., the owner of the hotel, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Two Houston-based hotel companies, Redstone Management and Wedge Hotels Corp., placed bids to buy The Houstonian. In December 1992 Redstone Hotel Inc. had completed its purchase of The Houstonian. Redstone paid $33.5 million ($57173227.41 in today's money).

In 2003 the company Wayport Inc. of Austin, Texas installed new wired internet and high speed wireless internet services at the Houstonian. The firm scheduled completion for the end of February of that year.

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