La Colombe d’Or Hotel

We came to the hotel for a show, «Ben Jackson Live» and we decided to eat in the restaurant. Although quite expensive, the meals were fabulous.
Between the four of us we had 2 Lobster Bisque, House salad with goat cheese, and Tomato with Mozzarella and basil pesto for appetizers.
For our entrees we had 2 Hazelnut Chicken cutlets, Pan Seared Snapper with a crab sauce and Chilean Sea Bass with jalapeño polenta with mango and avocado.
All was delicious.
Nice crusty bread was also served.

Many years ago I had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant, but as I live in Houston had not had the occasion to stay at the hotel. However, because I have night blindness problems driving, last week in order to participate in Griff’s live trivia, I had to choose between taking a fairly expensive round-​trip cab ride from my house or stay at the hotel which is only block away. I decided to splurge on a mini-​vacation.
How much you will enjoy your stay depends very much on what is critical to you. If (as I was), you’re looking for a location that’s within easy walking distance of many great food places, including Aladdin’s (Mediterranean), BB’s (Cajun), Underbelly (New American Creole), and Ucci (Japanese/​sushi), to name just a few, along with fast food places for those who want something quicker, as well as bars (the afore-​mentioned Griffs, but also Catbirds and Poison Girl) and fun stores such as Half Price Books and Spec’s, then you will be happy. If you also want a place with a unique ambience and sense of history, with beautifully appointed guest rooms, then you will be happy as well. I found the bed extremely comfortable and the staff friendly. TV channel selection was well above average. But there is a price to be paid for staying on a historic property,.
Specifically, this is not a hotel for anyone with a mobility disability. The rooms are on the second floor up a long stairway. The shower has stairs and a huge step-​in, with no grab bars to provide safety. I was not able to get the Internet to work, probably because the network guests were instructed to use never came up over two bars during the times I attempted it. The door to the room (I was in the Van Gogh suite) had a very flimsy door knob that had to be held carefully in order to get the key to lock it (this explained why there were three types of locks on the inside door instead of just two); in fact, when I was shown to the room, the door was ajar. The bathroom door also didn’t shut, which wasn’t a problem given I was staying by myself, but would otherwise have been annoying. And although this is obviously trivial, I chose the Van Gogh suite in part because he’s one of my favorite artists, but there was no trace of his work that I could ascertain in the room. One would at least have thought that of the several coffee table books of artwork, one could have been of his.
In short, I don’t regret my stay there, but because I have now experienced the sense of history, often vitally need an Internet connection, and don’t like climbing stairs or dealing with difficult showers/​tubs, I wouldn’t do it again. But I would definitely dine here again.

I had the Lobster Bisque for a starter. Absolutely delicious! Then I had the fried filet mignon with a jalapeño gravy and cheesy potatoes on the side! Tables are super close together & with the romantic ambiance, you could hear the other peoples conversation that were next to us, haha! Other than that, loved it!

Wow! Business meeting in lively atmosphere, outstanding food, exceptional service!
Salad was light and French bread crispy and warm
The Chilean sea bass was so flaky and moist and they did not over flavor my favorite fish!
Strawberry shortcake was fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness.
Service was outstanding — water and teas often filled. Very professional and good attitude. Also timing of food great!

I stayed at this hotel for a conference for a few nights. I paid roughly $ 415/​night. The room I got was a «villa» about a block away from the main house, which consisted of a kitchen, living room, and upstairs bedroom and bathroom.
They were unaware of my reservation (I had booked through American Express a few days before) and seemed to track their reservations literally using pencil and paper. The unit was old, likely poorly cared for in its past life, and superficially rehabilitated. The upstairs bathroom reeked of urine, which seemed to be coming from a spot in a walk-​in closet where it seemed like a previous tenant had kept their dog. The window blinds looked like they’d been chewed through. The carpet was deeply stained and the smell nauseating. When turning on a bathroom faucet, debris and brown water came out. Phone and cable jacks were hanging from the wall. When I went to pull a curtain open, the curtain rod fell off the wall. The kitchen appliances were old and out of place. The WiFi Internet was extremely slow and I resorted to tethering to my phone to get anything to work reasonably. The bedroom ceiling fan had a light that couldn’t be turned off. Upon arrival I was greeted by a dead cockroach in the dining room.
In short, it was simultaneously the worst and most expensive room I’ve stayed in.
But there were good things about my stay: The bed was amazing and I slept quite well. The complex was Spanish style with a shared courtyard with tables and water features. I enjoyed sitting outside and working there. It seemed like some of the other units might have been regular leases/​apartments, which seemed strange but the people I encountered were friendly. But even so, this was totally not worth $ 415/​night and I would not stay there again.

I was invited to a wedding at La Colombe. I wanted to check out the place before visiting.
The staff was very friendly and professional. They even showed me all the rooms and their artwork.
Every question we asked was answered with a smile.
The day of the wedding, the staff was again very courteous. During dinner, which was perfect, the manager kept checking that the food was to our liking.
I am definitely going back.

This review is for the hotel, not the restaurant (the restaurant is called Cinq). This hotel is not appropriate for business travelers. The room was beautiful, as is the hotel, but that didn’t matter much because of the deficiencies in service at the hotel. There was no functioning wireless in my hotel room. When i asked about it, I was told that the wireless didn’t work upstairs «because of the rain» and that I could unplug a lamp in the parlor and use my laptop there (i.e., perch my laptop on my lap hunched over in an uncomfortable chair surrounded by socializing businessmen). I had structured my trip with the expectation that I would be able to do a significant amount of work at the hotel, which was essentially impossible. The hotel also does not serve any kind of breakfast at all. I asked about breakfast and was told that there was a Starbucks across the street. In the end, I wound up skulking around other less expensive hotels to take advantage of their much more extensive services. For $ 345 a night, I would have expected way, way more from La Colombe d’Or. Perhaps it is better suited to honeymooning couples who care more about atmosphere than they do about functionality.

One of Houston’s finest gems. Amazing food, amazing place with excellent service. Definitely not raved about as much as it should be. The restaurant as well as the hotel are truly unique and one of a kind. It’s places like this that keep culture in Houston.

In a nutshell, the service was mediocre, the food was below mediocre, and everything was extremely overpriced for the taste and the underwhelming experience.

Most of the the reviews posted here seem to be of the restaurant located in the hotel, which is named CInq. These are all incorrectly posted under this name. But it wasn’t that error that caused us to make the mistake of staying here. We actually read good reviews of the hotel on other sites and a few here as well. The hotel is far overpriced for the service (non existent) and room (in need of a major update).
We were shown our room but not offered help with our bags or parking our car. We are capable of handling those tasks on our own, but for over $ 300 a night for a room, one would expect some service. The door to our bathroom would not close because the frame was warped. There is no independent control to heat/​AC in the room which resulted in our room being uncomfortably warm. That will be the case 99% of the time in
Houston. The entire bathroom needs to be updated. The fixtures, tile, tub, toilet etc. are all warn, chipped and beyond outdated. A little bleach wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
We had requested synthetic pillows because of down allergies. This wasn’t taken care of before we retired for the night. We asked the man on duty at the front desk about it and he seemed to not know enough English to help us, but did let me husband rummage around the empty rooms until he found synthetic pillows himself. Again, service?
The location of the hotel is good if you are looking to walk to bars at
Montrose and Westheimer, otherwise, choose again. The hotel’s website states it is adjacent to the Menil Collection. It isn’t. It is actually about a mile away. Not a bad walk, if you are physically able to do it, so there is no reason for the hotel to lie about it.
Do yourself a favor and stay elsewhere.

Reading other HRW Unilocal reviews I prepared myself for a mediocre experience and set my expectations rather low but I was surprised by the end of the night. The whole experience wasn’t super spectacular but at least it wasn’t a poor one, the ambiance was nice and the food was better than what my expectations were set to be so would rate this place 3 ½ stars. We had a reservation of 4 for 7:30 PM and when we arrived we were promptly seated and given our HRW menus. It’s a bit silly of a detail, but I was rather impressed how the menu wasn’t just a reused sheet of paper but actually presented in a nice menu cover dealio. As we were deciding on what to eat they served each of us our own slice of warm bread, probably baguette or something. I don’t know if they do this to be upscale or a form of portion control, probably both. Anyways onto the food.
Escargots Bourguignon: These came out super hot even the footed escargot plate will burn you, so you might want to let it cool for a bit so you don’t burn yourself/​tongue. The escargot was cooked well, not super chewy and very flavorful as it was saturated in the parsley and garlic butter. I don’t know if they changed their menu, but my appetizer was sans croissant.
Lobster Bisque: This tasted very seafoody which is good, but nothing super exciting about this appetizer, also thought it was odd that they decided to use crab meat instead of lobster, the bisque might have been experiencing an identity crisis.
Braised Goat: According to the menu the goat was paired with squash blossom, baby arugula, garlic butter froth but I am pretty sure instead of squash I got okra… Anyways, the braised goat reminded me of BBQ pulled pork since it was shredded and the okra seemed to have a sweet BBQ like glaze on them and complimented the buttery yellow sauce, overall not bahhhh.
Pan Seared Redfish: I liked how the redfish had a nice crispy sear on the outside but tender on the inside. The sea urchin butter tasted exactly as it sounds, quite delicious but how can you not like sea urchin butter. The fish was also supposed to have shishito pepper and kimchi vinegar but I think they ran out and pretty sure we were eating red bell peppers and didn’t taste the kimchi vinegar.
Bread Pudding: Hm everyone at our table enjoyed this a lot but I thought it was just ok like a typical bread pudding with vanilla gelato and bourbon caramel, but I did like the golden kiwi (haha my friends thought it was an under ripe kiwi).
Dou-​ssant: Reading the reviews I was glad my bf ordered this, but I ended up jacking it from him since I liked this better than my bread pudding. The dou-​ssant is a play off the cronut, a doughnut made with croissant dough. I liked how the dou-​ssant was not soggy, fried well (you could see the different layers they made for the croissant portion) and unlike most places, this version wasn’t injected with a butt ton of cream and not overly sweet like other variations. It was simply dressed with some spiced apples and some raspberry coulis (I didn’t really care for this) but the apples and the dou-​ssant was good.
By the end of the night we were stuffed (haha too much bread) and per a fellow Unilocalers recommendation we asked to check out the hotel, a nice way to digest. The hotel is definitely historic, and the interior/​design of the rooms resemble this. They also have an art gallery filled with lots of women and their lady parts and other work of arts so be sure to check it out! Overall, food and service wasn’t bad but what you get seemed to differ than what is on the menu (at least the one online) so food/​quality may also be inconsistent. If you don’t want to dine in, then just stop by to check out the really unique layout of the rooms/​art gallery.

We went here for restaurant week and wish we had read the restaurant week review before we went. It was $ 45/​person and we each had a glass of wine, so the bill was around $ 120 without tip. The food was average to mediocre. I had the escargot appetizer which I didn’t realize was a croissant stuffed with the escargot. Too much breading and unable to really taste the escargot at all. My boyfriend had the lobster bisque. It was just ok, not a lot of flavor.
For our entrees I had the goat, which was actually nice, but for some reason, the flavors just weren’t robust or interesting enough to keep me excited for long. My boyfriend had the fish, which was also nice, but not something to write home about.
For dessert, we had the doussant. Like the other reviewer said, a confused pastry. It did come with some macaroons that were decent though. Boyfriend had the bread pudding. Probably the highlight of the dinner. It was pretty tasty.
When you spend that kind of money on a dinner, you want to leave feeling impressed, but unfortunately, we felt more regret than anything. We wished we’d decided to go elsewhere or even just eat the leftovers we had at home. This is unfortunate. It was not horrible, it just wasn’t anything special. I guess our expectations were higher.

Short version —
Wasn’t worth the $ 45, completely disappointed with service/​food. I’ve been to much better places for $ 35 with service/​food. If you compare the regular vs restaurant menu, you can argue that they’re offering a good deal, but anyone can slap a price tag of $ 48 for the steak and $ 41 for the goat.
Long version —
Went here with 2 other couples last night for restaurant week, diner menu was $ 45. I can’t say alot of good things about this restaurant, my expectations was high since the menu is $ 45. I’ve been to fancier restaurants during restaurant week with the $ 35 menu that had better service and better food. On paper, it would seem that this was a pretty good menu, but that was it, looked good on paper.
–Lobster Bisque
I’m not much for seafood, so I gave this to my wife, she liked it more than what she ordered (Escargots Bourguignon) and so we traded. The description on the menu for escargots bourguignon and what we got are totally different. The escargots was inside a croissant with some greens served on the side, others at the table complained that it was «earthy» as in it tasted like soil or dirt was in the escargots, I didn’t have this earthy taste, the croissant was very good though.
–Filet Mignon
Presentation was nice, cooked right at medium. This was the highlight of my meal, although I find it hard buy this at the regular price of $ 48. I would say this is probably 6 oz.
–Dou-​ssant
Total fail, this tasted bland, this was neither like a croissant nor a donut, it was a confused pastry attempt.
I admit, I ate it all, but that’s just since I don’t like wasting food.
Service — I’m not sure if this is standard or not, but pulling up the chair for the ladies so that they may sit and placing the napkins on everyone’s lap would seem obvious in a fancier restaurant, not so much here. After serving our 2^nd course, those that ordered steak didn’t get a steak knife or even ask if their steak was cook well enough for their liking. The transition between the 2^nd course and the desert was terribly long, it was probably in the ballpark of 20 minute wait. This was at around 9:30 pm, so I can’t see them being that busy at that time. We didn’t get an offer to view the hotel as others have mentioned in their review.
If the menu was $ 35, I would of given this 3 stars.

La Colombe d’Or Hotel as well as restaurant CINQ will exceed your expectations. The quaint atmosphere and attentive staff will amplify your experience beyond just a delicious meal. The restaurant is perfect for anything from a business lunch to a romantic dinner. For larger groups you can even rent out individual private rooms or the whole first floor. The 5 hotel suites are very spacious and each come with either a private dining or sitting room. Open to restaurant and hotel guests alike, there is an art gallery on the third floor available nearly 24 hours a day. Also available is a nearly 300 year old ballroom that can be used for corporate parties and elegant weddings. As a whole, La Colombe d’Or will transport you back to a time of refinement and taste.

Historical Houston, gives a feel of OLD MONEY.
It’s very elegant and classy.
If you want to visit you can come in, there is a man downstairs always to answer questions and show you around.

I haven’t stayed a night here or anything. But this place has a really neat and unique atmosphere. Very old and traditional I believe from the 20’s or 30’s? It’s a historical building and it is kept in great condition. I love the rooms and it’s a very beautiful place.

Nice room for food, but its on the small side. I thought it was bigger because of the pictures online but it was actually just the mirrors that made the place seem bigger.
But the food is GREAT. Ok prices with generous portions.

This place caught our eye as we drove by it on Montrose so we decided to check it out.
The place has valet parking out front but there was also parking on the side street if you didn’t want to valet.
I was here a bit before my date came and was kindly offered a drink by the owner when I walked in. I ended up sitting and chatting with the owner and his business partner for a few minutes as I waited for my date to show up. They were kind, laid back and very nice.
My date arrived and we were taken to our table. The service was good from the get-​go. The wine list wasn’t too bad with prices ranging from modest to expense. They prepared a vegetarian dish for me. Although it was only seasonal root vegetables with a cauliflower purée it was decently tasty. I was later told by a host that they are trying to convince the chef to add a vegetarian dish to the menu as a way to lure vegetarians to the restaurant. We’ll see. My date had the Sauteed Chicken Breast and thought it was good. I tried convincing her to get a red meat dish but she opted for the healthier option. For dessert, we had the crème brûlée which was topped with an assortment of berries. It was really good and came in the perfect portion size.
The crowd was mainly on the older side (50s+) so I’m curious to see what kind of crowd comes here on a weekend night. The place was not loud at all and allowed us to have a romantic evening. The dining room décor was quite eurpoean… simple and elegant. It didn’t wow me, but it was nice.
After dinner, we took a tour of the upstairs hotel and art gallery. Rooms were very nice and so was the art gallery. Not 100% sure I’d stay here without any good reason but I think people would enjoy a stay here.

La Colombe d’Or is a remarkable little hideaway, not just a superb French style restaurant with attentive service, but also a small Suite Hotel, just 9 lovely suites. It is the old Fondren mansion, beautifully restored by the owner, Steve Zimmerman, to be one of the very finest and special restaurants in Houston. They also have a really remarkable large ballroom that will seat 100++ for gala dinners and receptions in a building next door. A fine wine list, with some reasonable wines, valet parking if you want it, a great bar and lounge area. Also one of the best kept secrets in Houston. We have been enjoying their superb food and service for 20+ years now, so this is a longtime review. We go several times each year and have never been disappointed.

Maybe I over-​hyped La Colombe d’Or and set my expectations too high, but I just wasn’t impressed.
It’s pretty inside, but not AMAZING. It’s simple. Take a tour of the upstairs and the ballroom. It’s cool, but don’t set your expectations too high.
The food is fine, but did not wow me. The escargot smelled delicious (buttery and garlicy!) but didn’t satisfy in the taste department. The bread was warm and enticing, but bland. The filet and marrow sounded delicious on the menu, but came out as just a piece o’ meat that didn’t even have the juicy flavorfulness I so desired.
Service is excellent and the owners are very friendly. I guess they need to be since their food won’t bring me back. There’s nothing wrong or bad — I just wanted so much more from this historic, esteemed establishment.

This was the last stop on my intensive HRW (4 restaurants in 5 days). Definitely a good way to end.
Walking into the restaurant was a little confusing because we went through a bar area before being led through a hallway (with tables randomly scattered around) and into the ballroom. It looked like it was set up for a banquet — the chairs had gold covers on them with bows on the back, every table had purple orchids in a vase, and there were 5 or 6 waitstaff standing around the room even though there were only 2 other tables seated (we had an early reservation). The room itself was ornately decorated and had several chandeliers.
Service was probably the best of all the restaurants this week. My water was refilled at least 6 times and whenever we’d finish our piece of bread, another one was brought out. Our waiter was amazing and knew the regulars personally.
Finally the food. The baguette slices tasted like they were freshly baked and had a really crispy (but not tough) crust and a soffttt tasty interior. I shared a duck tasting platter off the HRW menu and it was pretty good. The duck prosciutto and lentil definitely beat the foie and duck confit. It was much more flavorful and innovative. My escargot was alright — it smelled much better than it tasted. The parsley completely overwhelmed the butter and garlic and I had to add salt to counter it. The crème brûlée would have been really good if not for the burnt top. The char flavor overwhelmed everything else, so I had to scrape it off.
But the best part of my night by far was the filet mignon. Looking at the other reviews/​pictures, mine was missing the parsley/​butter/​garlic topping, which might have been due to the waiter overhearing my disappointment with the escargot? No matter, it was perfect the way I got it. It was cooked exactly the way I requested (which is actually a first for me — somehow restaurants always way overcook my medium rare) and the meat was delectable. Probably the most flavorful and tender steak I’ve had in years. And this might sound weird, but the potato slice that came with it was perfectly seasoned. There is nothing better to go with your steak than perfectly seasoned potato. Nothing.
One last note: my asparagus’ bases were shaved into spears — that officially puts this meal in the fancy pants territory.