I suppose the Hotel Icon has its charms: an historic building, quirky rooms (this reporter once spent a night in a room that had a clawfoot bathtub in the living room). But for my money, it's always had a whiff of lonseome weirdness to it. Was it the overly-trendy, trying-too-hard lobby, the way said lobby clashed with the aggressively vintage rooms, or the failure of its restaurant to find its own voice?
Whether it was those things or just the down economy, Icon is now officially in foreclosure, and heading for the auction block this Tuesday. Any hoteliers out there ready to take a chance? I think Houston could use it's own Chateau Marmont, personally. Sofia Coppola's got the place stuck in my head.
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