First Look: Hotel Saint Augustine, in Houston

Houston’s recently opened Hotel Saint Augustine, a Bunkhouse Hotels property, is rooted in dualities—old meets new, contemporary meets classical, a mirror of both the city and the surrounding Montrose neighborhood. 

Just past the entry courtyard, the design studio Post Company envisioned the lobby as a space reminiscent of an art curator’s private home. The reception desk is wrapped in burled walnut with Calacatta Viola marble accents, and objets d’art and items for sale pop against bright-red lacquered shelves.

The courtyard and lobby are open to the public, with adjacent parlors and seating areas that include upholstered vintage furniture and cozy nooks galore. The lobby’s Augustine Lounge serves locals and guests alike breakfast and an all-day menu alongside a full bar.

A listening room lined with vinyl records supplies the lobby with a roving array of melodies. “Houston fosters an incredible sense of community and creativity, and we wanted to match that with a space where everyone feels welcome and inspired,” says Tenaya Hills, Bunkhouses’s senior vice president of design and development.

Saturated colors and floor-to-ceiling drapery create warmth throughout the common areas.

Hotel Saint Augustine is a succession of buildings ordered around four courtyards.

Across multiple buildings, Hotel Saint Augustine has seventy-one guest rooms and suites.

“Our guest rooms offer a serene retreat that beautifully contrasts the bold and colorful public spaces of the hotel,” Hills says. “The painted ceilings and patterned carpets in the corridors create a sense of compression, but stepping into the room reveals a calming, unique space with a touch of luxury.”

A bathroom in sage green with matching Calacatta Viola stone countertops and marble floors.

A handful of rooms offer separate seating areas.

Screen porches adorn the second-floor suites at tree canopy level, hovering above the garden courts on the ground floor. The porches serve as exterior living rooms.

Perseid, the on-site bistro helmed by James Beard–nominated chef Aaron Bludorn, also plays with contrasts. After Bludorn moved to Houston in 2019 following stints in California and New York, he found a Gulf Coast culinary scene drawing inspiration from far-flung influences, including West African, Creole, and Vietnamese.

That same sensibility now infuses Perseid, Bludorn’s fourth restaurant in Space City, where duck frites, dressed with mango and sauce au poivre, might appear alongside fried squash blossoms stuffed with jambalaya. “Perseid is a bistro that bridges the gap between Gulf Coast and French cuisines and celebrates the diversity that the city of Houston has to offer,” Bludorn says. “We highlight seasonal cuisine as well as staples of the region in a comfortable neighborhood restaurant.”

Still, Bludorn notes, while Perseid and Hotel Saint Augustine are very much products of Houston, they have universal appeal. “At the end of the day,” Bludorn says, “we’re all people just hanging out together, enjoying good food, enjoying the fruits of the season.”

A dinner spread at Perseid.