I have to agree with Valerie A., Aloft's wxyz Bar was a mess. The W Hotels celebrated the grand opening of their hotel over the weekend with a mixer in their wxyz Bar, which also happens to be apart of the lobby, but I'll get to that shortly. As my group of friends and I drove up to Aloft, we could see from Westheimer that the bar was packed because the bar is facing Westheimer. We opted from parking in the parking garage (which is the only place you're allowed to park for either $17 valet or $10 self parking), instead we took a risk and parked in the business park across the street where The Roxy is located and walked across.
Once we walked to the hotel, we went inside to the bar where it was packed with the latest pop, rap, and r&b music blasting. I guess they did a really good job on promoting their opening because it seemed like everyone and their cousins were out in full effect. We had just missed the complimentary cocktails that were being provided by Bacardi, so we didn't even bother to get a drink or anything because there were so many people. The bar area is small but the deco is very hip and contemporary, as it is throughout the entire hotel. The location of the bar in the lobby area can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you view it, my friends along with many others (eavesdropping on their conversations lol), didn't like it. Maybe it's because they're used to a lobby being by itself perhaps, who knows, but it wasn't well received.
When you enter pass the receptionist desk, to the left, there's re: fuel station where it's self service for those wanting to grab a bit to eat while staying there. If you keep going straight towards the elevators that lead up to the rooms, you'll see a display full of little themed baskets such as the Just-In-Case basket that's filled with things females need for that time of the month. To the right, are the restrooms where the doors and walls are frosted glass to provide more light inside and out. You could go on a tour of the rooms that were on the seventh floor, which we did and the rooms are very hip and trendy and in the style of a loft. It did seem though as if the hotel didn't expect to receive as many guests coming to view the hotel or just take part in the mixer, but it was a bit chaotic. The receptionists seemed to have a very laissez-faire attitude by just standing around clueless at times behind the desks when asked just simple questions about the hotel. Overall the place was okay but moreso overhyped. It does cater to the young professionals and the young crowd, which is a big plus, because it's a nice alternative to Hotel Zaza (well not really, it's more of a downgrade but still the cool and hip spot to be). I could see this place having alot of people coming in just to be seen and excited over a lobby/bar being a club in a way (because let's be real, this was more like being in a club than anything else), but I'll wait until the hype goes down until I visit again. read more