There is, at a certain point in the night, a sort of romantic magic that settles over a hotel lobby. If you’ve ever found yourself in such a place, after all the world has gone to bed, with a nightcap in hand, the dim light of a lamp and a book to keep you company, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

In the sprawling, classically contemporary lobby of the recently opened CityPlace Marriott in Springwoods Village, this is precisely how I found myself: unplugged and unwinding in the peaceful solitude of a hotel after dark. With a bourbon on the rocks and an issue of Texas Highways in my hands — all responsibilities, for the moment, melted away. With its several dimly lit nooks and quiet private spaces, the Spring hotel’s extensive lobby is practically designed for such moments.

The one-year-old hotel, which serves as the commercial flagship for Springwood Village’s new (and still under construction) multi-use, urban district, CityPlace brings luxury accommodations and ultra-modern design to a commercial district just minutes south of The Woodlands.

The Rooms

Touches of modernity are everywhere in the chic, meticulously designed rooms. The hotel makes use of every square foot, a design strategy that helps make up for shrinking room sizes across the country. A dark wood countertop runs the length of the foot wall, serving as a media stand, work desk and dresser all in one. A luxe leather desk chair rolls and swivels, offering a work space as functional as most offices.

At the end of the room, a contemporary sofa matches the color and design aesthetic of the room, and is long enough to comfortably sleep a child or small adult.

Despite the bedrooms undeniable appeal and comfort, the real showstoppers in each new guestroom are the bathrooms. Sleek white marble covers the walls of spacious and luxurious showers with dual rainfall and detachable shower heads. My only complaint is the Keurig coffee machine. An inexplicable and tragic trend in modern hotels, pod-based machines are replacing traditional coffee brewers around the world. Luckily, an espresso machine in the lobby MLounge handled that one small annoyance with ease.

SwitchHouse Plates N’ Pours

With the opening of the new hotel came the opening of SwitchHouse Plates N’ Pours, the lobby bar and restaurant concept Marriott created for its CityPark gem.

The “Plates” element is a three-service restaurant with a fine-casual dynamic that tailors to whatever type of dining guests are in the mood for. From elevated breakfast choices that toss the standard continental playbook out the window, to a more traditional Texas-themed dinner menu with options like a 20-oz Black Angus Ribeye and Carved Tenderloin, the single restaurant is impressively versatile in its handling of all dining needs.

For the “Pours” element, craft beer and classic cocktails are on hand. A splendid bar serves all manner of fine spirits from small batch bourbons to fruity cocktails. Feel free to wander the property with your drink. As noted earlier, I found the best way to enjoy mine was in the lobby’s Great Room down the hall.

The Hotel

If there’s one aspect of this hotel that should receive endless praise, it’s the interior design. From the guestrooms to the bar, every surface, piece of furniture, light fixture and floor tile has been perfectly selected to create a cohesive experience that exudes more luxury than is perhaps actually there.

The hotel’s Great Room and first floor lobby are an inviting combination of comfort and style. With dozens of places to sit, lay, lounge and wait, the public spaces of the hotel are an almost more enjoyable place to spend one’s time than in your actual room.

Outside, a pool with an infinity edge gives way to the adjacent lake, part of Springwood Village’s network of connecting lakes and trails to which guests have easy access. The resulting view is most appreciated at sundown, and gives the sensation of being much further from urban society than one truly is. That, is likely the hotel’s greatest charm.

Disclosure: the author was a guest of the hotel for one evening for the purpose of evaluating its offerings.

Carlos Brandon