The Woodlands Township could support another two hotels, including an "upper-upscale" luxury hotel, to keep more hotel and convention business in the township borders, according to a report presented at the Jan. 22 board of directors meeting.
According to the report, The Woodlands lost $175 million in potential business leads for hotel room nights for 2021-30, mostly in 2023-25. Those potential losses—a total of 651 leads—were attributed to a range of factors, such as business lost to other cities or due to the hotel and meeting space not being the right fit for layout or size. Most of the potential business lost in the Houston area went to Westin Houston Memorial City and other Marriott projects, according to the report.
The Woodlands currently has 2,254 hotel rooms, of which about 1,300 are full-service with restaurant and meeting or event space. The remainder are select-service, or smaller hotels, said Chris Cylke, president and chief operating officer of REVPAR International, the consulting firm that conducted the study. Another 180 to 360 rooms could be added to The Woodlands market without impacting the existing hotel base, Cylke said. He said The Woodlands could recover some business lost to hotels outside the local market.
"A lot of these consumers would like to stay in the market, but there isn't availability," Cylke said.
The details
Cylke outlined the specifications of the recommended hotel supply for the township:
Full-service, upper-upscale luxury
- Rooms: 175-225
- Meeting space: 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet
- Food and beverage outlets
Upscale branded hotel
- Rooms: 125-175
- Meeting space: 4,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet
- Food and beverage outlets
Together, those new hotels could bring an additional $1.9 million-$3.4 million in tax revenue for the township as well as additional economic impact to the region, according to the report.
Hotel tax revenue for 2025 was 2% lower than 2024, but overall surpassed $10 million last year, according to a monthly financial report also presented at the meeting.
Nick Wolda, president of Visit The Woodlands, the township's convention and visitor bureau, said about 60% of township revenue comes from the combination of sales, hotel and mixed-beverage taxes.
The context
This is not the first time in recent years that the township has discussed bringing two new hotels into its limits.
In early 2023, The Woodlands Mall managers, Brookfield Properties, outlined a proposal for a mall expansion that would bring two new hotels, as well as retail and restaurant space, to the southwest corner of the mall. However, despite economic development incentives, that plan has not advanced beyond the discussion stage, officials said.
"It's hit a stagnant ... nothing's happening," said Brad Bailey, chair of The Woodlands Township board of directors.
Township President and CEO Monique Sharp said the deadline for that project to be completed was 2028 for the first phase and 2030 for the second phase.
"You need to be closer to the convention center than the mall," Bailey said of hotel development. "People are looking to be in one hub area ... and we have competition all around us. ... We need to up our game."
Shenandoah has 13 hotels, and other hotels in the region include the Hyatt Regency in Conroe as well as numerous hotels in the Spring area.
Board members also suggested collaboration with other entities and looking at how infrastructure supports the hotels.
"We need to get input from the retailers, the hoteliers, the mall ... Visit The Woodlands ... and also think about how to communicate, [and] transportation—how to move people from area to another—because traffic can be a killer," said board member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. "The plan ... is going to cost some money."
No action was taken at the meeting, but the board said further discussion would be needed to formulate a plan.
"We gotta go recruit developers with this data in hand," Bailey said.
