75201 Travel Guide
Fourth of July Hotels / Hotel Pools / Dallas Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Luxury Collection Hotels / → All Tags
To Do After The Fireworks: The Midnight Pool Party at the Joule
The best place to spend a hot, sticky Fourth of July is in a pool. But to really do it up in style, you'll head to The Joule for its July 3 midnight pool party that's part of a stay-two-nights, get-one-free deal.
The Dallas hotel's pool is incredible—we named it one of our top 10 death-defying rooftop hotel pools. It hangs off of the side of the building and gives the illusion that you are swimming off of the edge. A plexiglass window allows you to see the city while you splash about.
Holiday Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Hotel Bars / Dallas Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / → All Tags
Ginger Snap Cookies Now In Cocktail Form At The Fairmont Dallas
Truth be told, we're much more into savory bites, even when the Christmas cookie craze hits... right about now. But after hearing about the Ginger Snap Cookie Cocktail served at Pyramid Restaurant & Bar inside the Fairmont Dallas we may be persuaded to grow a sweet tooth, after all.
Apparently, Pyramid’s head bartender Ray Elizardo was inspired by the smell of gingerbread that's in the air this time of year, and decided to turn it into a digestif. Smart man. We also like Elizardo's reminder that ginger can help to calm the discomfort that so often follows overindulgence.
Of course, in our translation this means we can eat an entire holiday spread and then follow it up with two or three of these cocktails and still feel light on our feet. That's what he means, right?
Hotel Food / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Dallas Hotels / → All Tags
Do a Stint as the Guest Guacamologist at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
If you’ve always wanted to whip up Mexican cuisine like chef Rick Bayless, the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas will help fulfill your Top Chef Masters dreams with its guest guacamologist program. And yes, that would be your real title.
You may not learn Bayless’s famous 27-ingredient mole, but an aspiring chef of Mexican cuisine has to start somewhere. As the guest guacamologist, you’d work with the pro guacamologist to make your own custom dip from scratch using Texas farm-to-market produce.
Hotel Contests / Easter Hotels / Dallas Hotels / Luxury Collection Hotels / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
Where Has The Joule Hotel Laid All These Golden Eggs?
One of our favorite parts of Easter was the egg hunt. We'd love searching for the colorful eggs and beating out our brother for the big prize. The Joule is making its own Easter Egg hunt for adults, but instead of getting tucked away in your backyard, the eggs will be hidden across nine different cities. Plus, the prize is better than the $5 mom and dad gave us.
The hotel will hide one oversized golden egg in Atlanta; Austin; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New Orleans; New York, Washington, D.C.; and Dallas. Successful egg hunters in each city will win a night in one of the hotel's suites, two cocktails from PM Nightlife Lounge, breakfast in bed, dinner at Charlie Palmer, and a $200 American Express gift card to help with airfare.
Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / Dallas Hotels / Luxury Collection Hotels / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
The Joule's Frisky Package Gives You Bubbly, Movies and Zebra Print
If you're looking for a quickie getaway with your lovah, The Joule will set you up with bubbly, breakfast in bed and complimentary movies.
As part of the Dallas hotel's Around the Clock package, you'll get Champagne, an an organic egg breakfast for two up in your room and unlimited in-room movies. Plus, you can stay a full 24 hours despite your check-in time, so feel free to sleep in.
Holiday Cocktails / Fairmont Hotels / Dallas Hotels / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
Hunker Down with Hot Toddies at the Fairmont Dallas
You know how much we love our cocktails here at HotelChatter. We'll find any reason to celebrate with a cocktail and fortunately for us (but not for our liver), hotels feel the same way. We've slurped down Summer Cocktails and Halloween Cocktails and now we're ready for the main event, Holiday Cocktails. We'll be taking a look at these concoctions all season long. If you have a suggestion, don't hold out on us. (Photos, recipes and prices are helpful too!)
The saying goes, "Don't Mess With Texas" but thanks to the current deep freeze across America, we Yankees are going to have our way with the two hot toddies being offered by the Fairmont Dallas.
The Hot Tea Toddy ($9) is for those who want to keep it simple. The drink mixes some Canton Ginger Liquer in an Irish mug of jasmine green tea. The Red Hot Toddy, however, is for those who want a real kick with their drink. The concoction ($8) has cider, Malbec, three Red Hot candies, a spoonful of agave nectar and some good old Canadian Whiskey. Both are served in the hotel's Pyramid Bar which is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to midnight and from noon to midnight on Sundays. Want to spend the night? Rates here start at $140 a night.
Can't get to Dallas? Make your own hot toddy with the recipes below.
Hotel Theft / Hotel News / Dallas Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Crime / → All Tags
Guest Takes Off With Not-So-Free Swag From Fairmont Dallas
We don't condone stealing, and we would never consider stealing anything (well, anything except hearts, that is), but we have to ask: is it actually much, much easier than we think it is to steal from a hotel?
Check this out: police are currently investigating a pretty serious theft that went down at the Fairmont Dallas, where a guest apparently took off with two plasma TV's and a coffee maker from her hotel room without anyone really noticing.
According to the Dallas Morning News:
The Fairmont hotel, located at 1717 North Akard St., reported this morning the theft of two 36-inch, LG plasma televisions and a coffee maker, Dallas police said.
A woman checked into two hotel rooms Friday and placed “Do not disturb” signs on each of the rooms’ doors and refused room service, police said. The woman then left the hotel either late Sunday or early Monday without checking out at the front desk.
Really? It's that easy? A couple DND signs and some crafty cover-names at check-in? Huh. We guess it probably is. Surely the lady was caught on camera or some such and it's likely that the investigation will turn up something — in the meantime, she's somewhere sipping a nice cup of brew and enjoying some good old fashioned television, we suppose.
Sweet Suite / Dallas Hotel Scene / Dallas Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
What You Get for $20K in The Stoneleigh's New Penthouse Suite
The Penthouse of the recently-renovated Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa in Dallas is a bit like a Texas woman: beautiful to begin with — but with tons and tons of accessories and add-ons that make her seem to some people a little, er...over-the-top.
But that depends on your tastes, of course. The top two floors of the Stoneleigh are, to say the least, lavish: originally designed by Dorothy Draper back in the '30's, the two-story, 7,200 square-foot suite was given a top-to-bottom makeover by Carleton Varney during the recent property-wide $36 million renovation. The Penthouse is made up of three bedroom suites, a dining room, a living room, a library and bar, a 590-square-foot terrace and seven bathrooms. Seven. Yes.
Celebrity Scoop / Jessica Simpson / Hotel Bars / Dallas Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Jessica Simpson Seeks Solace from Critics at the Stoneleigh Hotel
It's not been a very good year so far for Jessica Simpson. Aside from the fact that her boyfriend Tony Romo failed to make the Super Bowl, J-Simp made the headlines of every major gossip rag and site last week for showing up looking a tad "curvy" at a chili cook-off in Miami.
The fact that the media went hog wild talking about her recent weight gain and not about why she was singing at a chili cook-off is clear evidence of our society's ridiculous standards of women. The underlying message: It's ok to be a falling star who went from having your own televised specials to singing at country fairs and meat conventions so long as you remain a skinny falling star.
Fortunately, Jessica Simpson is not letting this affect her in the least. She was recently spotted at the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas with her mom and childhood Sunday school teachers sipping vodka sodas at the Bolla Bar. (Um...Sunday school teachers like vodka sodas? Where were they when we were growing up?)
Folks at the bar said Jessica was very sweet and low-key but most importantly, they said she "looked really great!" We know for a fact that Jess is a generous girl when it comes to picking up the tabs for her friends and co-workers and she's a very good tipper. If she can't seem to win America's heart with her figure, then she can certainly do it with her "sweet as pie" gratitude to hotel staffers.
Dallas Hotels / Luxury Collection Hotels / Charlie Palmer / Starwood Hotels / Rooftop Pools / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
For Dallas Exhibitionists, Go Swimming At The Joule
Earlier this week The Joule, part of the Starwood Luxury Collection opened up in the historic 1920's Dallas National Bank Building in Dallas Texas, after undergoing a massive renovation.
Originally expected to be called "Hotel Elan", the name Joule was picked as a tribute to the unit of measurement that is used to calculate energy, the Joule (1J = 1N * m for those who need a refresher - our apologies to those who just experienced high school science class flashbacks.)
Hotel Openings / Dallas Hotels / Hotel Spas / → All Tags
The Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas Re-Opens with New Spa
After undergoing a $36 million dollar renovation, the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas has re-opened with a new look and a new 5,200 square foot spa.
The Spa at Stoneleigh features six rooms to perform some of the spa's signature treatments. Among them:
Le Grand Cru Meritage Facial, combining a unique blend of grapes, an anti-aging complex of raspberries, black currant, rosemary and olive leaf extracts through a double fermentation process; The Stoneleigh Indulgence Head-to-Toe Body Facial, a comprehensive multi-step treatment which incorporates all the revitalizing elements of a facial but for the whole body; the Maple Avenue Body Butter Wrap, celebrating the hotel's address utilizing a signature Bio-Maple compound.
And here's a special treat for women with buns in the oven: unique to the Spa at Stoneleigh is the "Pregnancy Keepsake Sculpture" service, where they will cast your preggy belly in blue, pink or yellow plaster, presumably to bust out for embarrassment or creep-out purposes on your child's first date or wedding day.
This may also be the only place in the area to encourage overindulgence in wine for the preggers and non-preggers alike: Stoneleigh is the only spa in Dallas to carry Davi Skincare, the "vinotherapy" product line developed by Carlo Mondavi, Jr. (yes, that Mondavi family).
Historic Hotels / Endangered Hotels / Dallas Hotels / Hilton Hotels / → All Tags
The Dallas Grand Hotel:: Just as Lonely and Neglected as Jessica Simpson
It seems as if Jessica Simpson isn't the only Texan experiencing some heartbreak. The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its 2008 list of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places," and on it? The 1,001-room Dallas Grand Hotel--formerly the Statler Hilton--earmarked as an example of fading midcentury-modern architecture.
The hotel opened to much fanfare in 1956, heralded for its introduction of many of today's standards, such as elevator music, conference facilities and the true highlight: custom 21"-inch TVs in each room--how quaint! Since closing in 2001, plans to re-establish the hotel to its former glory--likely with bigger TVs--have been halted by structural problems and inadequate parking, according to The Dallas Morning News.
And while you might think being labeled as an endangered species might help move preservation efforts along, the paper reports that the designation could hurt more than it helps. "Anytime something like this happens, it puts more restrictions on the ability of the owners to sell it," Tom Keen, an attorney for the current owners, mysteriously tells the paper, noting that the building is under contract with a prospective buyer.
As hotel geeks, we need to mobilize. What do you suggest? A rally? Endowment fund? Letter writing campaign to Conrad Hilton?
[Photo: Jason Grant for the NY Times]
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