Hotel News

New hotel by Dallas Galleria debuts with tapas and grapefruit mojitos

Hotel is five stories tall, with dual-branded concepts.

Photo courtesy of AC

A new hotel has opened near Galleria Dallas with some millennial flash, cool rooms, and last but not least, grapefruit mojitos on tap.

The AC Hotel and Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria is a new dual-branded property that sits just east of the Galleria by about a block, making it literally walking distance to shopping, shopping, and more shopping.

The property has five floors, 256 rooms, and oodles of meeting space. It anchors a new, $3.5 billion, mixed-use development project with offices, 9,000 residential units, retail, restaurant, and entertainment space.

"The AC Hotel and Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria is our company’s first hotel in Texas and our first dual-branded Marriott property," says Tim Busch, CEO and founder of PHG, which owns the hotel. "We are excited to offer a hotel that reflects the growing entrepreneurial-minded business scene in the Dallas Fort Worth area."

The property offers complementary options for leisure and business travelers: a stylish experience at AC, or the more home-like units at Residence Inn. They also vary in style and format.

The AC Hotel, which caters to shorter stays, features 140 rooms with European-inspired design, neutral tones, ambient lighting, workstations, and flat-panel TVs.

It has the AC Kitchen, which serves a European-inspired breakfast with croissants, prosciutto, cheese, breakfast tarts, yogurt, and fruit.

In the evening, the AC Lounge in the hotel lobby offers craft cocktails including a signature gin tonic and a maple bacon smash, with bacon-infused maple bourbon and mint.

They also have beer, wine — Simi Cabernet and Estancia Pinot Grigio — and the above-mentioned grapefruit mojitos on tap.

A tapas-style menu of food includes trendy toasts in four varieties: tomato and prosciutto, avocado and feta, shrimp, and chicken. Three salads include an antipasto with cured meats, mozzarella, and roasted vegetables, and a salad with Little Gem lettuce, which is like the foodie signifier these days.

Small plates include olives, meatballs, and an artisanal ham and cheese plate. Larger plates include a flatiron steak, garlic chicken, mushroom rigatoni, Greek meatballs, and salmon with spiced lentils.

Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria offers 116 suites for longer-stay guests. Every guest room is a suite with studio, one- and two-bedroom options. Each suite comes with fully equipped kitchens.

Additional amenities for this pet-friendly hotel include a barbecue and picnic area, complimentary buffet breakfast, a grocery delivery service, housekeeping service, an on-site laundry area, a safe deposit box at the front desk, and valet dry cleaning.

Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria also offers mapped runs for guests to use during their stay. Guests can use the MapMyFitness app for instant access to running routes created specifically for Residence Inn guests.

In addition to the AC Hotel and Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria, PHG owns through affiliates three other AC Hotels in the U.S., including AC Hotel Irvine, AC Hotel New Orleans Bourbon/French Quarter Area, and AC Hotel Phoenix/Tempe Downtown.

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population explosion

7 booming Dallas neighbors see biggest population growth in U.S.

City of Denton, TX - City Hall/Facebook

Denton had the biggest population growth rate in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2022 to 2023.

Denton, Mansfield, McKinney, and more North Texas cities are among the fastest-growing places in the country, according to a new population growth study by SmartAsset.

The report, "These Cities Saw the Largest Growth in Population – 2024 Study," examined U.S. Census population estimates for 2023, 2022, and 2018 to determine one-year and five-year population changes for 610 U.S. cities with populations of at least 65,000 residents in 2023 (where the most recent data was available).

Silver Spring, Maryland had the No. 1 biggest population boom nationwide from 2022 to 2023, SmartAsset found. The Washington, D.C. suburb grew 12.86 percent year-over-year, bringing the city's total population from 75,313 to 84,996 residents in 2023.

Denton took the lead over all other Dallas-Fort Worth cities with the 16th-largest one-year population growth rate in the U.S., at 5.32 percent. Denton gained over 8,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, bringing the city's total population to 158,361 in 2023.

This should come as no surprise to those who already live in Denton, who may know their hometown was ranked one of the safest suburbs in America.

Mansfield trailed close behind with a 4.16 percent increase in population during that same period, which landed it the No. 26 spot in the one-year population change analysis. The city gained 3,189 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 79,775 residents in 2023.

McKinney appeared farther down the list as No. 49 with just a 2.89 percent one-year growth rate from 2022 to 2023, and a total population of 213,504 residents.

Only four other Dallas-Fort Worth cities appeared in the top 100 fastest growing cities in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023:

No. 61 – Frisco (2.48 percent increase)
No. 72 – Rowlett (2.48 percent)
No. 73 – Lewisville (2.17 percent)
No. 99 – Flower Mound (1.73 percent)

The report suggested major population shifts in communities like Denton or Mansfield can result in "a variety of interwoven economic and social impacts."

"The magnitude of the population change can affect demand for businesses and services, which in turn may impact costs – or even the availability of such amenities," the report's author wrote. "Similarly, the relative age of the population can determine the strength or weakness of the local job market, as well as have an impact on local culture, economic trajectory, tax base and more."

Fast-growing cities elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the top 10 list of cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023.

New Braunfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked No. 2 nationally with an 12.49 percent one-year population boom, and a 29.68 percent growth rate from 2018 to 2023. The city gained 12,318 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 110,961 residents in 2023.

Just two spots behind New Braunfels is the North Austin suburb of Georgetown (No. 4), which grew 11.34 percent to 96,317 residents in 2023. According to the report's five-year population change analysis, Georgetown ranked seventh with a 29.85 percent growth rate.

The Houston suburbs of Atascocita and Conroe ranked No. 5 and No. 9, respectively. Atascocita's total population grew to 119,502 residents in 2023, which represented a 11.03 percent growth rate from 2022, and a whopping 38.56 percent population increase since 2018. Conroe's 6.73 percent one-year population increase paled in comparison, but the city grew 23.49 percent during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

The top 10 U.S. cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023 are:

No. 1 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 2 – New Braunfels, Texas
No. 3 – Glen Burnie, Maryland
No. 4 – Georgetown, Texas
No. 5 – Atascocita, Texas
No. 6 – Pine Hills, Florida
No. 7 – Elgin, Illinois
No. 8 – Lehi, Utah
No. 9 – Conroe, Texas
No. 10 – Dale City, Virginia

population growth reports smartasset dallas fort worth denton suburbs mansfield