Hotel Honors

5 Dallas-Fort Worth hotels lauded in Travel + Leisure's 2023 World's Best Awards

Photo courtesy of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

Five exquisite Dallas-Fort Worth hotels have earned nods in the 2023 edition of Travel and Leisure's highly coveted "World's Best" list.

Winners of T+L's awards are decided by more than 165,000 readers who completed World's Best Awards survey in 2023. Each hotel was critiqued based on their rooms and facilities, their location, guest service, food, and overall value.

The DFW winners, in order, are:

No. 1 - Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
No. 2 - The Ashton, Fort Worth
No. 3 - The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
No. 4 - Hotel Drover, Autograph Collection, Fort Worth
No. 5 - The Joule, Dallas

Resting on its laurels as the winner is Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, a storied luxury hotel in Uptown Dallas. The iconic 142-room Mansion sits on more than four acres of land, bringing lusciously green views to guests looking for memories on the estate.

"Voters loved the Mansion Restaurant for its elegant setting and French-inflected American cuisine, while the pool was a highlight for the resort-y vibe it adds to the property, despite being located just minutes from Downtown Dallas," the report says.

Not surprisingly for a grand beacon of old-school, old-guard Dallas prestige, the Rosewood Mansion has seen countless national dignitaries and celebrities as visitors or residents who enjoy the regal, refined aesthetic.

"Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek is glamour writ large, set within a palatial circa-1920s manor that has hosted such high-profile guests as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Tennessee Williams," the report says.

Rosewood Mansion ranked No. 3 in Travel and Leisure's2022 report of the best Dallas-Fort Worth hotels.

In another win for Uptown Dallas, The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas rises into No. 3 in 2023, after ranking one spot lower in 2022. This hotel is a sophisticated combination of Southern hospitality and elegant aesthetics, embodying the vision of Dallas as a "vibrant destination" for travelers. It's central location is vital to this concept.

"The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas puts hotel guests near the city's top attractions, including American Airlines Center, the Cotton Bowl Stadium, and the House of Blues Dallas," the hotel's website touts. "And the vintage McKinney Avenue trolley stops in front of the hotel, carrying visitors to nearby shopping, restaurants and attractions throughout Uptown Dallas."

Rounding out the top five as the newcomer in Travel and Leisure's rankings is The Joule. This downtown Dallas hotel possesses a neo-gothic vibe that was carried over from its past life as the Dallas National Bank.

"Aptly named after the international unit of energy, The Joule brought a charge to downtown Dallas when it opened in 2008," their website proclaims.

Opulent amenities guests can enjoy at The Joule include a four-star spa, popular rooftop pool bar and full-service summer pool cabanas, four different acclaimed restaurants and bars, and a library.

Sitting in second and fourth place in the report are Fort Worth's The Ashtonand Hotel Drover, Autograph Collection. Like Dallas' Rosewood Mansion, The Ashton is also over a century old. Unique to this boutique hotel, guests and visitors can enjoy an afternoon high tea service on Saturdays by reservation only.

The Western-glam Hotel Drover is a relatively new hotel in Fort Worth (it's only been in operation since 2021), but it has been at the top of several hotel recommendation lists and made last year's T + L World's Best list.

Photo courtesy of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek is consistently ranked among the world's best hotels.

More information about the resorts can be found on travelandleisure.com.

hotels dallas fort worth hotel drover reports travel Rosewood Mansion

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics