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's 2022 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 Ashton and 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.

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family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family dallas fort worth arlington smartasset reports livability