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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Money Matters

This is the salary you need to live comfortably in Texas in 2026

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

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A new national report looking at the income it takes to live comfortably in each of the 50 states has revealed Texans need to earn slightly less now than a year ago.

SmartAsset analyzed what a single individual, as well as family of four, must earn to cover minimum basic needs adjusted using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. The resulting estimate represents the annual, pre-tax income needed to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

A single, full-time worker needs to make $90,563 to live comfortably in the Lone Star State, the report found, which is down a meager 0.2 percent from last year ($90,771).

Under the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy, that means a single Texas earner would have $45,282 to spend on necessities like housing and utilities, $27,169 for discretionary spending, and $18,113 for emergencies or retirement savings.

Texas ranked 34th nationally in SmartAsset's list of states with the highest income needed for a single adult to live "in sustainable comfort" in 2026. Only five other states — Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Mississippi — saw a decline in the income needed to live comfortably this year.

For a family of four to live comfortably in Texas, income requirements change significantly, according to the findings. To support a two-child household, a family needs $203,424 in combined total household income to be considered financially stable. This is down slightly from 2025, when SmartAsset reported a family of four in needed $204,922 to live comfortably in Texas.

This is a comfortable lifestyle for a family of four in Texas, according to the report:

$101,712 dedicated to necessities and living expenses
$61,027 dedicated to discretionary spending
$40,685 dedicated to emergencies, savings, or debt repaymen

According to the report, a family of four now needs to make at least $200,000 to live comfortably in 40 U.S. states, a figure that is far out of reach for many American families.

"As housing, grocery, transportation and other essential costs pressure household budgets, earning a six-figure salary no longer guarantees financial comfort in much of the U.S.," the report said. "A single adult now needs at least $80,000 a year to live comfortably in every state, while the threshold exceeds $100,000 in nearly half of states. For a family of four, the income needed to live comfortably is as much as $329,000."

Still, earning the minimum income to live comfortably in Texas doesn't guarantee financial stability in the Lone Star State's major cities. Earlier this year, SmartAsset determined single residents in Dallas need to make nearly $97,000 to qualify as financially stable, while families of four need about $214,500.

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