Ho-ho-ho

Book holiday magic — and Santa's Suite — this year at Omni Dallas Hotel

Find all the festive fun at Omni Dallas Hotel this season, from spa specials to gourmet hot chocolate concoctions, visits from Santa, and ways to give back.

Read on to see what's on the holiday schedule:

Santa's Suite
Omni Dallas Hotel has rolled out the red carpet for the second year this holiday season with the creation of Santa’s Suite.

Photo courtesy of Omni Dallas Hotel

Find photo opps at every turn.

Elegantly decorated, this “presidential” Santa’s Suite is the perfect way to greet Christmas morning — for children of all ages. Book this specially created package that includes a welcome amenity of sweet treats, crafts for the kids (or kids at heart), a hot cocoa station as a turn-down amenity, $400 hotel credit, and two bedrooms (king and a queen/queen).

For those checking in on a Friday or Saturday evening between 4 and 6 pm, Santa Claus will be onsite and ready to help you get comfortable in his special suite.

Sweet Traditions package
Discover Omni Dallas' menu of artisanal hot chocolate with a $10 beverage credit and receive a set of keepsake mugs designed by Honey + Hank. The season is even sweeter with up 10 percent savings on your room. This tasty package can be booked now through February 26, 2023.

Mokara Spa specials
Shed the holiday stress with these festive treatments:

Cinnamon Dolce body treatment, 100 minutes, $275: Start with long brushing movements to promote better lymphatic circulation while exfoliating the skin, followed by a cinnamon-infused mud masque that will detoxify and replenish the skin. Then you will be cocooned in a restorative marshmallow balm that will have you feeling cinnamon spice and all things nice.
Artic Berry facial, 50 minutes, $185: Reveal your skin’s natural radiance with this blend of four antioxidant-rich plants that prevent the visible signs of aging, while replenishing the skin’s moisture and restoring the appearance of elasticity.
Hot Toddy manicure and pedicure, 50 minutes each, $75 manicure and $80 pedicure: The pedicure starts off with a butter brulee soak, while the manicure and pedicure each have a scrumptious brown sugar bourbon exfoliate to soothe the winter skin. It all ends with a relaxing massage with a spicy honey chai lotion.

Hot cocoa specials at Texas Spice
Taste the sweet tradition of hot cocoa during the cooler, winter months, only available at Texas Spice inside the hotel. 'Tis the season to enjoy a classic, traditional hot cocoa or be adventurous with new flavors:

Classic: A special Spice blend recipe co-developed by pastry chef Leen Nunn and Spice master chef Lior Lev Sercaz. Dairy-free alternative is available.
Sweet: Pastry chef Leen Nunn has created a marshmallow recipe for something extra special.
Spirited: Boozy upgrade for guests to enjoy an adult hot chocolate.
Bright: Add a bold shot of espresso.

Holiday cocktail specials at The Owners Box

Reindeer Tracks: Bacardi 8, St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur, RumChata, lemon juice, vanilla spice syrup, garnished with a cinnamon stick.
Pecan Pie Old Fashioned: Woodford Reserve Bourbon, butter pecan syrup, cardamom bitters, smoked with a pie crust rim.
Mistletoe Margarita: Altos Reposado Tequila, cointreau, apple juice, garnished with star anise and an apple sliver.

Morsel’s Coffee Shop specials
If hot cocoa isn’t enough to bring out the holiday spirit, sip on one of these cups of cheer:

Cousin Eddie's Eggnog: Eggnog cold brew topped with cold foam (non-alcoholic)
Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins: Gingerbread soy chai
Peppermint Patty: Peppermint mocha (dark or white chocolate)
Calavera Hot Chocolate: Mexican hot chocolate

Want more Santa Claus? Here are all the ways Omni Dallas Hotel is spreading holiday joy:

Letters to Santa
Located on the second floor of the hotel, the official mailbox to the North Pole is just outside the UPS Business Center. There is official letter stationary, envelopes, and markers for children to put all their wishes on paper, before the hotel makes sure they make it to the big man for Christmas Eve deliveries.

Calls from Santa
For families staying with Omni Dallas, the concierge team is ready to set up a call with the big man himself. Receive a personalized call on your smartphone when you stay during December.

Weekend lobby Santa
Want to tell Santa in-person what you want for Christmas? You’ll be able to every Friday and Saturday from 4-6 pm, November 25 through December 23. Santa will be walking around the lobby, ready for photo opps and quick chats about your holiday wants and needs.

Extra ways Omni Dallas helps you enjoy the holidays
Families can get creative by creating their own gingerbread houses, sold as a kit at Collections Gift Shop. These $25 kits include everything you need to build a home, with royal icing and enough gum drops to make the Sugar Plum Fairy dance! Kits are sold now through December 24.

For those celebrating Hannukah, electric menorahs will be available for guests to place in their rooms and ‘light’ a candle for each night. These are complementary for hotel guests during their full length of stay.

In support of Feeding America and The North Texas Food Bank, Omni Dallas is hosting a local food drive all season long. Guests and locals can drop off donations at the hotel now through December 30, with everything benefitting the local pantry.

On top of that, Omni Hotels & Resorts will be doubling their meal donations for every hot cocoa purchased at Morsel’s Coffee Shop through their Say Goodnight to Hunger campaign.

Host your company meetings or family gatherings at Restaurants on Lamar for an authentic Dallas dining experience.

Call 214-979-4529 or email ROLevents@omnihotels.com to book your event. For a limited time, book your holiday gathering and receive a complimentary Champagne toast.

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See everything that Omni Dallas is planning this holiday season here.

hotels holidays promoted

Movie Review

The Dink aces pickleball with funny, star-filled comedy

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in The Dink.

While the sport of pickleball was invented way back in the 1960s, it has exploded in popularity in the 2020s. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to make a movie about the craze, and a comedy like the new Apple TV+ film The Dink provides the best way to honor and make fun of the divisive sport at the same time.

Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), aka The Hammer, is a former tennis phenom who’s now working as an instructor at a club owned by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris). While the two don’t always see eye-to-eye, they have a mutual hatred for pickleball, which they have begrudgingly allowed on the property by giving it the worst court.

Dusty is hoping to stop all future pickleball expansion by winning a one-on-one grudge match, but when he injures his wrist, he’s given a prescription of pickleball as a form of rehab. Older women like Candace (Mary Steenburgen) are the only people he can find to play with, and despite his disdain for the sport, he soon falls prey to its low-key charms.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) and written by Sean Clements, the film is probably the best advertisement pickleball will ever have. Dusty’s introduction to the sport serves as a lighthearted tutorial for the uninitiated while still getting in some nice digs at its expense. The other players - Candace, Gail (Cleo King), and Judy (Lynn Marie Stewart) - are equally welcoming and critical of Dusty, who initially has trouble adjusting to the game’s different rules.

The film’s approach to the story is silly but never stupid. Dusty is a blowhard, but he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong, especially when Candace introduces him to multiple things he had never considered before. A long-standing feud between Dusty and Andy Roddick provides more than just a goofy cameo for the real-life tennis star. The film also pushes right to the edge of being over-the-top before pulling back, allowing it to keep a semblance of reality to it.

Clements’ story follows a tried-and-true formula, making the film very predictable but enjoyably so. Where it earns its comedy credentials is in its finer details, like Dusty’s love for his 1999 Buick LeSabre with under 200,000 miles on it, his trunk full of old VHS tapes, or his interactions with his assistant PJ (Aaron Chen), who manages to be the comic relief in an already funny film.

Johnson, probably best known for starring in the sitcom New Girl in the 2010s, has the right amount of smarm and niceness to pull off the role, letting viewers laugh at and root for him at the same time. The film is full of comedy all-stars in small roles like Oswalt, Chris Parnell, and Ben Stiller, but Harris steals everyone’s thunder. The line readings by the four-time Oscar nominee give an extra punch to his character’s jokes, especially one that hints at the sordid history of the tennis club.

It’s a shame that The Dink is only playing on a streaming service as there’s a dearth of good comedies like this in movie theaters. With a solid joke-telling approach, a respect for its subject matter, and a cast who all play off each other well, this is a film that deserves to be seen by more than just those with an Apple TV+ subscription.

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The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV+.

movies sports pickleball film