Highly honored hotels

Dallas hotel earns coveted 5-star rating in 2020 Forbes Travel Guide

The Ritz racked up a five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide.

Photo courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Dallas

One Dallas hotel checks in with the highest marks in the new Forbes Travel Guide.

Forbes' rating system, which dates back to 1958, breaks down properties into three categories: five-star, four-star, and recommended. The guide bills itself as the only independent global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas.

To determine the number of stars, the travel guide sends anonymous inspectors to every property to evaluate up to 900 objective criteria. The inspectors, who pay for their own rooms, stay a minimum of two nights and grade both the facilities and the experience/service.

“It is difficult to earn a Forbes Travel Guide rating, and all our star-rated winners have shown how incredibly deserving they are of their accolades by demonstrating sheer dedication in their passion for service,” Filip Boyen, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide, says in a release.

The 2020 edition of the guide, published February 12, assigns a five-star rating to The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. It's the only Texas hotel to earn the prestigious accolade.

The Ritz, the guide notes, “showcases Texas pride with its ‘guacamologist,’ who doles out guacamole and margaritas in the lobby daily.”

Another Dallas-Fort Worth hotel, the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, collected four stars. "Inspector's Highlights" of the hotel include the Outlaw Taproom with antique pool table and its Hall of Champions, featuring memorabilia from the family of Byron Nelson, of course.

Elsewhere in Texas, the Houston metro area scooped up the most four-star hotel ratings in the guide — four. Those hotels are Four Seasons Hotel Houston; Hotel Granduca; The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa; and The St. Regis Houston.

Austin claims three four-star properties in the 2020 guide: Archer Hotel Austin, Fairmont Austin, and Four Seasons Hotel Austin.

In San Antonio, Mokara Hotel & Spa is the lone four-star hotel.

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Jet setting

Luxury private terminal PS lands at DFW Airport ahead of World Cup

Photo courtesy of PS

PS Direct service provides a personal greeting and escort to and from the terminal.

Talk about traveling in style. Just in time for this summer’s FIFA World Cup soccer matches in Dallas-Fort Worth, a private, luxury terminal is opening at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to accommodate well-to-do passengers.

A company called PS (formerly known as The Private Suite) will debut the 12,200-square-foot private, gated terminal on June 1. The terminal, located adjacent to DFW’s corporate aviation facility, will enable travelers to skip the airport’s main terminals, bypassing traditional airport lines in favor of dedicated security and screening.

And to be clear, this is for passengers flying commercial - not those in private jets.

In a release, PS says its facilities are “designed to eliminate the friction at every stage of travel — transforming the journey into a refined and seamless experience, from beginning to end.” The company sells individual and corporate memberships.

The “refined and seamless” PS experience is practically fit for royalty. Guests can choose among two offerings:

The Salon, a social lounge geared toward solo travelers and small groups. It features a 40-foot bar that pays homage to old-fashioned Southern bars.
Private lounges, each of which evokes “a deeply personal, homey feel” to support relaxation.

Perks for PS customers include a chef-prepared menu, spa services, and a BMW chauffeur service. The DFW chauffeur service, which will whisk passengers directly from their aircraft to their hotels or homes, is set to launch later this year.

No mingling with riff raff at security.Photo by Jenna Peffley

Dallas-based designer Jean Liu created the look of the terminal, which PS says “introduces an elevated, design-forward approach.” The terminal’s textures, colors, materials, and art reflect themes of Western landscapes and cowboy culture.

In one lounge area inside the terminal, warm taupes and tans dominate the walls and round coffee table, while the sofa and flooring feature a generous dusting of charcoal and deep brown. All three chairs are upholstered in a mushroom-tone fabric. The entire palette exudes the feeling of a desert landscape.

Complementing its surroundings, a large piece of bold abstract art hanging on one of the lounge area’s walls incorporates black, cobalt blue, deep red/pink, yellow, and white hues.

“We leaned into the notion of Southern hospitality for this project,” Liu says. “As much as possible, we pushed the envelope to incorporate residential elements — rather than what you’d typically see in a commercial space — to truly make this feel like stepping into someone’s home. PS DFW is designed to be warm, elevated, and welcoming for everyone passing through.”

PS private terminal DFW The Salon features a mural by Dallas artist Amy Berlin.Photo by Jenna Peffley

One of the highlights of The Salon: a mural by Dallas artist Amy Berlin in collaboration with Los Angeles artist Candice Kaye. Made of suitcase liners, maps, vintage text, and other materials in Berlin’s signature paper-collage style, the DFW-inspired textures “meet the energized pulse of global travel, inviting whimsy, retreat and calm,” says PS.

The art installations at PS DFW, curated by Los Angeles-based Creative Art Partners, center on “texture and materiality, balancing expressive abstract works with more subtle references to the tones and warmth of Dallas,” the company says. “Softer narrative pieces are woven throughout, creating moments of contrast and pause.”

The DFW terminal and soon-to-open facilities in Miami and Paris represent the next steps in PS’ plan to open private terminals at every major U.S. airport by 2030. The Los Angeles-based company already operates terminals at Los Angeles International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport.

“As we expand, our focus remains on reimagining the airport experience by bringing the privacy, comfort, and personalized service of a five-star hotel into the journey itself,” says Amina Belouizdad Porter, CEO of PS.

PS will surely be a welcome option for some travelers arriving with high-priced tickets to the nine World Cup games being contested in Arlington, June 14-July 14, 2026.

While PS memberships are available, a la cart experiences are offered, as well. According to the website, The Salon begins at $1,295 per person; private suite rate is $4,950 for up to 4 travelers; and PS Direct service is $1,650 per person.

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