Lauded lodging

7 Dallas-Fort Worth hotels and resorts heralded among year’s best by Travel + Leisure

Hotel Drover lassos the top spot in DFW.

Photo courtesy of Hotel Drover

Seven lodging properties in Dallas-Fort Worth have earned spots on Travel + Leisure’s new lists of the best hotels and resorts.

Hotel Drover, an Autograph Collection property in Fort Worth, tops Travel + Leisure’s list of the five best hotels in DFW for 2022, while Irving’s Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas and Grapevine’s Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center earn spots on the list of the 10 best resorts in Texas.

The 200-room Hotel Drover opened in the spring of 2021 as a luxe Western retreat in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Among the property’s standout features are the guestrooms. Each one includes a locally curated minibar, Los Poblanos bath products, King Ranch leather items, and Rios Interiors furniture made at the Stockyards.

Another highlight: The Hotel Drover includes two high-end boutiques: a Lucchese Custom Collection boot shop and a Wide Brim hat shop.

The Hotel Drover “was carefully curated with the local community in mind so that travelers receive an authentic experience deeply woven in the Texas culture, and we are incredibly grateful to be the destination of choice for those visiting the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” Craig Cavileer, managing partner of Stockyards Heritage Development (which owns the hotel) says in a July 12 release about the ranking.

Here’s Travel + Leisure’s list of the top five hotels in DFW:

Hotel Drover, Fort Worth
Thompson Dallas
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
The Ashton, Fort Worth

Two other DFW properties also earned accolades from Travel + Leisure: The Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas ranks sixth among the top 10 resorts in Texas, and the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center appears at No. 9.

First on the list is The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa in — you guessed it — Houston.

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coming in 2027

Texas hotel near NASA to get a Margaritaville makeover with lazy river

Rendering courtesy of Compass Hotel by Margaritaville Nassau Bay

Compass Hotel by Margaritaville Nassau Bay will open in late 2027.

One of the signature hotels of the Houston Bay Area is undergoing a massive transformation. When it opens in late 2027, the new Compass Hotel by Margaritaville Nassau Bay will bring a boutique-style experience to one of the most popular vacation destinations in the state.

Located roughly 250 miles, about four hours, from Dallas in the former Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake (3000 E NASA Parkway), the Compass Hotel by Margaritaville Nassau Bay will feature a comprehensive set of upgrades. Launched in 2020, Compass Hotels carry on the brand’s vibes in smaller markets and without the full resort price point.

Plans call for four Margaritaville-themed restaurants, a lazy river, conference and meeting spaces, and “fully reimagined guestrooms,” according to press materials. Once complete, the 229-room property will also offer marina access, boat parking, and a store.

“We are excited to introduce Compass Hotel Nassau Bay and bring this new destination to the Clear Lake community, just minutes from NASA/Space Center Houston,” Nassau Bay Resorts LLC CEO Kam Miramadi said in a statement. “We look forward to transforming this property into a welcoming hotel and recreational experience that reflects the character of the surrounding area while providing guests with a comfortable place to stay and explore.”

Nassau Bay Resorts LLC acquired the property in 2025. In June, it filed a notice with the Texas Workforce Commission that it would lay off all of its employees on July 31 to facilitate the renovations.

Margaritaville, named after the Jimmy Buffett hit, has expanded the singer’s easygoing vibes into a global empire. The company is also working on a $250 million, 334-room property on Galveston Island.

hotels bay area galveston margaritaville openings