Suite ranking

7 Dallas hotels check in among Texas’ top properties in new Conde Nast Traveler awards

HALL Arts Hotel is one of the best in Texas, according to Conde Nast Traveler readers.

Photo courtesy of Hall Arts

By at least one measure, you can put to rest the debate over which city has the top hotels in Texas. Conde Nast Traveler just named a slew of Dallas hotels among the very best.

On October 5, Conde Nast Traveler released the results of its 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. An impressive seven Dallas-area hotels appear among the top 20 properties in Texas:

Hotel Crescent Court, Dallas, No. 2.
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas, No. 4.
Virgin Hotels Dallas, No. 5.
HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas, No. 6.
Hotel ZaZa Dallas Uptown, No. 7.
Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection, Grapevine, No. 10.
The Joule, Dallas, No. 14.

The publication named the Fairmont Austin the No. 1 hotel in Texas. The 37-story, 1,048-room Fairmont Austin opened in 2018 near the Austin Convention Center in downtown Austin. At the time, the $350 million project was the Fairmont hotel chain’s second-largest property in the world. French hospitality company Accor operates the hotel.

For this year’s Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, the magazine surveyed more than 800,000 readers from April 1 through May 31. Readers rated hotels on these criteria: rooms, service, food, design, location, value, and activities and facilities.

"As the world has begun to reopen, the results reflect the kinds of properties you longed to visit when you couldn’t travel and the ones you returned to first once you could," the magazine says. "While we’re always curious about where you’ve been and where you’re going, we’re especially excited to learn about the truly memorable places that sparked your imagination and stayed with you when your next trip seemed out of reach."

Here’s the full list of the top hotels in Texas:

Fairmont Austin.
Hotel Crescent Court, Dallas.
Archer Hotel Austin.
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas.
Virgin Hotels Dallas.
HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas.
Hotel ZaZa Dallas Uptown.
Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, Austin.
The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston.
Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection, Grapevine.
Hotel ZaZa Austin.
The Stella Hotel, Bryan.
The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, Houston.
The Joule, Dallas.
Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, San Antonio.
Hotel Emma, San Antonio.
Hotel ZaZa Houston Museum District.
Hotel Saint George, Marfa.
Hotel ZaZa Houston Memorial City.
Lone Star Court, a Valencia Hotel, Austin.

vacation rankings hotels

Airport News

McKinney airport signs Avelo Airlines as its first passenger partner

Avelo Airlines

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McKinney National Airport has signed up its first airline to operate commercial flights: According to a release, the Collin County airport has forged an agreement with Avelo Airlines, the low-cost airline based in Houston. Avelo has signed a Use and Lease Agreement, meaning it will fly planes brimming with travelers out of the airport, which is expanding its service to accommodate passenger flights.

Operating under the code TKI, McKinney National Airport has served as a general aviation airport for more than 40 years but is now transitioning to provide commercial air service in support of the area's growing population.

McKinney city and airport leaders are constructing a four-gate terminal building, with the ability to expand to six gates, in support of airline service that is anticipated to launch at TKI in late 2026.

In March 2025, the airport was awarded $30 million by the McKinney Community Development Corporation for construction of the eastside airport infrastructure and passenger terminal. That work has already begun.

Avelo's five-year ULA, which includes an optional five-year extension, establishes the terms and conditions for Avelo and other prospective airlines, including use of:

Runway and taxiways
Aircraft parking and maintenance areas
Non-exclusive areas such as check-in counters, boarding gates, and flight displays
Exclusive areas, including designated office and administrative space

The agreement also sets the rates and charges for a carrier’s operation at TKI, to include a per-passenger use fee and aircraft fuel fees.

McKinney Mayor Bill Cox called the signing of Avelo an "important milestone," and Avelo Airlines founder and CEO Andrew Levy said that the company is excited to be the launch airline at TKI.

"We believe that our everyday low fares, convenient and reliable service, combined with an easy-to-use, small airport, is a combination the residents of McKinney and North Texas will enthusiastically embrace," Levy says. "As a proud Texas company, we are especially excited to plant our flag at TKI, just a few hours north of our home in Houston."

Avelo currently operates one flight out of the DFW area: direct flights from DFW Airport to New Haven, Connecticut, which it offers two times a week at amazingly cheap rates.

Avelo will announce a launch date and the nonstop destinations it will serve from TKI a few months prior to the opening of the commercial terminal. The current plan is to introduce commercial air service in late 2026.

airport