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New $18 million AC Hotel by Marriott to land near DFW Airport

New AC by Marriott, scheduled for landing in Grapevine in 2027.

Photo courtesy of Marriott

A new five-story, 200-room AC Hotel by Marriott is set to open in 2027 in Grapevine, not far from both DFW Airport and the city's touristy Main Street.

Construction is to get underway in March on the $18 million, nearly 122,000-square-foot upscale hotel, located at 1701 State Hwy. 26 at Bass Pro Court, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The AC Hotel will feature a ballroom, meeting rooms, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a full-service restaurant and bar, and an owners club.

Grapevine-based Type Six Design and Development Services is the architect for the project.

More than 250 AC Hotel properties are located in 33 countries, including five Dallas-Fort Worth locations. Two of the local hotels are in Dallas, with one each in Fort Worth, Frisco, and McKinney.

Hotels close to the AC Hotel site in Grapevine include Hilton, Comfort Suites, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Residence Inn by Marriott, and TownePlace Suites by Marriott. Also nearby are Marriott’s Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, the Grapevine Mills outlet center, a Bass Pro Shops sporting goods store, and LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth.

Both DFW Airport and Grapevine's Historic Main Street (which gets particularly busy around the holidays in the "Christmas Capital of Texas") are just three miles away.

The AC Hotels chain targets business travelers and solo travelers as guests, particularly millennials.

Marriott says that at AC Hotel properties, “every moment has been designed, refined, crafted, and considered to create a seamless guest experience. Each AC Hotel features purposefully designed signature spaces that strike the perfect balance of form and function.”

Marriott debuted the AC Hotel brand in North America in 2014. The concept started in Spain in 1998.

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go rural

This tiny Texas town is one of Airbnb's top 'off-the-map' destinations

Matador, Texas, Airbnb, best rural destinations

Photo courtesy of Airbnb

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More Texas travelers are shying away from tourist traps for their vacations and instead embracing the calming roadside with increasing interest in rural areas of the state, according to Airbnb, and one tiny Texas city in the Panhandle is generating buzz atop a brand-new list of under-the-radar rural destinations in America.

The vacation rental marketplace's inaugural "Off-the-Map" list features 20 rural destinations across the country where short-term rentals are bringing in "new opportunities for local tourism."

"From coastal fishing villages to Cajun bayou towns and alpine mountain escapes, America Off-the-Map invites travelers to discover something new and helps support local economies and communities across the country," the report said.

Matador, a small town about 80 miles northeast of Lubbock and 290 miles from Dallas, was named the No. 1 hidden gem vacation destination in Texas. The report described Matador as a part of Texas that tourists "haven’t found" yet, which is what makes it all the more rewarding as an undiscovered treasure.

"Welcome to the seat of Motley County – where the wind is constant, the skies are enormous, and the history is deeper than the caprock beneath your boots," the report said.

Visitors can explore the Motley County Historical Museum, which explores the building's history as the Traweek Hospital that was originally built nearly a century ago. The museum also sheds light on Native American history, the life of ranchers, and other historical facts about the town and county.

Local restaurants like Chelle's Garden or TC's Ponderosa in nearby Dickens are good spots for travelers to eat like a local, while the Coffee Mill and Mercantile in Quitaque is the place to be for breakfast, lunch, and a cup of joe.

Matador is also less than an hour away from the newly expanded Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, a popular Texas state park known for its roaming bison herd and bat colony.

According to Airbnb's website, there are over 130 short-term rentals in Matador and the surrounding Motley County area, with some homes available for $172 for an overnight stay in April 2026.

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