Pool News

7 cool new Dallas-Fort Worth pools and water features for summer 2024

The Ritz-Carlton pool is open to hotel guests only.

Ritz-Carlton

Dallas has a pretty skyline, two bustling airports, scads of restaurants, and the Grassy Knoll. But one thing it does not have is a swimmable body of water. (Sorry, White Rock Lake.)

Maybe that's why DFW is such a prime target for water-based venues.

We go crazy for water parks, lagoons, and those splash pad-style water fountains like the one at Klyde Warren Park where jets of water shoot up from the sidewalk. No hotel in its right mind opens without a pool (luckily, some open to the public with a daily pass, and passes for many local hotels can be found on ResortPass).

Here are seven places across Dallas and Fort Worth offering new ways to take a dip in 2024, plus a big kahuna opening later this summer:

Bowie House - 3700 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
Auberge Resorts Collection hotel which opened in December just debuted Whinny's, the restaurant on its tree-lined pool terrace with snacks, salads, ice cream sandwiches, and frozen drinks. The menu features a creative Mediterranean-styled array of mezes and mains including Wagyu sirloin steak, crispy halloumi cheese, and desserts such as a baklava sundae, plus cocktails, both frozen and the-rocks. It's open from 11 am-7 pm to both hotel guests plus the public, via $100-per-day "Wellness" passes, available Monday-Thursday, that allow non-hotel-guests access to the pool, steam room, and sauna. Call 855-683-4092.

Bowie House pool Pool at Bowie HouseBowie House

Le Méridien Dallas, The Stoneleigh - 2927 Maple Ave., Dallas
Le Meridien has reopened its pool for the summer season with a gimmicky new addition: Mermaid Victoria, a costumed mermaid offering the opportunity for Instagram-worthy moments. She'll be at The Stoneleigh pool on the following Sundays, from 12:30-1:30 pm: June 16 and 30; July 7 and 28; August 18; and September 1. The pool is open to the public with day passes that range from $25 on a weekday to $350 for a cabana for six. For access to the mermaid experience and pool space, reserve your Resort Pass online.

mermaid Le Meridien Le Meridien mermaidLe Meridien

Loews Arlington Hotel - 888 Nolan Ryan Expwy., Arlington
This 21-story resort opened in Februrary 2024 with 888 rooms, five restaurants & lounges, and a serious pool offering, open to hotel guests only. It includes two pools, a "a man-made sandy beach," cabanas, fire pits, splash pad, and a water slide. It's the newest Loews property in Arlington, joining its smaller sibling Live! By Loews which opened in 2019. Live! has an infinity pool but guests can get access to Loews Arlington's more glorious pool complex via skybridge. Since it's not open to the public, you'll need to book a night at the hotel; rates start at $265.

North Texas Jellystone Park Camp-Resort - 2301 S Burleson Blvd., Burleson
Camping facility is part of the Warner Brothers Yogi Bears national chain and the Burleson location was recently selected once again as one of the top campgrounds in the U.S. by USA Today. They just debuted two new pools, one indoor and one outdoor. The indoor pool is 40x70 feet, but the outdoor pool is a behemoth: 100x200 feet, nearly twice the size of an Olympic-size pool. It's a "zero-entry" pool, meaning it has a sloping entrance, and is 3.5 feet deep, with a swim-up smoothie bar. Day passes are $22 during the summer. Tent camping starts at $65 a night, and cabins start at $191 per night.

Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas - 4150 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving
Former Four Seasons in Las Colinas re-opened as a Ritz-Carlton, following a $55 million-dollar renovation that included a transformed resort pool experience that opened on May 23. The picturesque pool that flows through the resort is basically the same pool that flowed through the property when it was the Four Seasons; however, they've added lush greenery, lush enough to earn status as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, plus private cabanas, expanded pool deck seating, umbrella-shaded daybeds, and poolside food & beverage service. The pool experience is not open to the public; room rates start at $450 a night.

Girl floating in poolCourtesy photo

Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown - 1701 Commerce St., Fort Worth
This 403-room hotel recently got a $500 million upgrade that includes upgraded rooms and event spaces, plus a 200-seat restaurant — with design and amenities that reflect Sheraton’s new signature experience being implemented worldwide. The upgrade extended to their indoor swimming pool, which got a new pool system, better lighting, new furniture, and new bathrooms. It's not open to the public, but if you really gotta see every new pool, rates start at $185 a night.

Waco Surf - 5347 Old Mexia Rd., Waco
One of the largest inland surfing and aquatic sports facilities in the U.S., Waco Surf opened in its current form in 2022, with a pool, slides, a beach, a lazy river, and a 2-plus acre lagoon with manufactured waves that draws surfers from around the world. They just opened for summer 2024 on May 11 with a new feature dubbed "The Keg": a barrel wave boasting an extra-long "tube section" (when the water rolls into a curve that allows surfers to extend the length of their ride). Afternoon passes start at $19 for a basic beach pass, while beginner surf lessons begin at $139. Book online.

COMING SOON

WorldSprings - 3240 Plano Pkwy., The Colony - opening summer 2024
First outdoor mineral hot springs and spa experience of its kind in Texas and the largest in the U.S. (preceded only by its sister location, Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs, Colorado) is coming to The Colony this summer. Spread over 10 acres in Grandscape, WorldSprings Dallas is inspired by nature’s spas and the curative effects of mineral-rich water. Year-round, guests will be able to explore 46 outdoor soaking pools, including cold-plunge pools, Finnish saunas, a spa, an eatery and bar, and more. Current ETA is June.

You're Grounded

American and Southwest airlines ban humanoid robots as passengers

Photo courtesy of Elite Event Robotics/Instagram

Bebop the robot, owned by Dallas-based Elite Event Robotics, flew in May on a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland, California, to San Diego.

Dallas-Fort Worth's two major hometown airlines are drawing a hard line between human and humanoid: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines won’t permit human-like or animal-like robots to board flights as passengers.

Fort Worth-based American and Dallas-based Southwest recently adopted bans on robotic passengers after two incidents in which human-like robots joined flesh-and-blood passengers on Southwest flights.

In May, Aaron Mehdizadeh, owner of The Robot Studio rental company in Dallas, was heading from Las Vegas to Dallas Love Field with 3.5-foot-tall Stewie, according to CBS News Texas. Rather than shipping Stewie as cargo, Mehdizadeh bought the robot its own seat using a type of ticket often purchased for fragile items such as wedding dresses and equipment.

But because Stewie was technically a carry-on item, the robot wasn’t supposed to occupy a seat, according to eWeek. Crew members wound up disconnecting Stewie’s battery and relocating the robot to a window seat before takeoff.

Mehdizadeh pushed back on Southwest’s stance regarding the battery, telling CBS News Texas that Stewie’s power supply is a standard battery that’s similar to one for a laptop.

Stewie isn’t the only robot making mischief in the skies. In May, a 70-pound, human-like robot named Bebop caused a stir on a Southwest flight from Oakland, California, to San Diego.

The robot prompted a nearly one-hour flight delay after crew members realized it violated restrictions on large carry-ons and raised concerns about the battery, San Francisco TV station KGO reported. Dallas-based Elite Event Robotics owns Bebop.

Southwest seized Bebop’s lithium-ion battery, but the airline did let Bebop take the San Diego-bound flight.

Southwest’s new robot policy prohibits human-like or animal-like robots from riding in an airplane cabin or as checked baggage, no matter their size or purpose. All other robots, including toys, must fit in a carry-on size bag and comply with battery restrictions, the airline says.

In a statement sent to CultureMap, a Southwest spokeswoman says the airline “has taken a strong stance on this issue and has led the U.S. airline industry with our battery policy.”

“The robot policy is a further evolution of a [safety] journey we have been on for several months. This move was not in response to any single incident,” the spokeswoman adds. “To eliminate confusion, the policy applies to all similar devices, regardless of size.”

Lithium-ion batteries can overheat, catch on fire, or explode on airplanes.

American’s new robot policy, which took effect Monday, August 17, is similar to Southwest’s. The policy prohibits human-like and animal-like robots from sitting in a purchased seat, being stored in an overhead bin or traveling as checked baggage. The ban applies to U.S., international, and regional flights.

“While there have been no known events involving this type of robot on any American flight, this policy was developed following a comprehensive review of safety risks associated with these devices, including the large lithium-ion batteries that power them,” the airline said in an internal memo obtained by the View From the Wing travel blog.

American gate agents have been told not to allow a passenger accompanied by a robot to board a plane or to let a robot travel as a checked item, the memo says.

If a robot is discovered after check-in, American employees are supposed to follow the Federal Aviation Administration’s “undeclared dangerous goods” procedures. These procedures cover hazardous shipments like lithium-ion batteries, explosives, flammable liquids, and compressed gases that lack required warning labels or shipping documents.

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