Hotel at a Glance: Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West

On the banks of the Elm Fork Trinity River, the Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West provides easy access to Dallas’s trails and parks, as well as to the vibrant Las Colinas business district. A quick six-minute drive west will bring you to T. W. Richardson Grove where you can hop on the paved Campion Trail, which stretches for 13 miles along the riverfront. Back at the hotel, rooms act as a comfortable home base for exploring with WiFi access and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the city.

• Beat the heat with a trip to the outdoor heated pool.
• Organic breakfasts with cereal, pastries, and more is served at Dover’s Grille each morning; enjoy comfort food at lunch and dinner.
• For wine lovers: Wine Thief offers more than 20 premium wines by the glass, plus a daily sommelier’s selection and small plates for snacking.
• Peet’s Coffee is served at Morsel’s coffee shop.
• Work up a sweat in the 24-hour fitness center or relax in the dry sauna.

Northwestern Dallas: A Stone’s Throw from the Upscale Las Colinas Area

Neighboring Dallas’ northwestern border, the upscale Las Colinas community in Irving centers on the waterways of Lake Carolyn and the Mandalay Canal, where visitors can rent paddleboats and take romantic gondola rides. Beyond those tranquil waters, Williams Square plaza houses artist Robert Glen’s acclaimed Mustangs of Las Colinas installation, considered the largest equestrian sculptures in the world—there’s even an entire museum about the construction of the horses in East Tower. Come Monday morning, Las Colinas goes to work at more than 2,000 companies, including Fortune 500 firms such as ExxonMobil, Commercial Metals Company, and Kimberly-Clark.

The area is served by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and is only a 13 mile drive to downtown, which makes getting back and forth from the city a snap. Though some know Dallas only for the massive AT&T Stadium (which is actually in Arlington), the city is also an enclave of arts and nature, overflowing with botanical gardens, art galleries, and live theater. Historic Main Street connects many of the city’s recently rejuvenated urban districts, as well as the popular Main Street Garden, a block-long public park surrounded by architecturally significant buildings. Locals come here to picnic on the expansive lawn or watch a movie under the moonlight in the summer and fall. Nearby, the 277-acre Fair Park is the location of North America’s largest Ferris wheel and seven museums and four performing-arts centers, many of which are inside art-deco buildings built for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.