Get Your Money’s Worth at these Historic Texas Bank Hotels
October 6, 2023 | By Cynthia J. Drake
If some of Texas’ historic bank-turned-hotel walls could talk, they would tell stories of wealth and loss.
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A Former 1920s Schoolhouse Offers Chic Accommodations Near the San Marcos River
November 27, 2019 | By Jen Hamilton Hernandez
Slither Into the Outback Oasis Motel for a Lesson in the Snakes of West Texas
August 29, 2019 | By Asher Elbein
The hills outside of Sanderson teem with snakes: long-nosed snakes with rusty stripes; rock rattlers and diamondbacks; tiny, cat-eyed nightsnakes; and coachwhips like swift red racers. Walk the right roadside bluff at the right time, and you might see the most sought-after prize of all: the gray-banded kingsnake. The West Texas town is a treasure trove of desert reptiles, and the Outback Oasis Motel holds many of its finest jewels.
Spend the Night in One of These 4 Converted Train Cars
July 31, 2019 | By Liz Lewis
While the glamour of overnight train travel hasn’t quite been the same since its heyday in the early 20th century, you can still get a taste of the experience. A handful of hosts across the state offer vintage rail-car lodgings outfitted with modern amenities that range from quiet countryside retreats to quirky city digs—but all offer a window into the history of the state’s railways.
Say Hi to the Llamas When You Stay at This Historic Blanco River Ranch
March 28, 2019 | By Wes Ferguson
Despite the newness in the name, time seems to stand still at New Tracks, which is how David and Shyrle prefer it. “I often wish I had grown up in the 1800s,” says 85-year-old David, who remembers riding into the small town of Kyle as a child and finding dirt streets and hitching racks for horses in front of the general stores.
Relive Dallas’ Glamorous Past at Three Newly Renovated Classic Hotels
December 19, 2018 | By June Naylor
Stories of Dallas’ glamorous past unfold at three classic hotels where recent, significant updates make them as relevant as some of their much younger and flashier counterparts. To spend time exploring The Adolphus, The Stoneleigh, and The Statler is to appreciate the ways old becomes new again and to understand how these vintage jewels first shaped the Big D into an enjoyable place to visit.
Need to Recenter? Try the Silent Treatment
October 29, 2018 | By
In an attempt to quiet my mind and turn my attention inward, I’d come to the small town of Windom, an hour and a half northeast of Dallas, for a 36-hour silent retreat. Over a dinner of white rice, lentil curry, and homemade
yogurt, my fellow retreaters at the Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat Center, a Jain ashram, smiled knowingly as I folded my handwritten greeting into a square and tucked it into my pocket. “Oh, I did that for half a day once,” said Carmen, a 37-year-old mom from Saskatchewan, Canada, a devotee who’d come to the ashram to help out with a kids’ camp the following week. “It’s so hard if you’re a chatter like me.”
What’s Better Than a Hotel with a Bar? A Hotel with Two Bars and a Bookstore
August 27, 2018 | By Clayton Maxwell
With two bars, a restaurant, and a bookstore, the Hotel Saint George has become a cultural and community hub of Marfa.
He likes to sit and drink and think.” That’s what one of Donald Judd’s interns told me about the New York artist, pioneer, and patron saint of Marfa’s contemporary art scene. We were standing by the bonfire, bagpipe song rolling over the Chihuahuan Desert. It was late winter in ’93, the year before Judd passed away, and I was a guest at one of the bonfires Judd regularly hosted at his Marfa art compound, The Chinati Foundation. He’d flown bagpipers in from Scotland; the burly, jolly Scotsmen in full kilt made a surreal contrast against the wide skies and pale grasses of this West Texas landscape. Even more surreal for me is the memory of Judd telling me why he likes bagpipes: They are, he said, the music that least reminds him of human voices.
Find Museum-Quality Art in These 8 Texas Hotels
August 22, 2018 | By
We’ve rounded up eight hotels across Texas where cultural enlightenment is a bonus amenity, and the hospitality extends beyond spas and room service. Best of all, most of these works are on display for everyone, whether staying the night or popping in for a look around.
The Inn at Lake Granbury Offers a Tranquil Waterfront Getaway
July 23, 2018 | By June Naylor
When Jim Leitch and his wife, Cathy Casey, opened the Inn on Lake Granbury in 2005, they couldn’t predict their new business would dovetail with the fresh energy now infusing Granbury.
The La Paz Bed and Breakfast in East Texas Makes for a Peaceful Getaway on the Angelina River
June 26, 2018 | By Kimya Kavehkar
Paul Smith, co-owner of La Paz Bed and Breakfast in Jasper, turns his pontoon boat off the main stretch of the Angelina River, where his inn is stationed, into an offshoot called Ward’s Branch.
The Woodbine Hotel in Madisonville Dishes up a Bountiful Buffet Along with a Heaping Helping of History
April 25, 2018 | By Susan L. Ebert
Approaching Madisonville’s courthouse square, I’m not surprised that traffic ebbs to a crawl. After all, this East Texas town, population 4,636, loves to throw a party.
