The ‘funnest’ hotel in DFW, the Gaylord Texan

I got to spend a few days at what I would call the ‘funnest’ hotel in DFW, the Gaylord Texan. I know the Great Wolf Lodge is across the road with its waterpark and there are other hotels in the area with pools and other activities, but the Gaylord Texan has so many different activities available for its guests and day visitors.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/dalgt-gaylord-texan-resort-and-convention-center/overview/

On arrival:

On arrival at the entrance to the hotel you are driven up to the large wooden framed entrance archway. The parking rates are $22 for self parking and $42 for valet.

Once inside the large atrium of the hotel is right in front of you past the bar and lounge area, but you have to pop off to the right to check in. About 8 or 9 years ago the Gaylord chain of hotels (there are 5 with number 6 being built) became part of the Marriott group. I worked for the Gaylord for a couple of months over 2 winter seasons and I remember that even as a seasonal worker I was entitled to benefits from Marriott. A nice touch.

Rates were around $330 for a standard room and upwards.

Once you have checked in you might like to walk across the atrium to your room as the rooms form a big circle around the atrium. This is no ordinary atrium, it contains a big fountain, a winding river, a wedding venue, 2 miniature train sets, different games rooms, a kids play area as well as other activities. It is a wonderful space.

Most of the restaurants and stores on the ground level all around the hotel back onto the atrium or have seating areas looking into the atrium. There is an Italian restaurant, a large bar/restaurant, a breakfast/lunch area as well as a fancy steak house. You will find stores selling clothes, mementos, coffee, kids stuff, snacks, and other items.

The hotel also has the Glass Cactus night club available. This is a separate building down by the waterfront. The Gaylord Texan is built on Grapevine Lake, a popular lake for boating and other activities.

Now let us go to the room:

There are only about 8 floors in the hotel, so all the inner rooms have a balcony that faces out onto the atrium. I was on the 6th floor on the side nearest the coffee shop and the big fountain. It is a lovely view of the whole atrium with views over the fountain, restaurant balcony, the river and gardens.

The room is a slightly upgraded hotel room with a table and chair and a relaxing comfy chair.

On entering the room my bathroom was on the right and the cupboard on the left.

The bathroom:

The bathroom has a twin basin and bath. Elegant marble and nice faucets.

The bath has the shower in it. Not as great as a separate walk-in shower but the bath is a nice size.

Really nice Relache Spa toiletries in dispensers on the wall. I enjoyed the good shampoo.

The room:

The assigned cupboard space had an iron and ironing board available.

It is great that the Gaylord rooms have small refrigerators and a safe. I thought safes had become a standard in hotel rooms but I stayed in a Hilton in Boise that didn’t have a safe in the room. More about that in a later review.

Standard coffee maker as well as ice bucket and glasses. Luckily the ice maker was just a few doors down. Great to see ice machines on every floor.

The clock on the desk has all the charging capabilities and the drawers has a Bible and Book of Mormon.

A lovely leather chair with footstool for relaxing and watching television.

A nice little balcony with a great view of the atrium.

Here you can see the fountain on the left in the river, the gardens all over and the restaurant balcony on the right. The center contains the wedding venue and the model railway.

The hallway leading to the rooms has magnificent western themes in keeping with Texas

Let us explore the rest of the hotel:

The shops:

There are a large variety of shops in the hotel. Among them are a coffee shop, sundries store with hotel mementos, adult clothing stores, kids clothing and toy store.

The coffee shop provides various pastries as well as a wide range of coffee drinks. It has a lovely view of the fountain through the door to the balcony as you can see in the picture.

Tastes of Texas gourmet and giftware only has items made in Texas. All sorts of gourmet products and many random collectibles are here.

Lone Star Sundry has toiletries, sweets, chips, dairy products, snacks, t-shirts and many other items available.

Kids Korral is a wonderful place for kids to shop. There are all sorts of games and toys available as well as various items of clothing.

Adventure Kids Clubhouse is mainly an artistic areas where children can paint and draw and stuff.

At Willow Creek you can deck yourself out in every item of western wear that you need. Hats, buckles, neckties, the lot.

Facilities for residents:

The Gaylord is known for the big convention center halls. They are used for all sorts of conventions and expos and even for the ICE spectacular that is put on at the end of the year.

Full business services are available.

The Riverwalk which leads down to a restaurant, spa and fitness center.

The entrance to the Relache Spa which is next to the Fitness Center.

This Fitness Center has many machines available for use.

The fair sized pool between the hotel and the convention center.

There is also a waterpark with slides which is open for most of the warmer months of the year.

There are many areas inside the atrium that you can stroll around, mostly based on the flowing river. Below is the windmill which is the origination of the river.

The big fountain has the wedding venue on the left and the coffee shop on the right. It sprays really high up to about the 5th floor.

As I mentioned the Glass Cactus is a nightclub that can be rented out or will be open to the public. It is right down on the banks of the lake.

Overall impressions:

The Gaylord Texan, as well as the other Gaylord Hotels, are wonderful places to spend a few days. There are many activities to keep you as well as your kids happy. Each hotel in Nashville, Miami, Denver and Washington DC are slightly different so you will enjoy each one in a different way.

Overall I would rate this hotel as highly recommended.