Hôtel Swexan Is Dallas’s Most Thrilling New Lodge in Years

Hôtel Swexan in Dallas was certainly one of our most anticipated Texas resort openings this 12 months. The wait is over, because the property debuted in mid-June within the Hardwood District. The rising and more and more fascinating neighborhood adjoining to downtown has change into one of many metropolis’s greatest locations to eat and drink — and now to spend the night time.

The Swexan title is a portmanteau nodding to the Harwood Worldwide founders’ Swiss-Texan heritage. The Europe-meets-Texas sensibilities are noticeable all through the property, which blends old-world luxurious with native accents. Curious to see if the previous 12 months’s hype was warranted, I swung by way of not too long ago for an in a single day keep.

On the Property

Hôtel Swexan inhabits a 22-story mirrored tower and is the third Hardwood District constructing designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. He was named certainly one of Time Journal’s Most Influential Folks of 2021, and his work contains the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo and the Louis Vuitton Japan Group headquarters in Osaka. That’s a reasonably good pedigree. Inside, structure and furnishings pay homage to grand European cities, with intricate tilework, pure stones and woods, dramatic draperies and 16 vintage hearth mantels relationship again to the 1800s and 1900s. There’s quite a bit to soak up, so it’s value exploring your environs.

A correct self-guided tour ought to embody stops on the subterranean first ground, the rooftop and several other locations between. There are bars and eating places on the decrease degree, the foyer degree, the seventh ground and the rooftop. The eighth ground has a spacious and fashionable fitness center, with loads of weights, bikes and treadmills, plus top-notch views and a big outside patio, the place you’ll be able to partake in yoga, boot camps and different outside actions. There are additionally moist and dry saunas and a chilly plunge. Up high, the rooftop pool has 180-degree views of the Dallas skyline, palm timber, loungers, cabanas and a bar. On the Saturday afternoon of my go to, a shirtless DJ spun tracks and saved the vitality excessive, however not so excessive that you just couldn’t simply speak to your accomplices. 

Contained in the Rooms

There are 134 visitor rooms, together with eight uniquely designed suites, and rooms vary from a cushty 350 sq. ft to an extra-comfortable 1,500 sq. ft. I stayed in a Nook King, with two partitions of floor-to-ceiling home windows looking over the town. There’s a good-looking desk if it’s good to get some work carried out, plus a small seating space with a desk and two chairs. Loos fluctuate throughout ground plans, however my rest room was large, with two sinks, a soaking tub and a bathe that might fairly match six individuals.

The pass-through bar has a Nespresso machine, loads of snacks, a mini fridge stocked with drinks and a better-than-usual assortment of wines and liquors. So, whereas there’s a lot to drink on property grounds, you don’t have to depart the room for a pre-dinner drink or a nightcap. 

On the Menu

Working from the underside to the highest, your choices start with Babou’s. This subterranean bar continues to be making use of some ending touches, however it opens Aug. 10 and acts as a secluded spot to sip cocktails and really feel fancy. Isabelle’s is on the foyer degree. It serves a cafe-style breakfast and lunch, plus afternoon tea, and at night time it turns right into a martini bar. It’s a sensible choice for preprandial drinks earlier than heading as much as Stillwell’s on the seventh ground. The steakhouse is darkish and moody, with wood-panel partitions lined with framed images, darkish inexperienced banquettes framed by heavy matching drapes and a small bar set in an adjoining room. The menu leans exhausting into steaks and options HWD Beef, its personal bloodline of Akaushi cattle raised particularly for the restaurant by way of a partnership with an area ranch. You will discover strips, ribeyes and filets, plus non-steaks, like a terrific shrimp cocktail, shellfish towers, salads, black cod, scallops and roasted hen. 

On the highest ground, there’s Pomelo, the poolside bar serving beers, cocktails and snacks. And there’s Léonie, a reasonably, sunlit house with tile flooring, big home windows and hanging crops. It serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, with dishes starting from pastries and eggs within the morning to salads, sandwiches and burgers in the course of the day and pastas, fish and steaks within the night. Léonie, similar to the pool and Pomelo, is just for company, so for those who’re staying on website you received’t should struggle with the general public for a desk. 

From basement bar to rooftop pool, Hôtel Swexan provides quite a bit to love. The aesthetic is Instagram-approved, and the rooms and customary areas are a critical improve over the staid designs plaguing lots of downtown’s chain accommodations. It’s not the one boutique on the town, however its charms warrant a go to, whether or not you’re spending the night time or simply stopping in for a martini and a steak.