Suite ranking

Grapevine hotel uncorks ranking as No. 10 in Texas in new Conde Nast Traveler awards

Hotel Vin is one of the best in Texas, according to Conde Nast Traveler readers.

Photo courtesy of Hotel Vin

By at least one measure, Grapevine is home to a top-10 hotel in Texas. Conde Nast Traveler just named Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection among the very best.

On October 5, Conde Nast Traveler released the results of its 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. The Hotel Vin — a wine-themed hotel along Grapevine's buzzy Main Street — comes in at No. 10 among the top 20 properties in Texas.

The list includes an impressive seven Dallas-Fort Worth hotels, but Hotel Vin deserves a toast as the only one outside of Dallas proper to make the cut. Having just debuted in fall 2020, Hotel Vin is also among the newest hotels to appear on this year's list.

The DFW hotels appearing among the top 20 properties in Texas are:

Hotel Crescent Court, Dallas, No. 2.
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas, No. 4.
Virgin Hotels Dallas, No. 5.
HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas, No. 6.
Hotel ZaZa Dallas Uptown, No. 7.
Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection, Grapevine, No. 10.
The Joule, Dallas, No. 14.

The publication named the Fairmont Austin the No. 1 hotel in Texas. The 37-story, 1,048-room Fairmont Austin opened in 2018 near the Austin Convention Center in downtown Austin. At the time, the $350 million project was the Fairmont hotel chain’s second-largest property in the world. French hospitality company Accor operates the hotel.

For this year’s Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, the magazine surveyed more than 800,000 readers from April 1 through May 31. Readers rated hotels on these criteria: rooms, service, food, design, location, value, and activities and facilities.

"As the world has begun to reopen, the results reflect the kinds of properties you longed to visit when you couldn’t travel and the ones you returned to first once you could," the magazine says. "While we’re always curious about where you’ve been and where you’re going, we’re especially excited to learn about the truly memorable places that sparked your imagination and stayed with you when your next trip seemed out of reach."

Part of the new, $114 million Grapevine Main development, the 120-room Hotel Vin nods to the city's history as a wine-producing region. From design flourishes to an exclusive glassware program, the luxury hotel's wine motif is carried through in refined ways reminiscent of a high-end Napa Valley resort.

The hotel houses three distinct eateries: the premier Bacchus Kitchen + Bar, the tapas-style Rioja Rooftop Terrace, and the Harvest Hall food hall. Last winter, they introduced fun little "igloos" on their rooftop that let patrons hang outside in a weatherproof environment; the trendy bubbles were a hot attraction, even among non-hotel guests.

Here’s the full list of the top hotels in Texas:

Fairmont Austin.
Hotel Crescent Court, Dallas.
Archer Hotel Austin.
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas.
Virgin Hotels Dallas.
HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas.
Hotel ZaZa Dallas Uptown.
Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, Austin.
The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston.
Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection, Grapevine.
Hotel ZaZa Austin.
The Stella Hotel, Bryan.
The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, Houston.
The Joule, Dallas.
Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, San Antonio.
Hotel Emma, San Antonio.
Hotel ZaZa Houston Museum District.
Hotel Saint George, Marfa.
Hotel ZaZa Houston Memorial City.
Lone Star Court, a Valencia Hotel, Austin.

vacation rankings hotels

Airline News

American Airlines launches new gate program to foil early boarders

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

undefined

Fort Worth-based American Airlines has launched a new system to catch passengers who try to sneak ahead in line.

According to a release, the airline is deploying a program in which technology is used to deter passengers who try to board before their official boarding group has been called.

Passengers who try to board early will not only hear a beep when they scan their boarding pass, but a tattletale message will pop up on the scanner, alerting the American Airlines employee of the passenger's correct group.

The airline trialed this modern technology over the past month at Albuquerque International Sunport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and Tucson International Airport. It will now be deployed at more than 100 airports across the U.S.

If a customer boards before their assigned group is called, the new software will not accept the boarding pass and instead makes an audible sound to alert the gate agent and customer that the group has not yet been called. In these instances, the American team member will invite the customer to rejoin the line when their boarding group is called.

According to a story in the NY Post, airline employees have a name for these people: “gate lice."

A statement from American Airlines says that those passengers who are paying for early access should get their just desserts. People who are paying extra are mad when others get the same benefits.

"The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease," it says.

Surely a factor is the way American Airlines' current boarding system has become an exercise in the haves vs. the have-nots, with nine levels of boarding groups, from elite status members and credit card holders all the way down to the Basic Economy nobodies. It's gotten worse since the pandemic, with extra charges applied to every element of flying, including a charge if you want to choose your own seat.

As an explanation of why people might do it, the NY Post cites a theory that travelers try to get ahead "out of a tendency of conformity and a sense of competition."

Public shaming is a powerful motivator, and Larry David fans would surely agree that line-cutters should always be called out — but in this case, there is an actual valid reason for trying to get a jump in line, and that can be summed up in two words: overhead bins.

Too many travelers place their luggage in overhead bins that are not located over their seats. Who has not seen the guy breezily stash his suitcase in whatever bin is closest? And this is an inequity that is not addressed by flight attendants, who admittedly have enough on their hands.

But the fact remains that if you get on the plane when your boarding group boards, the odds are slimmer that your designated overhead bin is going to have room for your suitcase.

If the airline is not going to enforce the overhead bin situation, then it's hardly fair to blame gate lice for worrying about where their suitcase is going to end up — or worse, whether they'll face the horror of having to get their bag checked at the last minute because some other passenger stole their overhead space.

airport

Suite ranking

Grapevine hotel uncorks ranking as No. 10 in Texas in new Conde Nast Traveler awards

Airline News

American Airlines launches new gate program to foil early boarders

4 Fort Worth restaurants earn awards from new Michelin Guide

New Fort Worth restaurant HG Sply Co. catches fire days after it opens

Fort Worth restaurants open on Thanksgiving 2024 for holiday dining