The Statler
This trip was hosted by Visit Dallas.
A 1956 mid-century landmark brought back to life, with a rooftop bar and a speakeasy under the lobby. The right hotel after a sold-out show.
We stayed at The Statler on April 1 for my Dallas show at the Addison Improv. The show sold out. The room was electric. The Statler matched the energy of that night perfectly. By this point in the tour I was exhausted, but I was also, for the first time in my life, starting to feel like a celebrity. I mean that more quietly than it sounds. The hotel held the moment well. It felt like a property that understood what we were walking in with and knew how to give us a soft landing. Visit Dallas made it happen, and we landed in the kind of property that makes you take the long way through the lobby on purpose. The Statler opened on January 18, 1956 as The Statler Hilton, cost $16 million to build, and was the largest hotel in the Southwest at the time. It was the first American hotel to feature elevator music, one of the first to install televisions in every guestroom, and hosted everybody who was anybody through the 1960s and 1970s. The hotel closed in 2001 and sat empty for 16 years. Then a $255 million restoration brought it back in 2017 as The Statler Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton. What is there now is one of the most beautiful mid-century hotel restorations in America.
Dallas History, Reborn
Terrazzo floors restored. Original brass and walnut detailing preserved. Mid-century light fixtures refinished rather than replaced. The lobby alone is worth a walk-through even if you are not staying. 159 guest rooms on floors 1 through 5, 219 residences on the upper floors, and a rooftop that looks out over downtown Dallas in every direction. The building is across from Main Street Garden Park and a block from the Dallas Farmers Market. If you are a design nerd or a history person, book two nights and do nothing but walk the halls.
Why this one sticks
The restoration turned the 1956 bones into a working hotel and kept what was worth keeping. 70 years of Dallas, still in the place.
The Property
Photos via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Three Reasons to Stay In
Waterproof is the 19th-floor rooftop pool and bar, with cabanas, couches, and the best skyline view in downtown Dallas. Go for sunset and stay through the first round of city lights. Bourbon & Banter is the speakeasy tucked under the lobby. Low ceilings, leather banquettes, one of the best bourbon lists in Texas, and a drink program that rewards you for asking the bartender to choose for you. It has been named one of America's most historic bars. Overeasy is the retro diner on the ground floor with an all-day menu, a great biscuit, and a counter that is the right place to eat breakfast alone with coffee the morning of a show. R&B, the hotel's late-night ramen-and-bao spot, closes the loop if you come back hungry at midnight.
What to Do Near The Statler
Eat & Drink
Visit Dallas sent us here for dinner on show night. Incredible Italian. It is its own guide on my Travel page.
One of the best brisket experiences in Texas. Get there early or order online.
The dot on Dallas. Go up for sunset and get the city.
See
24,000 works across cultures. Easy afternoon.
DMA, Nasher Sculpture Center, Winspear Opera. Walk it.
Whatever you think it is, it is more than that. Plan 90 minutes.
A Perfect 24 Hours From The Statler
The Statler has in-room dining and the whole thing sits in the middle of downtown Dallas. You can do an entire day without a car.
Morning
Order coffee, fresh-squeezed juice, and the biscuit breakfast from Overeasy. Eat it at the room's desk with the curtains pulled wide. The Statler's guest rooms were designed to have a moment of quiet in them. Take advantage.
The JFK exhibit at the site of the assassination. Give it the full 90 minutes. Walk back to the hotel through downtown. You will pass the Flying Red Pegasus, the Old Red Museum, and Main Street Garden on the way.
Midday
Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue. Brisket, sausage, ribs, the works. Go early if you can, get there by 11:30 to beat the line. American Airlines now serves their brisket on first-class flights out of DFW, which tells you everything.
One of the best mural districts in the country. Walk Commerce and Main, pop into a record shop, find a mural for the camera roll. Street musicians play through the afternoons.
Twenty-four thousand works across cultures. Free entry. Open late on Thursdays. Spend 90 minutes and walk out with one piece you cannot stop thinking about.
Afternoon
Back at the hotel. Head up to the 19th floor to Waterproof. Order the Waterproof Old Fashioned. Stay through sunset.
Evening
La Stella Cucina Verace. See the full guide on this site. The single best meal we had on the Texas tour. Reserve the chef's counter if you can.
Back at the hotel. Take the stairs down to the speakeasy under the lobby. Let the bartender pick for you.
If you come back hungry, R&B pours the ramen and bao late. A proper Dallas nightcap.
Plan Your Stay
The Statler sits at 1914 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.