It is no secret that our favorite way to kick off the summer is doing a Dallas staycation. It’s a really fun way to celebrate the girls finishing another year of school. It also sets our summer off on the right foot. This summer we had the joy of partnering with the Sheraton Dallas Hotel for our summer staycation. They just completed a massive renovation and we hoped that through our partnership, we would be able to share that with you. We also love sharing with you our favorite family-friendly hotels for staycations.
If you’re not from Dallas or you’re not familiar with the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, it is the largest hotel in North Texas with 1,840 guest rooms and 230,000 square feet. Because of it’s location near the DART Pearl/Arts District station, it’s a central location for meeting people. In Dallas-speak, the Sheraton is located in waling distance from Deep Ellum, the Dallas Farmer’s Market, and several Dallas attractions like Klyde Warren Park.
When we do a staycation we typically pick hotels that are walkable to many things. We love exploring with our girls and walk to as much as we can! It’s so fun to see the girls start to learn new areas of Dallas. This time we let the girls navigate to our destinations. We would tell them where we were headed (a park for example), and then let them lead the way. It was so cool to watch them embrace their autonomy.
Okay, back to our stay! We hadn’t personally been to the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in so long, so we weren’t sure what to expect in regards to the renovation. Y’all, we were truly blown away! The lobby, restaurant, and grab’n’go market were chic and modern and the rooms were just the same (see pictures below). What blew us away the most though was the customer service.
You guys know by now that customer service is the #1 thing in my book. It makes or breaks a business. The Sheraton Dallas knocked this area out of the park. Every employee we interacted with greeted us with a smile and was more than accommodating. They were especially good with our kids!
Our Staycation Itinerary:
FRIDAY:
- Check-in: Abby and I had the opportunity to arrive slightly ahead of Emma and Travis, so we got to enjoy a little mommy-and-me time. Our check-in was super easy and we were to our room in no time. Our room was truly incredible and Abby thought she had died and gone to heaven. We kept saying how perfect the presidential suite would be for a wedding party to have as home base.
- Pool Time: Once Abby and I had unpacked our things, we explored the hotel a bit and ended up at the pool. Their rooftop pool has a great view of a nearby park and is the perfect size for kids.
- Happy Hour/Dinner at Open Palette: Open Palette is the hotel’s signature restaurant and bar. It offers modern American cuisine with a bold spin on flavors, and y’all, their drinks are crazy good and crazy fun! We tried several and our favorite was the Red Currant. Their bar tender was so fun and even taught us a couple things about drink presentation. For example, the coolest thing we learned was if you are garnishing your drink with rosemary, to light it on fire briefly so that every time you take a sip of your cocktail you inhale a smokey aroma. It was genius!
- Friday Night In: With the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs, we decided to hang out in our room Friday night to cheer our Mavs on. The girls got bored pretty quickly, so they opted for a Bluey marathon in their room!
SATURDAY:
As life would have it, our girls had a swim meet bright and early on Saturday morning. So, we snuck away for a couple hours Saturday morning to watch our girls swim their first ever swim meet. Once they were finished, we headed back downtown to the Sheraton Hotel for a day jam-packed with fun!
- Lunch in Deep Ellum: As I mentioned before, when we do staycations with our girls, we love to go exploring! So, we walked from the Sheraton to Deep Ellum – an easy walk – and had lunch at Twisted Root. Then we walked over to Jeni’s to get the girls ice cream and Trav and I grabbed some iced coffee from Merit Coffee Co.
- Mural Scavenger Hunt: One of the neat things the Sheraton Hotel offers is a mural scavenger hunt. We loved this because it gave us something fun to do with our girls. Dallas has a crazy amount of murals! You can read more about it below.
- Pacific Plaza Park: This park is one of our girls’ favorite parks! It has double seesaws that we always ride with our girls and they think it’s the funniest thing! So, as promised, we spent some of our afternoon at the park.
- Happy Hour/Dinner at Open Palette: After the park we came back to our room, freshened up, and then headed to the Sheraton Bar, Open Palette for their happy hour. We sat on their couches and played trivia games with our girls. Honestly, it was the highlight of our day! Travis and I enjoyed $4 Old Fashioneds and the girls had what felt like bottomless Shirley Temples.
- Movie Night: After a long day exploring our city, we felt like the best way to end the night was watching a movie together in our room.
SUNDAY:
- Grab’n’Go Breakfast: Although the hotel offers a breakfast buffet (7-11 am) with $1 mimosas, all 4 of us desired a lazy Sunday morning in bed. So, I went down to their Grab’N’Go Market and got fruit and warm croissants for everyone and we had our own breakfast in bed. The Grab’N’Go is open from 6am – 10pm and came in handy for us for breakfast, but they also have wine, sweet treats, and healthy options to grab, too!
- Lunch at the Farmer’s Market: Once we were up and moving, we checked out and headed to the Farmer’s Market for lunch. It’s one of our favorite staycation traditions!
Special Hotel Features:
- The hotel also has a “Get Your Summer On!” package for guests to book and is perfect for families with children. More details can be found on the hotel’s website here. Another package available for guests is the “Fuel the fun with Breakfast for Two“.
- Open Palette is also offering a special for Father’s Day on June 20 which includes all Dallas beers for $4 all day (4pm – 10pm). Besides the regular breakfast buffet, they will also run a special meal for Dad which includes a 20oz Grilled Ribeye Steak and two eggs for $49.
- Open Palette has a new happy hour menu that I’ve attached which includes certain cocktails and beer and wine for $4 at 4pm. There are also new specialty cocktails on the menu, and there will be live music at Open Palette on Saturday’s from 6-10pm.
Walking Distance Attractions:
- Klyde Warren Park is less than a 10-minute walk away.
- Pacific Plaza Park – Pacific Plaza Park is a public park located across the street from the hotel which features lawn space and large swings. It provides the perfect place to bring a picnic.
- Dallas Museum of Art (0.3 miles away)
- Nasher Sculpture Center (0.3 miles away)
- Dallas Farmers Market (0.8 miles away)
- Mural Scavenger Hunt:
- Step 1: Click here to view a complete list of murals in Dallas
- Step 2: Snap a selfie in front of 4 or more murals and tag the hotel. One selfie must include “Optimism Starts with You” mural located on the exterior wall of our parking garage across the street from Pacific Plaza (corner of Harwood and Live Oak Streets)
- Step 3: Share selfies with bartender at Open Palette and receive either one complimentary well drink, draft beer, or house wine as well 50% off one appetizer.
- Guests will receive instructions at the hotel’s front desk or can read them here. Anyone can participate.
Sheraton Dallas Hotel Renovations:
(Images provided by Sheraton Dallas Hotel)
This post was created in partnership with Sheraton Dallas. All opinions are my own. Hotel images provided by Sheraton Dallas. Thank you for supporting those brands that support Fleurdille.
