City: Dallas, TX

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (214) 520-7969

Address: 5300 East Mockingbird Lane

Description: Another Kimpton hotel, this impressive overhaul of a dated and drab Hilton ended a style drought in the lodging landscape of North Central Expressway. Calling itself the “first luxury urban resort,” the Palomar offers 198 rooms, including 18 one-bedroom suites. Luxury bedding, LCD flat-screen TV, DVD/CD player, free Internet access and French press coffee on request, and L’Occitane bath amenities are standard. Exhale, the on-site spa, is worth the trip alone for mind-body fitness classes and therapeutic skin and body treatments, including acupuncture and cupping. There’s much to like at two restaurants, including the original Trader Vic’s, home of the mai tai and Polynesian dishes; and Central 214, starring regional American cuisine, with outdoor dining an option. There’s a wealth of business and meeting services, and you’re just across the street from shopping and the Angelika film theater in Mockingbird Station. If you want to go downtown, the Dart rail station is a block away.