A Walkable Intersection of Work and Play
I’d never set foot on Texas soil, outside of an airport layover. But visiting Arlington, west of Dallas, made for a good intro to the state’s dynamic personality. The biggest takeaway from my brief but fruitful stay in this city of about 400,000 was walkability. Planners looking for an area to host events that don’t require transport between meeting venues and the famous sports arenas and other major attractions nearby will appreciate how centralized and accessible it is.
Places to Meet and Stay
Options. That’s the name of the game for meeting planners looking to host in Arlington. The new Loews Arlington Hotel is connected to the Arlington Convention Center. This allows planners a large canvas of possibilities in crafting the layout of their event and grants attendees the ability to travel from their rooms to their next breakout session without having to step outdoors under the Texas sun. Together, the two venues offer 266,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor spaces. The nearby Live! By Loews is also connected via a skybridge and adds another 35,000 sq. ft. of event space.
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As a new hotel, Loews Arlington allows for instant communication between guests and the front desk. As someone who prefers text messages to phone calls, I appreciated being able to message the front desk with my questions and receive prompt responses.
Where to Eat
My introduction to Arlington cuisine began with a trip to Taipo, a Nepal-inspired restaurant with a bright Tiffany-blue front-of-house and an unexpected, cozy speakeasy in the back. The menu offers a wide selection, from dumplings and stir-fry dishes to a beautiful selection of cocktails that taste as good as they look. A perfect spot for smaller groups.
Sports Live Here
It won’t take someone long to realize sports is a pretty big part of Arlington’s identity. Any available TV screen on the wall during my stay was adorned with at least four different broadcasts, most of them sports related.
The convenience of walking directly from the entrance of my hotel to the MLB’s Texas Ranger’s game at Globe Life Field and back again removed the hassle of flagging down a Lyft ride and a tedious traffic commute.
For NFL fans, Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium is also within walking distance.
Pompeii in Arlington
Even though sports are the biggest games in town, Arlington Museum of Art is definitely worth checking out. I got to see some relics of history at the “Pompeii: The Immortal City” exhibit before they returned to Italy. I was also able experience a visual simulation of what the residents of Pompeii saw in their final moments.
Another exhibit I checked out was “One Point Five Degrees,” an immersive art experience created by American Adam Fung and Canadian Sabrina Ratte that gave a collective view of the world through the eyes of the artists.
Starting in September, guests will be able to see “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” and “All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives.”
This article appears in the July 2024 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
