On Location: Meeting in the Dallas Arts District

When looking for the perfect meetings hotel for your group in a big city, does it sometimes feel like throwing a dart at a dartboard? Finding the right neighborhood first can make all the difference. In Dallas, the Arts District offers a cluster of hotels for groups, within walking distance of museums and other possible event venues. Following are a handful of options that we visited recently.

Artsy off-site events in Dallas

On 118 acres in the northeast corner of downtown Dallas, the Arts District is enlivened by numerous museums, galleries, performance spots and eateries that welcome group events.

Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects created the striking look of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science (above), which hosts events for 25 to 1,500 people. All five floors — including halls devoted to birds, the expanding universe, gems and minerals, and energy — are available to groups once they enter the premises, making for a stellar event full of food and fascinating facts.

For a more intimate gathering, check out the indoor and outdoor spaces that make up the Nasher Sculpture Center. A full takeover accommodates 200 people for a dinner and 300 for a reception. During events in the garden, guests wander among pieces by such luminaries as Magdalena Abakanowicz, Barbara Hepworth, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and George Segal.  

A once-lost 1861 painting of arctic icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church and one of Monet's waterlily variations are among the must-see works at the Dallas Museum of Art. (Examine 10 of the facility's best here.) A number of designated spaces on site welcome events for up to 500 people. Colorful pieces by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly adorn a window wall in the Hamon Atrium, a light-filled event space that holds 250 for a seated dinner and 500 for a reception. Several outdoor areas include the sculpture garden, the Eagle Family Plaza and the Fleishner Courtyard.

Dining in the Dallas Arts District

Planners will have an easy time arranging a sublime meal for up to 44 VIPs at La Stella Cucina Verace. The choices change regularly, so a recent meal that included a delicately delicious octopus appetizer and perfectly grilled scallops in a butternut squash purée with pomegranate seeds may no longer be available, but the magnificent Polpette Della Nonna (wagyu beef meatballs, San Marzano DOP marinara and basil oil), a menu staple, is always a good bet. The restaurant is across the street from the Meyerson Symphony Center, home of the Dallas Symphony, making the eatery a perfect stop before a performance.

Celebrity chef Dean Fearing lends his name to Fearing's, the signature restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, on the northern edge of the district. As described in the first-ever Michelin Guide Texas, which came out last November, the restaurant's "handsome look may read traditional steak house, but this flagship restaurant... isn't straightforward. The dishes are surprising, offering bold flavors and new takes on the tried-and-true." The restaurant hosts up to 187 for a private culinary adventure.

An eight-lane highway runs under part of the Arts District, but you'd never know it sitting on the patio at Mi Cocina on the Park, part of the 5.4-acre Klyde Warren Park that covers the roadway. The restaurant, serving an elevated Tex-Mex menu, is one of many on the Margarita Mile, an annual self-guided tour of the best margaritas in town. Mi Cocina's entry this year is the Mambo Taxi (Sauza silver tequila, lime juice, house-made sangria with Pinot Noir, brandy and fruit juices).

A number of activations using the Margarita Mile are available for groups. You can host a reception at one of the stops, set up a margarita bar at an evening event using a bartender from one of the restaurants, and provide custom Mile swag for your group.

Where to stay in the Dallas Arts District

The main meetings property in the district is Big D's largest, the 1,841-room Sheraton Dallas Hotel. With 230,000 square feet of mostly indoor event space, it can accommodate a wide variety of meeting possibilities. Among the offerings are the 40,800 square-foot Lone Star Ballroom and the 24,624-square-foot Dallas Ballroom. More intimate spaces are available, as well, such as the Herb 'n Jungle, a chef's garden with two beehives, herbs, flowers, and fig and peach trees, which can host a reception for 200 people.

The Sheraton partners with Stewpot, a community outreach organization helping people who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. In 2024, the hotel donated about 2,000 pounds of food, and also hosts an "art of unhoused" sale once or twice a year, during which 90 percent of the proceeds go to the artists and 10 percent to Stewpot.

Connected to the Sheraton by skywalk (or just by walking across the street), is the Dallas Marriott Downtown, with 416 rooms and about 21,000 square feet of event space. Also within the two-block area is the 267-room JW Marriott Dallas Arts District, with another 18,000 square feet of meeting space. The three hotels comprise the Dallas Downtown Connection, working together to provide planners with versatile meeting spaces, upscale amenities, overflow guest rooms and a wide range of services.

A quick walk from the museum of art and the sculpture garden sits the Fairmont Dallas, a staple in the city since 1969, featuring 545 elegant rooms. The property has 70,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 18,000-square-foot Regency Ballroom. Events at the property can be served, when needed, by a full kosher kitchen.