High-end honor

These posh Texas hotels nab prestigious top ratings in Forbes travel guide

The Post Oak Hotel is a Forbes fave.

Photo courtesy of The Post Oak Hotel

Houstonians looking to hit Lone Star State destination have some shimmering choices. The Forbes Travel Guide recently revealed its covered 5-Star awards list for 2021, and a host of hot spots land on the prestigious ranking.

As CultureMap previously reported, Tilman Fertitta's Post Oak Hotel nabbed Houston's sole five-star rating. The accolade makes the Post Oak Texas’ only Double Five-Star rated hotel and spa, and Houston’s first and only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel.

“Joining this elite list of Double Five-Stars is a remarkable achievement that continues to designate The Post Oak Hotel as a world-class property and serves as a glittering beacon of Houston’s standing as an international destination,” said Steven Chou, hotel manager, in a statement.

Houston boasts two spas — The Spa at The Post Oak Hotel and Houstonian's Trellis Spa— and six hotels on the list: Four Seasons Hotel, Hotel Granduca, The Houstonian, The Inn at Dos Brisas, and The St. Regis Houston.

Meanwhile, the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas has earned the city's sole five-star rating. It's a repeat achievement for the Uptown Dallas luxury hotel, which also captured five stars last year.

Three Dallas-area hotels and two spas earned four stars in the 2021 Forbes list:

Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas
The Joule
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Dallas
Well & Being Spa at Four Seasons Dallas at Las Colinas

Hôtel St. Germain and The Adolphus, Autograph Collection were "recommended."

Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio's Mokara Hotel & Spa received four-star ratings for both its hotel and spa facilities. The buzzy Hotel Emma also received a nod, earning a recommended rating.

Austin's Archer Hotel Austin, Four Seasons Hotel Austin, and Fairmont Austin also earned four-star ratings. The Four Seasons spa also garnered four stars. One other property, Hotel Granduca Austin, received a “recommended” rating.

The Forbes Travel Guide awards five stars to its highest-rated properties.

In assessing hotels, Forbes Travel Guide inspectors stay at every property for three days and two nights, posing as regular guests and paying their own way. They judge each one on 900 standards, such as whether food and beverage choices are health-conscious, how nice the décor is, and how well the staff’s uniforms are designed.

forbes hotels lists rankings

income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family