WEEKEND DIARY

A jewel of a hotel with energy draws hip execs to downtown Dallas

The Joule's infinity pool cantilevers 8 feet over Main Street in downtownDallas.
First-time visitors will pick up on the oilfield vibe of the contemporaryinteriors of The Joule.
The two-bedroom Penthouse Suite offers spectacular views of the city.
Charlie Palmer bar and adjacent restaurant provide a welcome environment forweary road warriors.
Joule
The hotel boasts 12 Demi Joule suites with playful circular beds.

I confess that I had not done all of my homework before arriving in Dallas and checking in to what I had assumed was the "Jewel" Hotel. That's what everyone was calling it. So, of course, I had envisioned a frothy, romantic boutique of a place.

Imagine my surprise when I entered the lobby of The Joule and encountered an industrial chic motif complete with a two-story-high black iron gear as the focal point.

Joule, pronounced jewel, is a unit of energy, familiar to those of a scientific mindset, not so much to those who think more in terms of Harry Winston or Bulgari.

The unusual moniker reflects the hotel ownership — billionaire Tim Headington, founder of Dallas-based Headington Oil. With the energy connection finally obvious, the decorative oil derrick influences, the overhead wind turbines and other mechanical touches made so much more sense and even offered a sophisticated appeal. Add to the mix paintings by Andy Warhol, David Levinthal, Richard Philllips and more. All from Headington's private collection.

Managed by Starwood Hotels as part of that group's Luxury Collection, the Joule opened in May 2008 and has since won numerous accolades including kudos from Wallpaper Magazine, Travel & Leisure and Elite Traveler. No surprise then that sophisticated business travelers fill the swank 129-room downtown hotel to capacity most week nights.

Famed interior designer/architect Adam Tihany created the warmly contemporary interiors that gently update the 1920's Neo-Gothic structure. Historic preservation issues notwithstanding in the former Dallas National Bank building, The Joule issues a modern-day vibe that is colorful and appealing.

The Houston group that bunked there recently, while attending the opening of Salon Cerón at the neighboring Neiman Marcus, found the cushy lobby bar and the Charlie Palmer restaurant and bar welcoming antidotes to the Main Street hustle and bustle.

On the upper floors, guest rooms offer a European esthetic, clean lines, an economy of space, rich fabrics and all the high-tech amenities expected in a top-notch hotel. The real fun in The Joule is with its suites — the Demi Joules boasting circular beds, the two-story Loft Suites and the grand two-bedroom Penthouse Suite offering expansive views of the city.

Guests will be drawn to the 10th floor where the infinity swimming pool cantilevers eight feet over Main Street, letting guests test the illusion of swimming off the edge . The PoolSide bar and cafe was rated as one of the "Hottest Hotel Rooftop Bars" by Travel & Leisure.

All of this plus a fitness center, a wine shop and trés attentive doormen make The Joule a special stopover for travelers.

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HISTORY CORRECTED

Houston documentary maker helps correct biased Texas historical marker

Photo by Virginia Diaz-Laughlin

Medrano stands in front of the Karankawa marker while filming 'Truly Texas Mexican.'

It's not often that a film has an impact past the box office, but one documentary has helped tell the truth about the Texas Gulf Coast's long-disparaged Karankawa people.

For years, the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas have fought for a corrected Texas Historical Commission marker in Corpus Christi. Houstonian Adán Medrano’s 2021 film, Truly Texas Mexican, helped finalize a push that will lead to a long-due correction on July 25.

The old marker was plainly offensive. Not only did it say the Karankawa people had "gained a reputation for savagery," but it repeated the long-discredited claim that they practiced cannibalism — a contention born out of the colonial need to justify violence against the tribe.

Medrano, a San Antonio native who currently lives in Houston, became part of the fight when he stood in front of the marker and made a direct appeal to correct the sign.

"I call upon the historians who live in Texas to come up and stand up and say, 'Take this down. This is a lie,'" he said during a scene in Truly Texas Mexican.

Two of them heard the call. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi history professor Dr. Peter Moore and historian Dr. Tim Seiter of the University of Texas at Tyler joined the years-long Indigenous effort following the film's release. Led by the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas, the academics helped research and draft a replacement that honors them as one of Texas' first peoples.

The marker not only replaces racist mythmaking with scholarship and tribal knowledge, it presents the fact that Karankawa descendants aren't a historical footnote but a living community still present in South Texas today.

Medrano's advocacy here continues his work with the T exas Indigenous Food Project, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the Indigenous foodways of Texas and the Americas. But in many ways it is a continuation of a career devoted to amplifying voices rarely heard in popular culture. In 1976, he founded San Antonio's CineFestival, now the nation's longest-running Latine film festival.

At 10 am on July 25, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend and the Karankawa Tribe of Texas will unveil the corrected marker, joined by Medrano. Visitors can find it at 6001 Ennis Joslin Rd.

adan medrano film indigenous history history