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    Back in the saddle

    George Strait’s 220-acre Hill Country resort springs back after massive renovation

    John Egan
    Oct 9, 2019 | 3:20 pm

    It’s certainly not oceanfront property, but country music legend George Strait hopes his refurbished resort in the Texas Hill Country will still leave visitors with a smile.

    The 220-acre Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort, about 230 miles west of downtown Houston, reopened October 1, following a nearly two-year, multimillion dollar renovation. Highlights of the project include a new clubhouse and a refresh of the 111 guestrooms.

    Strait, who lives near Boerne, co-owns the property with longtime friend and real estate developer Tom Cusick, as well as two corporate partners. Strait and Cusick bought the resort in 2011 after it went into foreclosure.

    Strait says the resort’s future is “bright.” The Grammy winner, who released his first album in 1981, says he and Cusick “fell hard for the property in 2011 because it had so much potential and embodied what the heart of Texas is all about.”

    “This is an exciting development for the resort and the community of Boerne, and I’m so impressed by what has been accomplished, thanks to the dedication, passion, and creativity of our team,” Strait tells CultureMap.

    The resort will host a reopening party October 16 featuring a performance by country singer-songwriter Dean Dillon, as well as a steak-dinner buffet, an array of specialty cocktails, and the unveiling of the new clubhouse.

    Designed by Dallas architect Nunzio DeSantis, the 47,000-square-foot clubhouse is a throwback to its predecessor, which a fire destroyed in 2017. The resort says the clubhouse’s modern design is “reflective of the resort’s Hill Country roots and contemporary first-in-class amenities essential to creating memorable experiences for all guests.”

    The new clubhouse adds about 4,000 square feet of event space to the resort’s total. In addition, the clubhouse includes a 1,100-square-foot members-only fitness center.

    Elsewhere on the property, the reconfigured Cibolo Ballroom expanded to 3,250 square feet, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the 18-hole golf course. Also, an “event lawn” was installed to increase the amount of outdoor space for gatherings, and the La Cascada Table & Bar restaurant was redesigned. Of course, the bar serves Strait’s Código 1530 brand of tequila.

    Meanwhile, 111 guestrooms — including the two-bedroom George Strait Suite — were updated with furnishings and décor “inspired by the beauty of the destination.” The rooms promise to deliver “an authentic Hill Country escape,” the resort says.

    “We are very excited to be reopening the resort and bringing it back to its place as the go-to destination in Texas Hill Country for leisure and group guests,” Caleb DuBose, managing director of Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort, says in a release.

    DuBose works for Westport, Connecticut-based Northview Hotel Group LLC, which bought a majority stake in the resort in 2014 along with Houston-based Seis Holdings LLC. After the 2017 blaze, DuBose estimated it could cost at least $5 million to rebuild the scorched clubhouse.

    The hotel underwent a two-year renovation.

    Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort
    Rendering courtesy of Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort
    The hotel underwent a two-year renovation.
    hotelsweddingsvacation
    news/travel

    holiday travel news

    Houston's IAH flops in new ranking of least stressful U.S. airports

    Amber Heckler
    Dec 11, 2025 | 10:00 am
    George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston
    Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash
    Flight delays and cancellations at George Bush Intercontinental Airport can be a stress-inducing experience for some travelers this holiday season.

    Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has some work to do to improve its stress-inducing environment during the peak holiday travel season, a new study has revealed.

    European tour company Travel by Luxe compared 30 major airports across several stress-inducing flight factors, such as security wait times, flight delays, cancellation rates, passenger traffic, and average airfare prices to determine the least stressful departure points. The airports were then ranked based on which were the "best equipped to keep travelers calm rather than frazzled."

    The No. 1 most stress-free U.S. airport to travel over the holidays is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona, the report said.

    George Bush Intercontinental was dubbed the 27th "least stressful" American airport with longer security wait times and more flight cancellations than most other major U.S. airports.

    According to passenger traffic data from December 2024, more than 2.1 million travelers flew through IAH for the holidays last year. Nearly a quarter of all flights were delayed, and IAH had the fourth-highest rate of cancelled flights (1.18 percent) out of all 30 airports analyzed during the same period.

    Average flight costs at IAH came out to $419.19 in the final quarter of 2024, which the report determined was the 11th most expensive airfare out of all 30 U.S. airports analyzed. However, the report states flight fares are not "the biggest drivers of airport stress," but flight delays and security wait times are.

    Travelers heading out of Houston should always plan extra time to get through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines during peak travel times, as the report found travelers waited about 22 minutes on average to get through IAH security lines in December 2023 (where the latest data was available). That's the fourth-highest wait time nationwide.

    The report's author says the 2025 holiday travel season is expected to be one of the busiest on record, and stresses that "choosing the right airport could make or break" a traveler's trip. Nearly 4.6 million travelers are expected to fly through IAH during the final two months of the year.

    "Holiday travel is supposed to be joyful. [T]hink of all the twinkling lights, family reunions and much-needed downtime," the author wrote. "But anyone who has battled chaotic airport lines, last-minute cancellations or a departure board full of red delay warnings knows how quickly that festive spirit can evaporate."

    Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was ranked the 9th most stress-free airport in the U.S. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was deemed the worst of the airports studied; it ranked at the bottom of the list at No. 30.

    The top 10 U.S. airports with the smoothest travel during the 2025 holiday season are:

    • No. 1 – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
    • No. 2 – Salt Lake City International Airport
    • No. 3 – Washington Dulles International Airport
    • No. 4 – Tampa International Airport
    • No. 5 – Harry Reid International Airport
    • No. 6 – Chicago Midway International Airport
    • No. 7 – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
    • No. 8 – Philadelphia International Airport
    • No. 9 – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
    • No. 10 – LaGuardia Airport
    travelflightsholiday travelhoustongeorge bush intercontinental airport
    news/travel

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