Hit The Road

Plan out the perfect getaway to Plano with food, fun, and more

Plano is truly the land of plenty. Blending historic charm with modern luxury, the city brims with amenities and attractions. Plano’s location just north of Dallas offers easy access to the area’s professional sports, famous attractions, and performing arts.

But Plano is also a destination in its own right, with more than 1,000 restaurants of every variety including a three-story European food hall, brewery, and entertainment venue; world-class shopping; a lively arts and nightlife scene; four walkable entertainment districts; and abundant natural beauty.

The first settlers came to Plano in the 1840s. A sawmill, gristmill, and a store helped the area grow. The city was officially incorporated in 1873, a year after the Houston and Texas Railroad was completed. In 1881, a fire destroyed most of the city’s business district, but it was quickly rebuilt.

Plano grew steadily over the years, but its population exploded during the 1980s. During this time, many large corporations, such as JCPenney and The Frito-Lay Company, moved their corporate headquarters to Plano. The city was recognized as an All-American City in 1994.

Whether you're staying a week or a weekend, here's a sample of what to see, do, and enjoy while you're in Plano:

What to see

Baccus Plaza: Located within The Shops at Legacy, Baccus Plaza houses a number of landmarks including Baccus Cemetery, which was established in 1847 and is one of the oldest cemeteries in Collin County, and the Trails In Legacy sculptures, created by Texas native Robert Summers. The work depicts a cattle drive along the Shawnee Trail, one of the main Texas longhorn cattle drive routes before and after the Civil War.

Heritage Farmstead Museum: Set on four acres, this living history museum lets visitors step back into the late 1800s and early 1900s. The property’s beautiful Victorian home and 12 outbuildings were once part of a 360-acre farm operated by colorful local resident Ammie Wilson.

Interurban Railway Museum: This museum brings Plano transportation history back to life. Once a vital part of the Texas Electric Railway that ran between Denison and Waco from 1908 to 1948, the Interurban is one of the original electric cars that ran on the tracks through Plano. Next to the station is car 360, one of the original cars that carried mail and passengers. This is the only station remaining between Sherman and Dallas. The facility also includes an area that houses a colorful display of Plano history.

Southfork Ranch: Revisit some memorable scenes from the television series Dallas at Southfork Ranch in nearby Parker. The “Dallas Legends: Fact To Fantasy” exhibit features such memorabilia as the gun that shot J.R., Lucy’s wedding dress, and video clips from the TV series. Horseback trail rides are also offered.

What to do

Plano Balloon Festival: Plano is known as the “Hot Air Balloon Capital of Texas” thanks to its balloon festival, which attracts more than 90,000 people each year. During the four-day festival, the skies over Plano are filled with colorful, whimsically shaped orbs.

Spectators can also take in the breathtaking nightly “balloon glows,” along with fireworks, live music concerts, and more. Tethered balloon rides can also be booked, weather permitting. 2024 marks 43 years of ballooning in Plano, and the festival dates are September 19-22.

Plano International Festival: World cultures converge each year, and this year's 20th annual event will be held October 19, 2024, at Haggard Park. The free, family-friendly event features art, music, food, and fashion from around the world.

AsiaFest: Held every May in Haggard Park, this free, family-friendly event showcases the rich cultures of Asia with numerous cultural demonstrations, performances, and vendors.

Texas Forever Fest: Celebrate the food, art, and people of the Lone Star State at this free party that's as big as Texas. The fourth annual event will be held in March 2025 at Haggard Park.

Rest in Plano Fest and Apparition Expedition: Held simultaneously in late October, Apparition Expedition is a ticketed, guided ghost tour through downtown Plano. Rest in Plano Fest is free to attend and will include live performers, curated vendors, and plenty of photo opps.

Where to play

Plano features more than 4,337 acres of public parks, offering more than 82 miles of recreation trails, six recreation centers, 133 public tennis courts — including a 21-court tennis center — nine public swimming pools, and more.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve: Located on the western border of Plano, Arbor Hills Nature Preserve is a 200-acre park featuring vast areas of natural beauty for walking, jogging, orienteering, and other outdoor activity. Amenities include a playground, restrooms, approximately 2.3 miles of paved recreational trails, approximately two miles designated as an off-road cycling trail, an observation tower, and three pavilions.

Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve: Plano's largest park is 800 acres and boasts nearly eight miles of concrete trails and five miles of soft-surface trails located along Rowlett Creek.

Go Ape! Treetop Adventure Course: Glide over the forest canopy where ziplines, Tarzan swings, and suspended obstacles bring out your inner monkey and provide a fun challenge amid 800 acres of natural beauty at Texas’ first Go Ape location.

Fowling Warehouse: Fowling is a unique and entertaining game that merges football with bowling and is perfect for small or large groups. It’s as easy as throwing a football at 10 bowling pins until someone knocks them all down. Fowling Warehouse’s Plano location is the first in the South, their largest venue, and the first venue with full food and beverage options. This is a perfect indoor activity for adults, older kids, and teens.

Crayola Experience: Plano’s most colorful attraction is one of only five locations in the U.S. Families typically spend three to four hours exploring the 22 hands-on attractions across 60,000 square feet. Kids of all ages can embark on a wonderful, whimsical adventure with such unique experiences as starring in their very own coloring pages, naming and wrapping their own Crayola crayon, learning how crayons are made in a live manufacturing show, and so much more.

The Texas Pool: Swim across Texas at the historic Texas Pool, a 168,000-gallon saltwater pool shaped like the great state of Texas. This famous pool is a National Landmark, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The pool is open Memorial Day through Labor Day and features a diving board, two water slides, and an island, with a shallow “South Texas” wading area for small children and parents.

Where to eat and drink

Plano offers more than 1,000 dining options and every type of cuisine for visitors to enjoy.

For those who can’t decide, Legacy Hall has it all. In this one-of-a-kind artisanal food hall at Legacy West, visitors can browse more than 20 stalls and bars to meet local purveyors and sample everything from lobster rolls and sushi to old-fashioned hamburgers and duck fat-fried chicken. There is also an on-site brewery and an outdoor live entertainment stage. Legacy Hall was named the No. 2 best new food hall in the nation by USA Today in 2019.

Also new to Plano is the Boardwalk at Granite Park, situated across from the luxurious patio of the 299-room Hilton at Granite Park. This 30,000-square-foot expanse features a variety of restaurants with patios serving burgers, gourmet biscuits, Southern California boardwalk-style cuisine, brewpub fare, and more. There are also beachy deck chairs that afford a great view of the park’s inviting water feature and live music stage.

Where to shop

Plano has more than 27 million square feet of retail space with goods to fit every taste and budget, as well as countless boutiques, specialty stores, antique stores, and galleries. Some of Plano’s most notable shopping venues include:

Downtown Plano Arts District: Along authentic brick-lined streets, shoppers can discover an eclectic collection of independent boutiques selling everything from handmade jewelry to home décor to antiques and pottery.

Legacy West: A signature outdoor shopping destination offering top name brands of men’s and women’s clothing, jewelry, eyewear, home furnishings, gifts, specialty confections, and even luxury electric cars. The district also features luxury stores like Chanel Fragrance & Beauty, Golden Goose, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Tory Burch.

The Shops at Legacy East and Legacy North: This district is part of a 168-acre maste- planned development of boutique retail and best-in-class restaurants. Discover an expansive selection of upscale stores, independent boutiques, and high-profile brands in an inviting outdoor setting.

The Shops at Willow Bend: This picturesque and upscale shopping center features more than 150 stores, anchored by Neiman Marcus and Macy’s.

Where to stay

Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel: The newest addition to Plano’s vibrant hospitality scene, this luxury property serves as an anchor for the $3 billion Legacy West urban mixed use project. The 15-story, 304-room hotel has more than 35,000 square feet of conference and meeting space. Special features include a high-energy lobby and bar, an onsite Asian fusion restaurant, a third-floor amenity deck with a pool and cabanas, a bar concierge lounge, fitness center, and outdoor event space.

Marriott Dallas/Plano at Legacy Town Center: Surrounded by scenic parks and water features, this picturesque and full-service property is located in Legacy Town Center and is within walking distance to upscale shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Complete with 404 guest rooms and 35,000 square feet of banquet/meeting space, the luxury hotel serves leisure and corporate travelers and provides an exquisite setting for weddings, events, and meetings of all sizes. Amenities include a beautiful outdoor heated pool and whirlpool, a full-service Starbucks, a signature restaurant, and a fitness center.

Hilton Dallas/Plano Granite Park: Situated in the prestigious Granite Park development in Plano, the full-service, 299-room conference hotel features a 30,000-square-foot conference center with two ballrooms, an executive lounge, 24-hour fitness center, resort-style outdoor swimming pool, fresh market, Prairie Fire bar, and Carso restaurant.

Plan your perfect Plano getaway here.

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Plano is a destination in its own right.

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tree-mendously stylish

New, art-filled boutique hotel debuts in Houston with bold vintage flair

Photo by Julie Soefer

Hotel Daphne introduces sophisticated vintage flair to The Heights.

Taking one step beyond the threshold of the new Hotel Daphne in the Heights is — in a word — transformative. Layered with handcrafted details, various textiles, warm-natured tones, and vintage and custom pieces that embrace contemporary whimsy, Houston’s newest property from Austin-based company Bunkhouse Hotels has truly outdone itself.

The five story, 49-room property features an all-day restaurant called Hypsi, along with a picturesque walled-courtyard, jewel-box library, lobby retail shop, and a perfectly-curated art collection that could easily rival the best galleries. Those looking to make a splash will be delighted to know that a pool, dedicated outdoor bar, and 10 poolside bungalow suites are currently in the works to open in the spring of 2027. Hotel Daphne is Bunkhouse’s second Houston property, joining the Hotel Saint Augustine that opened in Montrose in 2024 and earned a prestigious Michelin Key in October.

Setting itself apart from other new build properties, Hotel Daphne has taken painstakingly-precise care not to have disturbed the numerous mature Live Oak trees surrounding the building, giving the hotel a “we’ve always been here” quality that locals can appreciate. Those very trees inspired the hotel’s name, after Daphne of Greek mythology, who famously changed herself into a laurel tree and represents allure and restraint.

“With Hotel Daphne, we set out to create a project that bridges Houston Heights’ eclectic energy with its residential roots to seamlessly blend into the surrounding landscape,” Timothy Blanchard, founder, principal architect, Blanchard A+D tells CultureMap. “Drawing on the area’s commercial and historic cues, we shaped the building around large heritage oak trees to create a place that feels welcoming, restrained, and quietly refined.”

The hotel’s exterior features stepped parapets, dark steel sash windows, and soft gray shutters that bridge the scale between neighboring bungalows and historic industrial structures. Local landscape firm McDugald Steele rounds out the exteriors team with lush selections befitting the building and playing nicely with native surroundings, while giving nods to the Heights’ architectural charm and its origins as a utopian society founded in the 1890’s.

Bunkhouse designed the interiors in-house, with 80 percent of the furniture and decor designed and selected during the initial design phase, leaving the remaining 20 percent to be selected post buildout. Select pieces like the show-stopping, circular modular sofa in the lobby, were sourced during the recent Round Top Fall Antiques Show. Situated beneath a vintage Murano chandelier, the sofa’s striped linen has been swapped for a more commercial-friendly Gem Velvet from Brentano, while the exposed sides have been dressed in a playfully-patterned Bargello from Nobilis. Suffice it to say: she’s Instagram-ready.

“We always like to keep a healthy mix of vintage. When everything is custom or off the shelf, the end result can feel planned, prescriptive, and a little too perfect. Leaving room for the unplanned is where a dose of magic happens,” explains Tenaya Hills, head of design for Bunkhouse Hotels and JdV by Hyatt. “If you use up every inch of space with things you decided months before, you lose the creativity that hits you while you’re out shopping for vintage, or even when you’re sitting around with your team in the finished space thinking, ‘Okay, what does this space actually need?’ And also — it’s just fun.”

A right turn off of the lobby leads to Hotel Daphne’s library. Absolutely drenched in a gorgeous, high-gloss blue, the impressive cabinets and bookcases house everything from books to ceramics and found objects — feel free to grab a book off the shelf and get cozy. Grounded by a handwoven rug by Shame Studios, the library offers three custom tables for gaming, providing an onyx chess set, marble checkers, and one table left bare for board games or other amusements. The library’s French doors can be closed off for private events, meetings, and dinners as well.

Rounding out the first floor, Italian-style restaurant Hypsi, led by two-time James Beard Award nominee Terrence Gallivan, nods to the area’s Prohibition-era supper club history. Opulent and playful details include a blueberry lava stone bar outfitted with leather Cassina chairs, an indoor fireplace framed by an antique mantel, banquettes piled with psychedelic pillows, vintage Gerli chairs reupholstered in velvet, and custom Carimate dining chairs by Vico Magistretti.

Hypsi’s adjoining vine-wrapped courtyard and Hotel Daphne patio offer outdoor dining. Playful Gubi patio furniture, paired with vintage, mosaic-tiled tables hand-painted to depict nymphs and the like, is available for more informal lounging. Remember those books in the library? Pair one with a cocktail or coffee while taking in an afternoon breeze.

The remaining four floors are all guest rooms. Hotel Daphne offers a robust selection of double-queen rooms and single-king rooms, with both configurations available in ADA options. Select rooms, like the Terrace King Rooms, offer outdoor balconies. The Terrace King Premiere is 890 square feet, featuring a king bed, lounge area, workspace, and a terrace with dining and lounge furniture — perfect for entertaining a small group outdoors.

Larger groups may opt for one of the two suites. The Balcony Suite is 850 square feet, featuring a king bed, a bistro table with seating, a parlor room with lounge area, dining table for six, wet bar, and a Juliet balcony. The Penthouse Suite is 1,150 square feet, featuring two rooms with king beds, plus a lounge area, a parlor room, dining table for eight, lounge area, wet bar, and two bathrooms. The Penthouse Suite is a three-key suite and each space can be booked individually.

Guest rooms feature custom upholstered beds with floral velvet headboards inspired by Trebah Gardens. In fact, the fabric itself is Trebah Velvet by Osborne & Little.

“We love that fabric and it brought exactly the mood we were looking for,” explains Hills. “Against the room’s more classic backdrop, we wanted an element that felt a little trippy and not-so-perfect, something that captured the spirit of the hotel. The pattern has this dreamy, slightly surreal quality that lets a subtle, ethereal, almost acid trip note come through. The hotel takes inspiration from the Heights’ beginnings as a planned utopian community, but we’ve layered in its history of 1930s clandestine drinking culture and the patina of time to a home that would have occurred on that original idealism. Trebah felt like the perfect way to thread those stories together, refined on the surface, with a little fray underneath.”

The beds are all dressed in luxe Sferra linens (bath towels are also Sferra), and rooms are additionally outfitted with mohair seating, Arts & Crafts-style credenzas, plus natural stone tables and vintage finds. Adjoining bathrooms are wrapped in rich green Fireclay tiles that play magnificently with onyx vanities. Hotel Daphne’s signature amenities are by Dr. Vranjes of Florence, Italy, and are available for purchase in the lobby’s gift shop, including its signature scent, Dr. Vranjes’ Onyx Rose Tobacco.

Also available in the gift shop are Hotel Daphne’s signature guest room robes. Collecting robes from Bunkhouse properties has become somewhat of a thing, to say the least.

“Bunkhouse has a tradition of creating a custom robe for every property, says Hills. “Daphne’s robe was inspired by vintage men’s pajamas, designed to bring a masculine touch to balance the softer, feminine details throughout the rooms. Its striped pattern and colorway were directly drawn from the Trebah Velvet fabric used on the headboards. This connection makes the robe feel distinct but fully integrated with the overall guest room palette.”

If the carpeting looks familiar, it’s not a trick of the mind. The spaces not clad in brass-inlaid, herringbone wood floors are swathed in patterned carpeting inspired by William Morris’ iconic “Strawberry Thief” pattern, but adjusted and created using AI — that’s certainly one way to mix old with new.

In an interesting twist to Bunkhouse tradition, a substantial portion of the art on display is held in a private collection. Hotel owner Ben Ackerley and his father will rotate select pieces from the Ackerley Family Collection for guests of the hotel to enjoy. Bunkhouse art director Dina Pugh sourced works by Austin-based painter Alexandra Valenti that are on display in the guest rooms and hallways.

An additional 160 works of art in the property belong to the Ackerley Family Collection. In January of this year, Hesse McGraw, formerly executive director of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, came on as Hotel Daphne’s art director. Find works by Vernon Fisher and Kent Dorn on display in the hotel’s lobby, plus artists Kelli Vance and Dorothy Hood on view in the library. The giant Matt Kleberg overlooking the dining room at Hypsi is on loan from Houston’s Hiram Butler Gallery until January, when a commissioned work by the same artist will be completed. The untitled work will be difficult to miss with its 15’ x 8’ stature.

Ackerley believes that sharing his family’s collection with the city will benefit living, Texas-based artists in a myriad of ways, especially by putting them in front of other potential collectors.

“99-percent of collectors have no relation to the artists. They look at it as an investment and have no emotional connection to the work or the person behind it,” says Ackerley. “Whereas, we collect people we hang out with. We support living, contemporary Texas artists, and 80-percent of what you’ll see in this hotel is that — there is plenty of cool art.”

Bunkhouse was purchased by Hyatt Hotels in October 2024, but there are no signs of Hyatt branding in the hotel. The plus is that rooms can be booked with points through Hyatt’s rewards program. Rooms at Hotel Daphne begin at $359 per night.

Photo by Julie Soefer

Hotel Daphne introduces sophisticated vintage flair to The Heights.

openings hotels hotel daphne the-heights home-design

Hit The Road

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