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Review: Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas (Dallas, Tx)
Not gonna lie…I love Dallas. I have a couple great friends that live there and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit them the last couple years. Last year, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency DFW for the FTU Dallas ( which I highly recommend), and this year I ended up at the Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas. The hotel is a great option if you’re doing anything convention related, but it’s not super ideal if you’re primarily going to be downtown.
The hotel overlooks a small lake called Lake Carolyn. The outdoor areas are very nice, pet friendly, and welcoming.
The Deets:
- When: October 2016
- Where: Dallas, Texas
- Loyalty: Select Guest
- Room Category: Mandalay Suite
The room looked very nice online
I arrived late.
My schedule changed a couple times and my original plans of traveling with my girlfriend got nixxed. We’d booked tickets on a 772 from LAX-DFW and locked in the business class cabin as economy main cabin extra seats on a flight that arrived around 6. By the time the dust settled, I BARELY made flight to DFW that arrived around 10pm. I ended up flying standby and arrived at LAX 31 mins before my standby flight departed. I was very lucky to make the flight. My girlfriend flew earlier in the day and took the following check-in pics.
When I arrived later I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was VERY PLEASANTLY surprised. The hotel feels luxurious, a bit dated, but VERY nice and the room was large and spacious.
When I woke up the next morning, I drew back the curtains and I couldn’t believe the view. We were on the 28th floor and the suite had an enormous balcony that was perfect for watching flights at DFW. It was a bit brisk to hang out in just the nice terrycloth robe they provided, but after I threw some jeans and a jacket on – it was a prime spot to blog =)
The hotel is geared towards the Irving convention crowd. The common areas are well maintained, and the staff is super nice.
The pool sits right outside the gym and is accessible from the ground level. The one thing I think they could improve upon is the food options near the pool. We asked a couple different staff members about what was available and no one seemed to know. It wasn’t the biggest deal as we only spent 45 minutes lounging around, and we weren’t looking to “resort,” but it was surprising that no one really had an answer.
The gym is well maintained albeit the bathroom facilities are in need of a reno.
Overall:
If you’re going to be in town and doing work or business at the convention center ( which is why we were in town) then this is a very nice place to stay. The rates are great, the hotel is very nice and well maintained, and it’s a stones throw away. However, if you’re going to be checking out the latest and greatest in Uptown, seeing a football game, etc – this is probably a little out of the way. The uber fares back and forth will make the financial aspect of staying here moot, and the surge fares at peak hours are intense.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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