Best Hotel 2015 | The Belmont | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Hotel

The Belmont

The restored 1946 Belmont Hotel was essential to the revitalization of its West Dallas neighborhood. It has a great, mid-century cool bar and spectacular views of downtown. It's a terrific venue for weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations, and Barefoot at the Belmont, Dallas' best outdoor concert series, happens there. Check it out. Or just check in.

Best Vintage Clothing Store

Vintage Martini

You're never fully dressed without a muumuu, a mink hand-muff and a pillbox hat. You'll find all of these and much, much more on the racks at Vintage Martini. After just a year in Dallas, this has become the go-to shopping destination for keen lovers of all things grandma (but grandma when she was a stylish, sexy young broad). You'll find everything from a sable fur wrap to a light blue Escada sweater to a pair of drool-worthy cowboy boots. And the shop is so immaculate, the clothes smell like new. It's divided into a men's and a women's section, but it's not important to adhere to such labels — use your imagination.

Best Luxury Day Spa

The Spa at The Joule

Before you've even entered The Spa at the Joule, you'll get a nose full of eucalyptus. Between Main and Commerce streets, attached to the Joule Hotel, this day spa smells luxurious. Sure, everything on the menu strains the purse strings, from a foot massage ($80) to a treatment known as The Joule ($295), which includes a body scrub and full massage. But nowhere else does treating yo'self feel quite so special. It's a mini vacation where you step off the streets, kick your feet up and splurge.

Best Photo Booth

Photowagon

If an unassuming 1958 Cardinal travel trailer is parked at the next event you attend, don't hesitate. Hop inside, grab an American flag or a pair of oversized sunglasses and flash a smile. You're at the coolest photo booth in town. It pops up at some of the city's most fun events, from Record Store Day at Good Records to Gorilla vs. Bear at the Granada Theater, and if the Photowagon is there, then you're hanging with the cool cats. The mobile photo booth, affectionately known as Lady Bird, is in such high demand the owners are adding a new trailer to the family, making it twice as likely they'll be at your next party.

972-352-3765, photo-wagon.com

Best Apartment Community

The Village

You've probably noticed that a new "luxury" apartment community is under construction in Dallas on just about every corner. They all promise the same overpriced granite countertops, a pool with swanky-looking fountains and the chance to live in the next cool neighborhood. Of course, you can't afford it. Neither can we. And it's not conveniently located near a highway. Plus, that dog friendly one-bedroom unit isn't available anymore. But it is available at The Village, one of the city's largest apartment communities. There are multiple swimming pools, running trails and duck ponds, not to mention numerous apartments cheap enough that you can pay your rent on time and furnish your living room. With convenient access to Greenville Avenue and Central Expressway, your getting to work on time will be a breeze.

Best Nail Salon

Inwood Village Nailery

Nail treatments are a luxury, but that doesn't mean all nail salons are relaxing or spa-like. We eschew the salons where apathetic nail techs blab on cellphones or to each other as they're filing our toesies. If you're looking for something more soothing, give the almost unsettlingly quiet Inwood Village Nailery a visit. The decor is minimal (no fancy massaging recliners, just regular chairs). It's clean, too, and the technicians concentrate on the little details. Nothing nicer than some peace and quiet with the polish.

Best Hair Salon

Avalon Salon

When drifting from hair stylist to hair stylist, you enter each new cut with hope tinged with dread about your locks. Will the new cut be too short? Will the color be brassy? Sure, hair grows and dye jobs fade, but no one wants to look like a doofus, even temporarily. When you book an appointment at any of Avalon Salon's three locations, you can rest easy that your stylist will be well trained and eager to create the most flattering cut and color possible, even if you don't give direction or have a particular look in mind. They're solid pros with scissors and brushes. We wouldn't tease you about that.

Best Bike Shop

Transit Bicycle Co.

Bike culture is really taking off in Dallas, which is a great thing. (Now only if there were dedicated bike lanes to ride them in.) But with the rise in bike life comes snobbery and pretension at certain shops. Not at Transit Bicycle Co. on Greenville Avenue, where the staff are as eager to help with your beat-up cruiser as they are with a fancy new Italian road bike. Whether you need a tune-up, accessories, apparel or simply have a biking-related question, the people at Transit are geared up to be your friends.

Best Gift Shop

TenOverSix

So you need to buy a prezzie but have no idea where to start. TenOverSix, a sleek, Los Angeles-based boutique with a second outpost in The Joule Hotel in downtown Dallas, is gift heaven. Owners Joe and Kristen Cole and Brady Cunningham have sharp eyes for good design and a tendency to stock the unexpected. Clothes and accessories from designers Chris Benz, Pamela Love, Maison Kitsune and Phillip Lim are in the mix, which is constantly rotated and updated. Price points start low for dainty bangles and organic lip balms, a $15 handmade wooden box or a DVD of the latest Frederick Wiseman documentary. Splurge, if you must, on a leather tote from Marlow Goods (still under a thou). Variety is this boutique's gift to shoppers.

Best Eyewear Selection

Glass Optical

Online eyeglass retailers such as Warby Parker have become popular because they offer stylish frames at an affordable price point. But when optometrist Stephen Wilkes and his son Paul opened Glass Optical on Davis Street in Oak Cliff last year, we realized what we were missing. Get an eye exam from a doctor with 30 years of experience and then shop from his curated selection of handmade eyewear that outdoes the online outfits and those chain eyewear shops. There are lots of trendy frame styles and cute sunglasses here, whether you require a prescription or not. And take your time. Glasses are art for your face.

Best Of Dallas®

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