The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

The Ritz-Carlton Dallas is a beautiful property with a lovely hotel staff, however my expereience holding a meeting there in June 2009 was less than stellar. Due to the fact that two elaborate weddings were taking place around the same time as our corporate event, I quickly became aware that our group was not considered a priority as far as the conference services team was concerned. They appeared professional, however there was an evident lack of communication among them, resulting in me having to ask a number of different people for items or tasks before getting any results. Extremely time consuming. Finding our contact when we needed her was also a constant challenge. Anyway, after they became aware that I was displeased, they tried to compensate by adding complimentary food & beverage to some of our meals, however I was disappointed that it ever reached that point. Fortunately, the attendees, unaware of all the behind-the-scene hiccups, had positive feedback overall. I do not plan to hold any future meetings at the Ritz Dallas...it is not worth the aggrevation to me, and I felt the low level of attention and service reflected poorly on me as the planner.

Held a successful event at this venue October 2008. The attendees all raved about the choice of property. Meeting space and room layout was ideal for our group. Location made it ideal for those who wanted to catch a drink or a bite on their own without having to take a ride.

Guest rooms are nice and spacious and loaded with all the amenities. I liked the DVD players in the rooms ... helped me get caught up on my NetFlix ... and the alarm clocks with iPod docks.

Meeting space was excellent. The range of sizes allows you to do a wide range of meetings here and not feel overwhelmed.

Only concern was that Fearing's is very popular among the locals. The lobby area can very noisy, especially from all the customers in the bar area which is immediately off the lobby. Valet can get overwhelmed during peak hours. At one point the line of cars waiting to get to the hotel valet area stretched out onto the street and was backed up to the intersection.

Our group had a dinner across the street and some of our attendees mentioned that some of the customers waiting on the street were honking and yelling as they tried to cross over the the restaurant. On the way back some complained that they had to push themselves through the group of people waiting for the valet to bring their cars up; several of the customers were intoxicated and rude.

Overall the meeting experience was good, but would advise that you should be prepared to deal with issues regarding Fearing's, especially if your meeting is catering to a mature and/or conservative group.

Would definitely recommend to any planners who are looking for a downtown property with all the amenities or who are looking for alternatives to Las Colinas.