My kind of place: Direct to Dallas

In December, Etihad launches direct flights from Abu Dhabi to Dallas - a city that's driven by a heady combination of luxury, wealth and a generous dose of the Wild West.

The Reunion district and observation tower in downtown Dallas. Image by Cameron Davidson / Corbis

Why Dallas?

You’re never going to get an apology from Dallas about what it is. It’s a city that doesn’t want to be known for the small, the kooky and the humble. Dallas is a city where big money is made, and it sees no reason to be shy about this. The power swagger is on, the shiny glass company headquarters act as statements on the skyline, and the size and cut of your steak matter.

From the UAE, Dallas is the gateway to Texas. That may mean heading south to the decidedly more independent and quirky capital Austin. It may mean veering south-east to Houston, home of the oil industry. But chances are you will stay put – Dallas is where most of the shop talk is done.

The new direct Etihad route from Abu Dhabi, launching on December 3, joins the existing Emirates route from Dubai – making those multimillion-dollar deal-clinching handshakes a lot easier to get to.

Dallas may be all about the dollars, but this has some handy side effects. The main one is that there’s plenty to spend on culture; the city has splashed out on a world-class collection of galleries, museums and public art. The quality of life is high, with swathes of parkland and several upmarket restaurants that make visitors think: “You know what? They’re right not to apologise.”

A comfortable bed

The Joule (www.thejouledallas.com; 001 214 748 1300) is the city's modernistic stunner, with grandstanding art installations such as the giant turning waterwheel in a lobby area that has been refurbished as a hypercool social hub. The rooms are richly luxurious, with lashings of dark wood, beds that you can pretty much cocoon yourself in and photography of Dallas landmarks adding a local touch. Doubles cost from US$459 (Dh1,689).

The nearby Adolphus (www.hoteladolphus.com; 001 214 742 8200) goes for a more classic, grand-hotel approach. The wow factor starts in the lobby, with OTT old-world wood panelling, tapestries and billowing plants. The bedrooms aren't quite as dressed to impress, but still contain touches of timeless class and glamour. Deluxe king rooms start from $191 (Dh703).

If choosing somewhere out of the city centre, the art deco Stoneleigh (www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien; 001 214 871 7111) in the swanky Uptown area offers plenty of natural light and smartly appointed, spacious, marble-splashed rooms. The extensive spa is the real highlight of this one, though, and it has recently come under the Le Méridien umbrella. King rooms cost from $300 (Dh1,104) a night.

A leafier, more dignitary-targeted option nearby is the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (www.rosewoodhotels.com; 001 214 559 2100). It's the flagship property of the Rosewood chain, and retains a stately but relaxed feel inside the tastefully converted former mansion. Rooms start at $525 (Dh1,932).

Find your feet

Despite being a sprawling city that requires a car most of the time, it's easy enough to spend a day on foot linking together the cultural highlights in the city centre. You may as well start by embracing your inner conspiracy theorist at Dealey Plaza, the spot where John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The former Texas School Book Depository Building, from where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly fired the fatal shots, is now home to the superb Sixth Floor Museum (www.jfk.org; 001 214 747 6660). It offers a detailed delve into the events of that day, the aftermath and the theories surrounding the assassination. No definitive answers are given – but the footage and eyewitness accounts send shivers up the spine.

The Old Red Museum (www.oldred.org; 001 214 757 1100) is on the other side of Dealey Plaza and focuses on the less macabre history of the city itself. The surprise is the speed from which Dallas turned from a river crossing in the middle of nowhere to a major commercial hub.

From there, head over to Pioneer Plaza, where the best of Dallas’s many public artworks can be found. The herd of bronze cattle statues, interspersed with whip-cracking horsemen, is a hugely ambitious evocation of the state’s cowboy roots.

At the northern end of Downtown Dallas, the two biggest cultural attractions cluster opposite each other. The Dallas Museum of Art (www.dma.org; 001 214 922 1200) manages to reel off most of the big names – Monet, Matisse, Picasso, etc – and has a good collection of art from the United States. But the Ancient American section, featuring indigenous pieces from across the continent, is the standout.

The Nasher Sculpture Center (www.nashersculpturecenter.org; 001 214 242 5100) is arguably more memorable, though. Designed by Renzo Piano, it contains plenty of arresting works that result in regular double takes and further inspection.

Meet the locals

There's absolutely no question what the main sport is here – American football rules, and by a comfortable distance. The Dallas Cowboys (www.dallascowboys.com) are traditional gridiron heavyweights – the sort of team that everyone else hates and is dying to beat. But book tickets in advance – from $80 (Dh295) – as the home games at the purpose-built, 80,000-seater AT&T stadium regularly sell out.

Book a table

Downtown dining excellence peaks with the five-course, $110 (Dh405) tasting menu at the exquisitely old-world French Room inside the Adolphus hotel. It’s a jackets-required kind of joint, but the food – especially the duo of duck breast and beef tenderloin – is worth dressing up for.

With an eponymous restaurant near the Museum of Art, Stephan Pyles (www.stephanpylesrestaurant.com; 001 214 580 7000) is regarded as the king of innovative south-western food, which blends high-quality local ingredients with a Latin American penchant for spicing. Smoky, bold flavours are the calling card and the signature dish is the $54 (Dh199) bone-in cowboy rib-eye, with red chilli onion rings and mushroom ragout.

For something a bit more hip – and you'd better reserve in advance, as the locals are thinking exactly the same thing – Lucia (www.luciadallas.com; 001 214 948 4998) in the Bishop Arts District has brought traditional Italian food kicking and screaming into the modern day. Dishes such as the $30 (Dh111) rabbit leg with cauliflower purée and chanterelles ensure it has quality as well as a cool factor.

Shopper’s paradise

The whiff of leather hits instantly at Wild Bill's Western Store (www.wildbillswestern.com, 001 214 954 1050), and this is the spot to indulge in those cowboy fantasy purchases. Boots, belts and Stetsons line the shelves – yee ha.

For a selection somewhat less focused on dead cows, Nieman Marcus (www.niemanmarcus.com; 001 214 741 6911) on Main Street is the multilevel department store that attracts platinum card-packed but discerning wallets.

But for avid shoppers, the Highland Park Village (www.hpvillage.com) should be a pilgrimage site. It was the world's first shopping mall when it opened in 1931, and has been a National Historic Landmark since 2000. Most people who hand their keys to the parking valet aren't overly concerned about the history, though – they're there to indulge in designer-label spending. Christian Louboutin, Diane von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera and Tom Ford are among the big names with impeccably polished stores.

What to avoid

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Dallas might be a pleasant escape from the summer heat in the Gulf. The summer months – July and August in particular – can be oppressively hot, with temperatures regularly over the 40-degree mark. The Texans get out then if they can, and look somewhat puzzled at anyone choosing that time of year to visit.

Don’t miss

Presidential libraries are an intriguing American phenomenon, and they’re almost always worth visiting. They’re generally built as somewhat reverential ego massages for former presidents, but tend to act as a fascinating snapshot of the period in which they were commanders-in-chief.

Dallas didn't exactly get the best president to build a library there, but that general rule still applies. Unsurprisingly, the George W Bush Presidential Library and Museum (www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu; 001 214 346 1650) goes rather easy on its subject, but it does offer surprisingly high levels of insight into the first decade of this century among the folksy pictures of Bush with his family.

Getting there

Direct Etihad (www.etihad.com; 02 599 0000) flights to Dallas from Abu Dhabi cost from Dh3,855 in economy and Dh15,405 in business.