Plan Your Meetings

Arlington

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Watch for:

  • The city of Arlington is planning to expand its convention center and construct a new, full-service convention hotel; look for details in spring 2008.
  • The Dallas Cowboys move to the $650 million Cowboys Stadium in 2009. Surrounding the stadium will be a new retail/dining/entertainment complex. The stadium will be across the street from Rangers Ballpark; it will host Superbowl XLV in February 2011.

Attractions

Ranger Ballpark (formerly Ameriquest Field) is home to the Texas Rangers. In addition to a private dining facility and a club with VIP seating, the stadium has the Legends of the Game Baseball Museum and Learning Center, picnic areas and patio event space. The River Legacy Living Science Center has interactive exhibits on the environment, and guided tours of an adjacent 1,300-acre park. Attractions at the Planetarium at University of Texas at Arlington include a 3-D show. The nearby community of Grand Prairie has greyhound racing at Lone Star Park and the Louis Tussaud’s Wax and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.

Entertainment

Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue has country music performances. Theatre Arlington presents Broadway-style shows. Six Flags Over Texas, which also has meeting facilities, is the largest theme park of its kind in the Southwest. Hurricane Harbor has 150 interactive water-based activities and 26 waterslides. Arlington also has day spas.

Shopping

Malls include Lincoln Square (an open-air market with boutique and name-brand shops) and Parks at Arlington (more than 200 shops and ice skating). More than 100 specialty boutiques are found at The Shoppes at Brownstone Village, which also has a full-service salon, a gourmet Italian bistro and a boutique winery. Traders Village is a weekend flea market and festival complex that attracts more than 3.5 million people a year.

Dining

Cacharel is a French fine-dining restaurant with prix-fixe menus. Xouba Restaurant & Lounge serves Latin-Asian fusion cuisine in a South Beach club atmosphere; private dining for up to 300 is available. Other recommended restaurants include Piccolo Mondo Italian Restaurant, Trail Dust Steak House (where neckties will be cut off) and Buck ’n Loons. The Boardwalk Winery and Marketplace in Brownstone Village is available for private tasting parties.

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The 411:
  • 48,600-sq. ft. column-free exhibit hall in convention center
  • 1,500 hotel rooms
  • 25 minutes to downtown Fort Worth
  • 30 minutes to downtown Dallas
  • 10-15 minutes to DFW Airport
  • $40 million+ spent on hotel renovations in past three years
What you should know
  • Arlington is the recreational heart of the Metroplex, which is why the town calls itself "Fun Central." Located almost half-way between Dallas and Fort Worth, to the west of Grand Prairie, Arlington is home to Texas Rangers baseball at Rangers Ballpark (formerly Ameriquest Field) and, beginning in 2009, Dallas Cowboys football. Other special facilities include the Mediterranean Villa, the Planetarium at the University of Texas, River Legacy Parks and Living Science Center, Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor, and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie.