In 2024, Lodging Econometrics (based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire) reported an all-time high for hotel development projects in the U.S. in its fourth-quarter “U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report,” and in 2025, numbers held steady. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex underscores the incredible amount of development; the metropolitan region continues to lead the nation in number of projects in the pipeline, with the most recent 2025 third-quarter report from Lodging Econometrics noting 197 projects and 24,310 rooms are in progress.
“The growth is really staggering,” says Craig Davis, president and CEO of Visit Dallas. “The whole area is growing in leaps and bounds, and, in 2030, we are expected to take over Chicago as the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.”
Meeting planners will find new and renovated venues aren’t limited to the rapidly growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, however—across the state, hotels, special event venues, and major convention centers are opening, being renovated, and undergoing expansions, providing a wealth of choice for planners of gatherings with varying budgets and attendee preferences.
From mammoth convention center expansions and luxury hotel openings to experiential off-site hot spots, there are fresh venues aplenty primed for meetings, events, and conventions in Texas in 2026.
Hotel Hot Streak
Hotel news abounds in Texas, expanding options for most groups. Houston and Dallas are debuting refreshed properties in advance of hosting FIFA World Cup matches in 2026, when the metropolitan areas and their properties will appear on the global stage.
In Houston, most notably, the JW Marriott Houston Downtown debuted a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion. The hotel transformation includes the reinvention of the adjacent historic Battelstein’s building, formerly a department store that opened in 1924. With the addition of the 10-story building, the hotel now features 384 guest rooms—including 89 suites—creating the largest inventory of luxury rooms in Houston’s historic core. Also, the JW Marriott Houston Downtown added 10,000 square feet of meeting space, bringing the property’s total to 23,500. Additional features include a redesigned restaurant and lounge, plus a rooftop space with a restaurant, bar, and pool.
“This initiative represents an exciting evolution for the JW Marriott Houston Downtown,” says Jelle Vandenbroucke, general manager of the hotel. “We are not just adding rooms—we are redefining the guest experience by creating a hospitality destination that captures the energy, diversity, and sophistication of Houston.”
To the north, the Grand Hyatt DFW wrapped an extensive renovation in February 2026. Conveniently located in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal D, steps from Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and with direct access to all terminals, the property refreshed its guest rooms and upped the key count to 315. A new top-floor executive boardroom and indoor/outdoor rooftop event space overlooking the airport runways adds to the more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space at the hotel, including a 6,600-square-foot ballroom. A reenvisioned lobby, reimagined Grand Met restaurant and lounge—complete with new semiprivate and private dining spaces—and transformed fitness center are other key features of the renovation.
In nearby Arlington, Caravan Court is set to open in May 2026 and will be part of the Valencia Hotel Collection. The hotel will feature 143 guest rooms and 5,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space. The boutique hotel provides a backdrop of understated luxury for corporate meetings in Arlington, paying homage to the mid-century era—with features including the iconic Caravan Motor Hotel sign—and just might be the catalyst to bring renewed energy and development to historic Division Street.
“[The team at] Caravan Court is proud to be part of the revitalization of Arlington’s Division Street district, an area with deep history and a growing creative energy,” says John Thomas, general manager of Caravan Court. “Our hope is that the hotel becomes a gathering place for both visitors and Arlington citizens, [as well as] a place that supports nearby businesses, celebrates the neighborhood’s character, and helps reintroduce Division Street as a destination in its own right. By blending thoughtful design, elevated hospitality, and community-driven programming, we aim to contribute to a more vibrant, connected, and walkable district.”
While San Antonio welcomed several new downtown hotels over the past few years, upping its total to 48,000 hotel rooms citywide, the highly anticipated 200-room Monarch San Antonio, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton portfolio, made waves when it opened in March 2026. Adjacent to HemisFair (the site of HemisFair ’68, the 1968 World’s Fair, which the HemisFair Park Area Redevelopment Corp. and HemisFair Conservancy are redeveloping into a dynamic urban-park destination) and near the Henry B. González Convention Center, the luxury hotel brings 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space that enhances the city’s meetings profile. It presents a fresh, high-end hotel option for groups, filling a needed gap downtown, according to Richard Slutter, managing director of Zachry Hospitality, which owns and operates the hotel.
“The Monarch San Antonio shows planners that [they] can host sophisticated, high-end meetings and events [in a city] they may not have considered before,” Slutter says. “The hotel’s arrival allows the market to compete for top-tier groups that require elevated venues, seamless service, and a more exclusive attendee environment, while furthering the city’s credibility for high-end travel.”
Convention Centers Go Big
The state’s convention centers are some of the largest in the country. What’s more, Texas convention centers are upping the ante, with key cities investing big dollars into these meeting hubs to make them larger, more technologically advanced, and better connected to their downtowns’ meetings-supporting establishments.
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas (KBHCCD) downtown is perhaps the biggest project of them all. A whopping $3 billion is being poured into the venue, which Davis describes as not just a renovation and expansion but “a complete redesign of what we have now.” When the project wraps in 2029, it will have more than 750,000 square feet of exhibit space and 100,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 105,000-square-foot ballroom. The excitement around the project is palpable—Visit Dallas reports more than 75 conventions booked the center for 2029 and beyond, many of which haven’t booked Dallas before. KBHCCD will remain open during construction, which kicked off in spring 2026, although its hosting abilities will be limited as work is completed in phases.
Nearby, the Fort Worth Convention Center—surrounded by 4,000 downtown hotel rooms—is being reimagined, completing Phase 1 in December 2025. The $95 million investment includes food and beverage facilities, an expanded southeast entrance, and increased number of loading docks to 13 (eventually, 16 when Phase 2 wraps), and it clears the way for a new hotel. Phase 2 construction is set to begin in October 2026. Totaling an additional $606 million in investments, the second phase will replace the venue’s outdated arena with a large ballroom and modern, flexible meeting space; renovate existing exhibit space, meeting rooms, and the ballroom; and refresh the overall design informed by conducting focus groups with meeting planners along the way.
Off-Site Venues That Wow
Experiential meetings and events are more than a trend. For many attendees, they are an expectation. Wowing meeting-goers nowadays often requires stepping outside of the hotel or convention center walls, and, fortunately, Texas destinations are filled with venues that provide environments and activities that will stick with attendees long after the gathering wraps and they head home.
Battleship Texas, for example, is an attraction that is set to enhance the Galveston experience for meetings on the Texas Gulf Coast. Following extensive repairs and restoration, America’s last surviving battleship to serve in World War I and World War II will dock at its permanent home in Galveston later this year (date pending). For planners, the ship and museum will provide educational programming, event rental options, and group tours.
History also is made anew at POST Houston, a mixed-use complex in downtown Houston housed in the old U.S. Postal Service sorting facility, formerly known as the Barbara Jordan Post Office. POST Houston opened in 2021, debuting retail spaces, restaurants, exhibitions, and more. At the end of last year, the building introduced two event spaces: Skylawn Room, an intimate rooftop venue specifically designed with modern business needs in mind, and Penthouse, the largest rooftop space at the venue at 7,500 square feet with sweeping views of downtown Houston’s skyline. The former is ideal for corporate events and seminars, with breakout spaces and designated audiovisual technology, while the latter serves as an impressive backdrop for galas and other special events.
In North Dallas, Netflix opened a permanent, year-round fan destination called Netflix House Dallas at Galleria Dallas, where visitors experience their favorite shows in creative applications. The venue is the second of its kind in the nation and caters to meetings and events of 20 to 800 attendees, offering custom dining options, a full bar, and opportunities for groups to explore interactive gameplay experiences, like “Survive the Trials” based on “Squid Game” or the “Stranger Things”-themed “Escape the Dark.”
“I really hope that when people walk in, the first thing they say is, ‘Wow,’” reflects Marian Lee, chief marketing officer at Netflix, noting that the level of intricate detail within the venue might well make meeting and event attendees “want to turn to the people they are with and say, ‘That’s impressive.’”
It’s that commitment to detail, professionalism, and hospitality that makes Texas a meetings and events powerhouse. Whether your program involves networking in the worlds of Netflix’s most buzzworthy shows or getting business done in one of the state’s newest hotels or convention spaces, it’s undeniable that Texas is one of the hottest places to meet in the U.S.
Get Connected
battleshiptexas.org
dallasconventioncenter.com
fortworth.com/convention-center
hilton.com
hyatt.com
marriott.com
netflix.com/house
posthtx.com
valenciahotelgroup.com
wyndhamhotels.com
