I will be staying in Dallas for 2 weekend nights before a business trip. It is my first visit to the city and I will have to stay at the Adam's Mark for the business portion. I have been looking around for something a little more exotic for the Saturday Sunday night before the business and this hotel seems to fit the bill.

Does anyone have any experience with the Melrose, or can you suggest something else.

I would like to stay central to downtown.

Thanks,

Are you into the gay scene?
The Melrose is lovely but if you are wanting to go out on foot at night, keep in mind that you will be in the middle of the gay area of Dallas.
Women and couples have a great time but some straight guys feel a little uncomfortable.
Are you wanting to party?
Let me know what you are looking for and I can tell you what hotel to stay at.

Stoneleigh is also worth looking into. What sort of exotic are you looking for.

Sheesh!

I'm straight and I'm going with my wife. Well, I wanted to learn about the hotel, didn't I?

Is it that much of a gay scene at the hotel?

You might consider the following:
The Melrose, close to great food and fun clubs which are gay but straight friendly.
The Adolphus, which is next door to the original Neiman Marcus.
The Magnolia, a great boutique hotel near the Adolphus.
The Mansion - Great but overpriced, over hyped.
The Crescent - Great but a bit uptight.
The Stoneleigh - OK... fun area
Hotel St. Germaine - Funky as in funk. I hated it.

Exotic means a lot of different things to different people. Just trying to get what you were looking for.

If you are not homophobic, it will be fine. There are a lot of straight as well as gay people in the area. I live in the area, and really enjoy the eclectic nature (within a mile radius: uptown-young upscale; turtle creek-old rich; maple-hispanic neighborhoods; highland park-old rich; oaklawn-gayish)

Being a Dallas-ite I feel compelled to clarify the 'gay issue' with regards to the Melrose. YES, it's on the corner of Oak Lawn & Cedar Springs which is an area that has several gay bars around it. HOWEVER the Melrose itself is a charming place and I certainly wouldn't characterize the hotel as "into the gay scene". In fact they have an excellent restaurant there (Landmark) and a very good bar, 'The Library' (hetero, hetero) which is a nice spot for drinks & listening to piano player --- either the hotel or it's website can give you day/time when piano bar is in full swing.

I suspect you'll already have come and gone to Dallas by October --- anyone else researching hotels should note that a new hotel is scheduled to open in Dallas in the 'uptown area' (north of downtown) in October 2002. Read an article recently about the Hotel Zaza and they will have the wonderful chef Stephen Pyle working their restaurant. It's a 140-rm hotel on Leonard St, just off McKinney Ave.

As I said "The Melrose is lovely but if you are wanting to go out on foot at night, keep in mind that you will be in the middle of the gay area of Dallas."
Nothing about gay nightlife INSIDE the hotel. We love the Melrose but my husband is not so crazy about walking around the area on foot at night.
I have had a blast at Sue Ellens and JR's but he's just not into it...
There are other posts about ZaZa in this forum, too.

Your husband has a problem, "TravelPro."

Four years ago I stayed at the Melrose and it was the worst experience I've ever had at a supposedly fine hotel.
Save your money. Stay somewhere else...The service was wretched. I was there with a group, had been booked for a year. They didn't have places for some of us and sent some down the street to another hotel. Then, when there were problems with rooms (and there were many!), the management didn't care. Now, possibly, things have changed since then, but with an elegant hotel and a fairly high price, one does expect better. Stay at the Adolphus instead.