phieaglefan

I am taking my Daughter and two friends to Dallas for an overnight shopping trip as a birthday gift for my Daughter. I'm thinking an Embassy Suites would work nice, two sleeping areas, indoor pool, and free breakfast for the bottomless pits! (15 year olds). My question is, would Grapevine Mills or the Galleria be more fun. None of them will actually have gobs of money to spend, so I guess I'm looking for which one has more fun teen things. I saw that Grapevine Mills has a Game Works and also a Rainforest Cafe, but I've not been to this mall and wanted some input. Both have Embassy Suites within about 1/2 mile.

Oh, one more quick question. I've heard so much about Sam Moon on Harry Hines Blvd. Is this the type of store 15 year olds would appreciate, or should we just stick to the mall?

Thanks as always for any and all advice.

ChristieP

Grapevine Mills, DEFINITELY! Both malls have ice rinks, but the Mills will have more people there who are closer to their ages. If the girls do not have tons of $ to spend, they won't be able to buy many things at the Galleria, but they will be able to buy lots of things at the Mills since it is more outlets. The stores there are also more fun-oriented than those at the upscale Galleria.

SAM MOON ROCKS!!! Your girls will LOVE it! They have TONS of inexpensive jewelry, purses, belts, etc. at wholesale prices. You'll probably find some thing you can't live without, too. The purse I'm currently carrying came from my latest Sam Moon trip! It's only a 10-minute drive from Grapevine.

If your girls are into beads and making jewelry, downtown Grapevine has two EXCELLENT bead stores on Main Street. There's also an excellent gelato store, Flavors of Florence, on the north end of Main. (I live in Grapevine, BTW.)

kopp

There's a nice ice skating rink inside the Galleria. The girls may enjoy that as a diversion. The Galleria is very upscale, with all the fancy stores.

As an added bonus, it even has a place that sells gelato! It's not quite what you'd find in Italy, but for Texas, it's pretty close!

Happy travels!

dlfranek

Definitely Grapevine Mills and Sam Moons for ultimate accessory shopping and great prices.

Jayne1973

If you are considering Sam Moon and malls, you might be interested in the other Sam Moon, which is located right next to Stonbriar Mall in Frisco. It's a straight shot up 121 North from the Embassy Suites in Grapevine. It will take you about 30 minutes to get there, I think, depending on traffic. The Stonebriar Mall is huge and kind of a happy medium between Grapevine Mills and Galleria. Although I am sure the girls will enjoy anywhere you take them, I will tell you that my three daughters don't like Grapevine Mills Mall. It's an outlet mall and they just think it's too big and they can never find what they want. But then they have plenty of malls to choose from so are probably pickier. Note-- Sam Moon is closed on Sundays if that helps in your planning.

TxTravelPro

I don't get the response above at all... but here's mine.
My teenage daughter hates Grapevine Mills. I love it but I am 40 and looking for shoes, luggage and other uncool stuff.
She LOVES Sam Moon and the L'Patricia clothing store that is next door to it.
It takes quite a while to go through all the stuff in the little shopping center so allow yourself plenty of time.
She also likes Stonebriar. I'd still go to the Harry hines location of Sam Moon, I can imagine any other location would be the same. Rent is cheap on Harry Hines and it is not in Frisco.
The Galleria is no more upscale than many malls. It does not have Sears or JC Penny but it has a huge Old Navy.
My daughter likes the Galleria, even if she doesn't have much money. Macy's has excellent clearance bargains and she spends a lot of time in the Sephora.

ChristieP

The "anchor" stores at the Galleria include Macy's, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Most teeneage girls I know can't afford to shop at those stores! Yes, it does have an Old Navy, too, but the majority of the stores there are more upscale.

Austin

My teen daughter and I are going for an overnight at Grapevine Mills this Spring Break. We hope to stay at the Amerisuites. Supposedly right there at the mall too. I may check out the Embassy Suites....

ChristieP

Yes, the Amerisuites is right next to the mall. There's also a Homewood Suites nearby, too. The Embassy Suites are just a bit down the road next to the Bass Pro World store. Embassy is much fancier than the other two, but all are nice.

TxTravelPro

I agree Christie... but most teenage girls that I shop with (almost every weekend) are not shopping at the typical anchor stores anyway.
The current seasons of popular brands such as Polo, Tommy, Diesel, etc... are not discounted, even at Foleys or Dillards. Ditto with make-up and shoes. Nordstrom will match any other stores price on shoes. Why? Because the new Diesel shoes are the same price everywhere, Foleys and Nordstrom. So I suppose it depends on what you are shopping for. There is more past season merchandise at Grapevine Mills but for the stuff that is in the current issue of Teen and Seventeen, The Galleria is the place. If you don't like it you can always head 2 blocks East to Valley View which has a huge Sears and other lower end retailers. Not my favorite mall but my teen likes it because it is HUGE and has tons of inventory, lots of clearance.
More than the malls, the teens in my area LOVE to head to Mockingbird Station (Mockingbird @ 75)on a DART train to shop at Urban Outfitters. The huge store is totally designed for young hipsters, it's a no-brianer if you want to thrill the kids.

phieaglefan

Thanks everyone for all the pertinent replies. I guess I'm leaning toward Grapevine Mills, but if the girls are bored, there's nothing stopping us from hitting the Galleria also. Then I can post back here on their reactions to both!

Austin, as I said in my message, free breakfast and indoor pool are what swayed me toward Embassy Suites!

TxTravelPro - Thanks for the Urban Outfitters suggestion. Our list of shopping venues is growing!

Thanks again everyone.