Plano Texas Hotels: Three Reviews

Checking into a hotel in Plano, Texas.
Checking into the Aloft Hotel hotel in Plano, Texas.

By Max Hartshorne
GoNOMAD Editor

During a stay in Plano, Texas I had the pleasure of touring three relatively new hotel properties eight years ago. Each one had its own particular appeal…but they all seemed to me to be a step ahead of their competition in guest-centric innovation and a continual eye on the ball. What’s new with these hotels now, during the Pandemic, in September 2020?

I called to find out.

Dallas/Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center
Dallas/Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center

The occasion of my first visit to the area was the Plano Balloon Festival, the second-largest event in the US for this friendly aeronautic sport.

Harsh desert winds wreaked havoc with some of the hot air balloons, my pilot decided she didn’t want to fly and risk a bumpy landing.

I can also heartily recommend a funky tasty roadhouse located just outside the city. Love and War in Texas features live rock and roll and the patrons enjoy the ambiance of picnic tables in a covered outdoor terrace.

So we got rock and roll, great big slabs of barbecued beef, and no balloon aerobatics. Below are reviews and comments about three hotels in this city near Dallas.

Dallas/Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center

(www.marriott.com).

Entrance to Nylo Hotel, Plano Texas. photos by Max Hartshorne
Entrance to Nylo Hotel, Plano Texas. photos by Max Hartshorne

My hotel room was huge…Texas huge. I felt that they had everything covered. There was a giant living room and a comparably huge bedroom and generous bath.

Another guest and his family were thrilled with it all. “This Marriott hotel is very nice and the staff is so polite and welcoming.

The rooms, fitness center, and other facilities, are all very clean, well designed, and up to date. We’ll be staying here again and again. I stay in Marriotts every month, and I’d say this the hotel and its staff make this a must-see, not to be overlooked are the great rates.

Was traveling with my kids and they had an adjoining room, and the attendant at the front desk gave them special kids-themed door key cards, which my wife and I thought was a nice touch, and the kids loved. The concierge lounge is not open on the weekends, which would have been nice. Overall, great value, great staff, great hotel, you won’t be disappointed.

Aloft hotel, Plano, Texas
Aloft Hotel, Plano, Texas

NYLO Hotel

(www.nylohotels.com).

This hotel is located in a big field that once grazed cattle. But inside, it’s all NYC meatpacking district. The entrance is full of exposed pipes and ducts.

Music filters through every part of the place, nonstop hip grooves that would annoy me if I stayed more than a night or two.

The rooms were decorated unlike most hotel rooms, more assertive and defined here.

With brick walls and dramatic arched windows, the rooms have an anti-hotel feel to them. Loft Kings have beds on elevated platforms and everyone has free wifi. Plus there is a good amount of room on the desk to get work done should that be necessary.

“Treated Us Like Royalty”

Love and War in Texas features live rock and roll in Plano.
Love and War in Texas features live rock and roll in Plano.

One guest gushed about this hotel. From TripAdvisor: “This was my first time at NYLO in Plano and it completely exceeded every one of my expectations. My wife and I spent New Years’ Eve at the bar in the hotel at NYLO and I must say it was beyond belief.

The staff treated us like royalty and the setup was beyond belief! There was a huge jumbotron set up outside with tables, two outside bars, a hot dog stand, and even lights that really made you feel like you were attending a members-only elite celebration in the heart of New York.

The food and drinks were outstanding and you never had to wait. I’ve attended plenty of New Year’s Eve parties and this is one party and a hotel I cannot wait to go back to!!!

But another guest said it was more like a five-story nightclub than a hotel since even in his fourth-floor room, the music from the first-floor pool area was very loud. “I called the front desk, and they said it would stop…at 1 am!”

Hotel room at Aloft, Plano Texas.
Hotel room at Aloft, Plano Texas.

Another guest made NYLO a staycation destination since they live in Plano! My wife and I stayed at Nylo over Thanksgiving along with our niece and her boyfriend for a “staycation”. My wife & I had a suite with a very large balcony and our niece & boyfriend stayed in a regular room next door.

We chose NYLO because it’s near our house and because they have concrete floors we were able to bring our dog, niece’s dog & boyfriend’s dog with us. The rooms were spartan/minimalist but very comfortable and inexpensively priced. This isn’t a Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton but the staff was very friendly and we enjoyed our stay. Room Tip: Get the suite with the balcony.

Aloft Hotel

www.alofthotels.com/plano
6853 North Dallas Parkway Plano

Here not only are the rooms cozy but the common areas are cozy fun too. It’s bright and shiny everywhere, rooms have a device that charges anything you can turn on. They call it ‘loft-inspired design,’ to me that means this comfy colorful cool. They have a bar that is also nicely laid out called XYZ bar. Eclectic beats, sassy DJ mixes, and cool tunes are the order of the night.

Aloft hotels is a dog-friendly property in Plano, TX.
Aloft Hotels: a dog-friendly property in Plano, TX.

Perfect Location

From TripAdvisor: We stayed here overnight for a quick shopping trip.

– The location was perfect for that — right off the highway, close to many malls, a high-end restaurant/movie center (Legacy), Ikea, etc.
– the lobby was noisy because of the busy bar, but the rooms were quiet
– the rooms were set up well to watch TV, sleep and use your iPad and things. The bed was better than budget hotels too.
– the decor was cool, maybe not piled off perfectly, but still far better than the chains
– it was a good value
– my husband loved the rain shower
And here is what one guest thought about the place.

“I’m in my 30s, I can appreciate the young and fun atmosphere, and the lobby and bar area are very cool…but come ON. The modern aesthetic is cute but wears thin very fast when you realize your hotel room looks like a prison cell, complete with the lowest-grade furniture money can buy. I’m talking dorm room. The bed is very low to the ground and uncomfortable. The closet is a joke, I could barely get 3 dress shirts and my 2 pairs of dress pants in there.

Bad Reviews

The Internet is terrible…it’s so slow it is unusable. And the location? You’re basically marooned on the wrong side of a highway with NO restaurants or stores that are even remotely walkable (not by distance, but by the danger of walking across an extremely busy highway intersection!”

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