The design of Dallas’ Hôtel Swexan, whose playful moniker is a blend of developer Gabriel Barbier-Mueller’s Swiss heritage and its Texan locale, reads like the city. Its commercial-looking façade – designed in consultation with Kengo Kuma – is as strait-laced and slick as surrounding towers, but its interior offers an international welcome inspired by an array of global metropolises.
Kuma, who has designed several projects with Harwood, including the nearby Rolex building, says of the Swexan, ‘We were assigned the task of designing the building’s façades, which for us was like tailoring a suit – precise and crisp in the Swiss approach and relaxed and robust in the Texan spirit – made of local materials. The horizontals and verticals build on the theme found throughout our projects for Harwood, a loose and woven grid. This suit should feel made for the spaces and the rich diversity within, welcoming, with surprising moments and movement throughout. We are interested in the continuity between regional tradition and cosmopolitan modernity. This exterior coat sets the tone and wears through the day with changing light, from morning to dusk and into the evening.’
Hôtel Swexan is now open in Dallas' Harwood District
At Isabelle’s, guests can indulge in continental breakfast and light lunch options inspired by the sidewalk cafes of Europe
The linearity of the exterior is softened inside by the use of over 100 different types of natural stone and wood, each hand-picked and sourced from different suppliers. The in-house design team says that architectural elements are inspired by a classical 19th-century Parisian residence-turned-hotel, with comfortable yet elegant furniture and intricate, hand-carved stone and wooden fireplaces on every floor of the hotel.
Isabelle’s
Every floor is designed to be a unique immersive experience, a work of art in itself, revealed as the elevator doors open. Consider the 20th-floor with its infinity-edge swimming pool and a Moroccan-inspired deck overlooking the Dallas skyline; or the private social club on the seventh floor, where executive chef Taylor Kearney heads Hôtel Swexan’s signature steakhouse, Stillwell’s.
The hotel’s 134 residential-feeling guest rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows and one-of-a-kind bathrooms, complete with different wallpapers, lighting, sink fixtures, floors, and tiling. Ten premium suites each have a unique design, and public spaces are filled with art, including pieces from the Barbier-Muellers’ personal collection of Japanese Samurai armour.
Léonie is the crowning jewel of Hôtel Swexan and rests high above the Harwood District
Inspired by deep Texan roots, Stillwell’s is the hotel’s signature classic steakhouse
The hotel opening marks the culmination of the developer’s five-decade commitment to transforming the 19-city block ‘Harwood district’ into a walkable, pedestrianised place to live and play – a Dallas version of Vancouverism. But the sumptuous and self-contained surroundings of Swexan are so seductive that guests might easily stay cocooned in their rooms, connected to the city by the tower’s stellar views.
Pomelo is the hotel’s Moroccan-inspired rooftop pool bar
-
A24 just opened a restaurant in New York, and no one knows it existsHidden in the West Village, Wild Cherry pairs a moody, arthouse sensibility with a supper-style menu devised by the team behind Frenchette
-
Yinka Ilori’s new foundation is dedicated to play and joy: ‘Play gave me freedom to dream’Today, artist and designer Yinka Ilori announced the launch of a non-profit organisation that debuts with a playscape in Nigeria
-
Benjamin Moore's 2026 colour of the year is here — and it's a perfect balance of 'comfortable and chic'Silhouette AF-655, a soft mocha-charcoal hue, draws inspiration from classical suiting and timeless interiors
-
A24 just opened a restaurant in New York, and no one knows it exists
Hidden in the West Village, Wild Cherry pairs a moody, arthouse sensibility with a supper-style menu devised by the team behind Frenchette
-
Seven kitchens, one fire: inside LA’s hottest new food marketAt Maydan Market, chef Rose Previte turns global street food and layered design into a vibrant, fire-lit experience
-
The Viceroy Hotel Group wants you to get on your bikeAcross properties in Santa Monica, Chicago, Washington DC and the Algarve, Viceroy guests can experience curated cycling routes and community events
-
Big flavours and bold design define La Nena Cantina, Los Angeles's newest Mexican hotspotFrom handmade tortillas to 40-ingredient mole, this new Sunset Boulevard restaurant takes Mexican cuisine seriously
-
Aperitivo time is this Los Angeles bar’s ‘ragione di vita’Located in Echo Park, Bar Bacetti is a welcoming haunt celebrating the great Italian ‘art of snacking’
-
This boisterous cocktail bar in Denver was inspired by Le CorbusierA 1950s furniture showroom has been reborn as a modernist social hub in the city’s Sunnyside neighbourhood. Its cocktails? Semiprecious
-
In Los Angeles, Darling doesn’t want to be your average dinner spotVinyl, live-fire cooking, and California’s finest ingredients come together in this immersive new concept from a celebrated Southern chef
-
The best dinner party in San Francisco is thrown at this bistro and vinyl barA new chapter begins in Mission Creek as Side A opens in the former Universal Café space
