Gaylord Texan Resort Atriums (Lone Star, Hill Country and Riverwalk)

The Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center opened on 2 April 2004 in Grapevine, between Dallas and Fort Worth, on the shore of Lake Grapevine. According to Wikipedia, Hnedak Bobo Group is its architect and Balfour Beatty Construction, formerly Centex, its main contractor; it is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties, formerly Gaylord Entertainment, and operated by Marriott. It belongs to the same family as Gaylord Opryland and Gaylord Palms, both also built around covered gardens. The hotel has 1,814 rooms, 127 suites and 486,000 square feet of meeting space.

The complex hosts the ICE (or Lone Star Christmas) event every year and, each autumn, the College Football Playoff committee; QuakeCon was held there in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2017 and 2018, then from 2023 to 2026. A Texas Highways article from July 2014 already described the atrium as a glass "mini theme park" of four and a half acres, split into geographic sections.

According to the hotel's website, the glass atriums cover four and a half acres and draw on three regions of Texas; the official resort plan names them Lone Star, Hill Country and Riverwalk. Texas Highways speaks of geographic sections "from San Antonio's River Walk to Palo Duro Canyon", with indoor gardens, winding waterways, shops and restaurants. A 2023 travel account describes a river whose figurative source is a windmill, a large fountain whose jet rises to about the fifth floor, a wedding venue and two miniature train layouts, the rooms forming a circle around the void.

The roof is glazed. The Commons photographs show a triangulated steel frame carrying glazing, with, at the top of a dome, a large Texas star drawn into the framework, above palm trees and a wooden bridge. On satellite imagery, a vast octagonal glass roof with radiating ribs occupies the centre of the building, with other, smaller glass roofs to the west and north. At ground level, stone and Spanish-inspired façades, including a "Texan Station" sign, house shops and restaurants.

The hotel speaks of lush gardens and winding waterways in atriums, and the Commons photographs do show palm trees, cascading rockwork, beds of green shrubs along the paths and, in the festive season, poinsettias planted at the foot of a rock wall, beside the watercourse.

The plantings mix with other elements: a central fountain, a wedding venue, miniature train layouts, shops and restaurants whose terraces open onto the atrium. Each winter the hotel decorates its atriums for Christmas: its website announces more than two million lights and 4.5 acres of decor.

The atriums are the hotel's circulation hub: guests pass through them to reach rooms, restaurants and shops, and balcony rooms overlook them. The establishment is private and in operation. The hotel's Christmas website says most holiday events and activities are open to day guests as well as overnight guests, with parking charged per entry; a 2023 travel account speaks of activities for guests and day visitors. Free entry to the atriums should be checked with the hotel.

The visit combines with Lake Grapevine, historic downtown Grapevine and, at the end of the year, the ICE attraction, announced for 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 and sold separately. According to Texas Highways, the hotel is five minutes from Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport.