Who Knew Spas Made a Difference? One Survey Thinks Dallas-Fort Worth Isn’t a Staycation Haven

We spend a lot of money on a home and the amenities. Sometimes, some of us pay so much for our castles that it doesn’t make sense to leave them, even when we’re supposed to.

You have to be wired a certain way to stay home for a staycation, but so many do in the pandemic era.

It’s affordable, but in North Texas, staycations are not the best way of taking time off. In WalletHub’s 2021 Best & Worst Cities for Staycations, Dallas-Fort Worth is not a good destination for a staycation. WalletHub data set ranged from parks per capita to restaurant-meal costs to the share of residents who are vaccinated.

In a survey of 180 cities using 46 indicators, D-FW scored awful.

Dallas was the highest-ranked city, 72nd. Plano was 75th. Fort Worth ranked 132nd. The suburbs didn’t do so well either. Grand Prairie was 162nd, Arlington 164th, and Irving 166th.

The kick in the pants was Garland (174th) being ranked as the worst city in Texas for a staycation. Arlington was ranked 164th, scoring low in food and entertainment, which is kind of bogus, considering all the entertainment venues (AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, Choctaw Stadium, etc.).

Fort Worth also was hurt by having the fewest swimming pools per capita (92nd). Irving lacked tennis courts per capita (93rd). Grand Prairie was 173rd because it didn’t have enough spas.

It’s also a wild analysis. In Wallethub’s 2020 staycation study, Plano was chosen as the nation’s top city for staycations. This year, Plano slipped and a big reason was that it ranked 127th in food and entertainment — the same Plano with the Legacy West shopping and cultural district.

Honolulu was atop the rankings because it was first in recreation, 15th in food and entertainment, and fifth in rest and relaxation.

Of all of WalletHub’s surveys, I take issue with this edition. North Texas might not be Honolulu, but it offers plenty within an hour’s drive.

“We live in such a diverse country, in all definitions of the word, there are great things to do almost everywhere,” Christopher J. Wynveen, associate professor at Baylor University, said in the report. “As I said before, staycations are more about the state of mind than the activity. My favorite vacations have not been about the activities, but about time with family and friends.”