From HGTV to hospitality: Chip and Joanna Gaines are opening a hotel
Home renovation celebs Chip and Joanna Gaines are pretty much the Jay-Z and Beyoncé of the television home improvement world. And now, loyal viewers of the couple's hit show "Fixer Upper" have a new shot at being a part of the Gaines Empire.
The former HGTV stars are expanding their domain and have announced that they will be opening their own hotel in Waco, Texas, just a few blocks from the couple's popular Magnolia Market at the Silos. The Silos is essentially an entertainment, shopping and culinary destination for Fixer Upper fans. Scheduled to be up and running by 2021, the hotel will be in a 53,000-square-foot space that was a former county office building, according to TODAY, and that will be transformed into a boutique downtown hotel. It will feature a "grand ballroom, a full restaurant, a rooftop terrace and a café."
"Home is a feeling, created by and for the people you love and share your life with; it's a state of being known and loved just as you are," the Gaines' said in a press release. "That is our dream for this hotel — that it would serve as an extension of the way we feel about our own home and all it represents to us, and that every guest who comes to stay would experience that same sense of belonging and community."
For those interested in booking a room when the hotel opens in 2021 (or visiting the Silos earlier), Waco is roughly equidistant between Austin and Dallas off of I-35, so it could easily be combined with a trip to either city. You'll almost certainly need a car rental if you fly into Austin or Dallas, since it's about a 90-mile journey from either city into Waco. However, Waco does technically have its own regional airport (airport code ACT) that is served via connecting service on American Airlines from Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW). So, you can use those American Airlines miles to fly right into town.
If you can't wait until 2021 for your next Gaines-inspired vacation, you can always visit one of their remodeled Airbnbs. Just make sure to use the right card when it does come time to book this highly-anticipated hotel. There's no word if the hotel will include a loyalty program for the duo's most loyal of fans or be bookable via a program such as Chase Travel. Let's just hope it's not a fixer upper.
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