Hoteliers welcome Ritz, but is market too crowded?

G.J. MCCARTHY / DMN

Workers from Metheny Landscape Services prepare greenery at the entrance to the Ritz-Carlton Dallas.

The Dallas hotel community has high hopes for Texas' first Ritz-Carlton hotel, which opens here Wednesday.

Boosters say it will help Dallas to catch the attention of more meetings business. Local hoteliers say it will create more competition. And Ritz officials say it will bring a new clientele to the city, thanks to its international reputation for luxury and impeccable service.

But some industry watchers say that the new 218-room hotel is entering a market where demand has been slow to recover the downturn that struck the industry in 2001. And, they say, even any extra attention the Ritz brand brings to the city, the hotel will more likely mean less business for everyone, rather than a boost to the lackluster downtown Dallas market.