Where to stay

Choosing where to stay in this region comes down to the kind of trip you are planning. Austin and San Antonio anchor the south, each with 15 hotels and 2 five-star properties, and both make family rooms easy to find. Further north, Nashville offers 15 hotels and 4 five-star options, while St. Louis matches Austin and San Antonio with 15 hotels and 2 five-star addresses. Houston leans toward luxury with 5 five-star hotels, and Dallas has the deepest five-star count of all at 7.

The western and northern cities round out the map. Fort Worth brings 14 hotels, Kansas City and Oklahoma City each hold their own character, and smaller stops like Branson, Louisville, Memphis, Omaha and Irving suit travellers who want a quieter base. Parking is available in nearly every city, so a car opens up more of the region. Match the city to your itinerary first, then the hotel tier to your comfort level.

Three-star hotels are the practical choice across most of these cities: they cover the basics and appear in every destination here, from Austin's 15 hotels to Oklahoma City's 11. Four- and five-star properties concentrate in the bigger metros. Dallas leads with 7 five-star hotels, Houston follows with 5, and Nashville has 4. Austin, San Antonio and St. Louis each hold 2. Fort Worth, Kansas City, Louisville and Memphis have no five-star hotels at all, so travellers wanting that tier should look to Dallas, Houston or Nashville. If family rooms matter more than stars, San Antonio and Houston both list 9 family-friendly hotels.