San Antonio B&Bs, San Antonio Riverwalk Hotels - 2

Contemporary Hotels

Watermark Hotel and Spa

The Watermark Hotel and Spa, across the River Walk from La Mansion, opened in 2003 to considerable fanfare, and with emphasis on the spa part of its name. The Watermark has since received a number of accolades for its spa, which features a wide array of services, with 19 private treatment rooms and private men’s and women’s lounges spread across 17,000 square feet.

The guest rooms reinforce the luxury theme of the hotel, incorporating marble bathrooms, leather-topped desks and other fanciful touches. The rooftop pool features astounding views of the city, and even the Watermark’s margaritas have an air of elegance about them, suggesting efforts to go one step beyond other hotels. Rates start at $249. 212 W. Crockett St., tel. 866-605-1212. www.watermarkhotel.com

Hotel Valencia

Hotel Valencia, one of the newer entrants among the River Walk hotels, is also one of the most architecturally striking. Though the hotel’s interior tends toward dark and mysterious at all times of the day, regardless of how brightly the sun is shining outside, it features a number of aesthetically-pleasing details, consistently carried over from the hotel’s public areas to its guest rooms.

Its location places it in the midst of Houston Street’s activity as well as on a more tranquil portion of the River Walk, and yet its hotel bar, Vbar, is regarded as one of the city’s hipper hotel hangouts. Rates start at $204. 150 E. Houston St., tel. 210-227-9700. www.hotelvalencia-riverwalk.com

 

• Enjoy a stay at the Hotel Valencia, one of the River Walk’s newest accomodations.

Courtesy of the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk

Westin Riverwalk

The Westin Riverwalk, located near the River Walk landmark known as Marriage Island (for reasons you might suspect), brings the Westin’s noted Heavenly Bed and Heavenly Bath package to one of the more beautiful sections of the River Walk. The hotel features a spa and a fitness room, and makes various nods to the Latin American heritage that influences San Antonio—starting with Venezuelan dark chocolates offered at check-in (a nod to traditions for welcoming guests), and including “La Merienda” (afternoon tea) Wed. through Fri. from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., featuring Mexican coffees, cookies, cocoas and aguas frescas.

The newest incarnation of the hotel’s restaurant, Zocca, is a departure from the Latin American theme, but offers one of a few Italian options for downtown diners. Rates start at $289. 420 W. Market St., tel. 210-224-6500. www.starwoodhotels.com

Hotel Contessa

The Hotel Contessa, also next to Marriage Island, stakes out its difference among higher-end River Walk hotels in featuring all suites for its 265 guest rooms. The hotel, opened in 2005 and featuring Spanish colonial architecture and a Mediterranean décor throughout, boasts an AVEDA spa, an outdoor heated pool located on the roof of the 12-story hotel and a restaurant, Las Ramblas, which aims for Spanish cuisine with tapas, paella dishes and even Spanish cheese samplings as part of its menu.

 

• The rooftop pool of the Hotel Contessa is a great place to cool off from the Texas heat.

Courtesy of the Hotel Contessa

As part of an expanded summer package to take advantage of its pool, the hotel will feature weekend movie nights during which families can float, eat ice cream and watch family movies. Adults get their pool party version of ice cream bliss too—an Adult Swim with drinks. Rates start at $212. 306 W. Market St., tel. 210-229-9222. www.thehotelcontessa.com

Grand Hyatt San Antonio

The Grand Hyatt San Antonio, even newer and taller than the other hotel sweepstakes entrants for this decade, is adjacent to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, making it particularly convenient for those coming to the city for conventions. But the hotel, starting with its artistic lobby, has a number of attractions which make it appealing to visitors not tied to conventions, including a gleaming, high-tech fitness room and contemporary guest rooms with clean, simple lines, which, if you’re high enough, offer views of the city that few of San Antonio’s hotels can provide. Rates start at $280. 600 E. Market St., tel. 210-224-1234. www.grandsanantonio.hyatt.com

El Tropicano

El Tropicano, located on the north end of the River Walk, is a Holiday Inn that was renovated this decade, but aims for a contemporary aesthetic, owing more to Acapulco or Miami than San Antonio.

 

• Tropical, Latin and glitzy come together at El Tropicano Hotel.

El Tropicano/SACVB

While a rung below many of its contemporaries on the River Walk, there’s an embrace of kitschy style and solid amenities (an outdoor swimming pool above the lobby, a fitness studio) that make it a more distinctive stay than similarly-priced choices closer to the hustle and bustle of key River Walk attractions. Rates start at $112. 110 Lexington Ave., tel. 210-223-9461. www.eltropicanohotel.com

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