San Antonio

If you stay at the Marriott Rivercenter request a room that faces the riverwalk. The rooms that face the freeway also face a train track that wakes you up about 4 times a night with passing trains.

You have to eat at the traditional Casa de Rio. It has been around forever and is also one of the least expensive sit down places on the walk. Top side, or street level, is a bit rough around the McDonalds. Be careful and keep alert while walking around.

Both the Marriot Riverwalk and Rivercenter are nice hotels. Actually all the hotels in that general area are nice. I've also stayed a the Hilton-palacio del River. Look them up on the San Antonio Chanmber of Commerce Website. If you like mexican food, you've got to eat at Mi Tierra. La Margarita is right next door in Market Square and it is good too. Most of the restaurants on the Riverwalk are medioccre and over priced but they do have the right atmosphere. There is a little piano bar on the Riverwalk called Dirty Nelly's. It's kind of fun just to stop for a little bit and have a drink.

The Menger is a beautiful hotel, about a block from the riverwalk and the Alamo. You can get weekend specials there direct through the hotel (not on Expedia, etc.) Mi Tierra is an absolute must as far as restaurants. For a fun night, Dicks Last Resort on the riverwalk is a blast, and the food's pretty good.

Check out this website:

http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visitors/save/index.aspx

They offer discount codes on many San Antonio hotels and coupons for attractions. We stayed at the Hyatt on the Riverwalk for about $100 a night using their discount code a couple of years ago. The Hyatt is a great hotel right in the middle of every thing that is going on.

If you have time to do some research and learn how to work the system, then I highly recommend going to www.biddingfortravel.com and then bidding on Priceline.com. Only do this if you will not change plans because you cannot get a refund.

When we went to San Antonio, I got three nights at one of the Marriotts near the Riverwalk for $60/night. It was a very nice hotel.

BFT will help you find out what hotels normally show up on Priceline for each zone. I always bid for 3 or 4 star hotels (never lower because I've only had bad experiences with lower star hotels going through Priceline). You go to the Website for every hotel in the list on BFT and find out what their rate is for the time you plan to go. Make a chart so you can keep track.

People post what hotels and rates they got on the BFT message board so you can stay at the same rate or go lower when you bid.

This is something you do 1-3 weeks before your trip when hotels start releasing blocks of unreserved rooms to places like Priceline, so if you think you want to do this, you might book a back-up and then cancel it if you get a good 4* for less.

I've stayed in 4* hotels in Seattle, Vancouver, Washington, DC, Austin, California and San Antonio by using BFT to help me bid on Priceline and I've been very happy with all my hotels.

Hope this helps.
S.

The Emily Morgan is a nice but affordable hotel located right next to the Alamo. As far as restaurant go, Boudro's is my absolute favorite. Their tableside guacamole is delicious.

As an alternative to a big hotel, you might want to check into a bed & breakfast inn. There is a historic area in downtown San Antonio called the King William District which has many charming victorian style houses. I've stayed at one place called Inn On The River which had rooms overlooking the Riverwalk. Their website is http://www.innontheriverwalksa.com. We've also stayed at the Hyatt Place hotel (also on the Riverwalk and directly across from the Inn On The River).

There is a trolley service that runs around downtown San Antonio, so that is a great way to get around to the Rivercenter Mall area, the Market Square, and the Hemisfair Plaza/La Villita areas.

You might also enjoy checking out the Japanese Tea Gardens at Breckenridge Park (its free). Go north on 281 and exit on Broadway and follow the signs.

Hope you have a great time in San Antonio...I lived there for a few years and its such a fun place!

K.,

Definately try to stay at a hotel on the Riverwalk. There a quite a few hotels - check them out. About dinner - do NOT eat at a restaurant on the Riverwalk. Unfortunately, the restaurants do not have good food. You would think they would, since you can sit and eat outside overlooking the beautiful river/scenery, but they don't. We ate at a Mexican restaurant (don't remember the name) on the Riverwalk, and my chicken tasted like rubber.

Enjoy the Riverwalk by taking a boat ride on the river. Eat somewhere else.

One of our favorite restaurants is La Fogata on Vance Jackson south of the 410 loop. It is an enormous (about a city block wide) covered patio restaurant. The wait is always long, but the wait is also part of the experience. The margaritas are fabulous. They serve Mexican food, but not just your standard issue Tex-Mex. The dessert empanadas are a must. Great people-watching. In my opinion, much more interesting than the chain restaurants on the river. In fact, it's such a favorite of ours that that's where my husband proposed to me. That worked so well, that upon finding out we were pregnant after many years of trying, we made a point to share the news with them.

Hi K., I have stayed at the riverwalk vista twice and loved it. I wouldn't stay anywhere else. I've refered several others and they have all really enjoyed it also.

http://www.riverwalkvista.com/

It's an old building with probably less than 20 rooms, the staff are so friendly, the breakfast is great, and the views and proximity to the Riverwalk are great.

Hi K.. My hubby and I went to SA last year on our anniversary and we stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel Riverwalk. We LOVED it. Excellent price for the elegance and comfort of this hotel. The rooms were fabulous with a large bathroom and jacuzzi tub and the lobby is to die for. It was originally a bank building so the lobby is huge with a stairwell that leads right down into the Riverwalk. The only thing it didn't have that we wanted was a balcony but the amazing roof top pool and hot tubs made up for that. The view from up there is stunning! Another nice little perk is that they have a "happy hour" with free drinks and a little appetizer/snack bar with food like nachos,chips and salsa, etc... I believe you are allowed 5 free drinks per person. Their website is: https://wwws.druryhotels.com/PropertyOverview.aspx?Proper.... While there we went to Sea World and had a blast! Honestly, I think we had more fun than some of the kids we saw. :) We walked the entire Riverwalk, went to the Wax Museum and Ripley's and we ate at Original Mexican Restaurant which I highly recommend. We went around 10 p.m. and it was not too crowded (this was on a Sunday night) and sat at a table outside right next to the river. It was really nice and candlelit, too. Also, on Friday and Saturday they are open 24 hours. Hope this helps. Let me know if you guys decide to stay there. Congrats on the anniversary and have a great time!

Hi there, we stayed at a nice B&B called Inn on the River. It is not right on the riverwalk, but is with in walking distance on the residential side of the walk. It has been several years since we went, but I don't think it was to expensive. We loved it, it was beautiful and restfull, but we could walk to the resaurants and clubs. Have fun!

I like to stay at the Drury inn, they have a great breakfast and more or less dinner, even though they call it a snack in the evening around 5 time frame. Usually the dinner snack includes, bake potato, chili, cheese, nachos, salad, chips, hot dogs, few other things... plus adults get 2 free drinks... as restaurants goes... I love "Alamo Cafe", I go to the one on IH10 West and Warzbach, there is another on off of 281 (love the Chicken Laredo)
In the summer you might even want to stop by Six Flags or Sea World, the shops at La Cantera are great...