paradocs

spstx: you did quite well! Enjoy our fair city and some wonderfully mild weather. If you want some dining suggestions:

Rio Rio or Mi Tierra or Mexican Manhattan for Mexican food

Paesano's for Italian (Shrimp Paesano is decadent)

County Line for BBQ

All are walkable for you. Enjoy!

mymiles2go

Another vote for the Rivercenter.

The basic differences are:

Rivercenter = Really nice, new, big Marriott
Riverwalk = Next door, Really ugly, old, large Marriott

I brought my collegues in there for about 2 weeks total, and we statyed at the Rivercenter, I arranged upgrades to suites for everyone, including some suites with 2+ bedrooms. Upgrades are never an issue at the Rivercenter.

jnbinpvb

Actually, almost as close is another Marriott property, the Plaza San Antonio, its located behind the convention center and is about 3-4 moinutes walk further to the front of the convention center. this property is somewhat smaller, rooms a very large, looking out into a courtyard, a nice club level lounge located in the courtyard area and the restaurant is very good.

guiming_miao

Maybe I am the only one with the opposite experience:
Was at River Center in an April weekend, 4/27-29 as a Plt, very disappointed. No acknowledgement of plt status at check-in, only a regular room (of course, they always say you were already upgraded), did not get plt arrival gift until I asked the second night. The check-in even forgot to take my credit card imprint, as a result, we could not charge our meal into our hotel folio, had to go down to front desk, submit my cc, no apologies offered.......

NutroGuy

The Marriott Rivercenter is one of the ONLY hotels that I have ever received an upgrade as a platinum member. The upgrade was the Presidential Suite with a baby Grande piano in room with a great view of the city... A great hotel with great service.

kam

I will be staying at the Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter. It is my first time in San Antonio. What is the best way to get to the hotel from the airport? The hotel looks lovely--anyone familiar with it?

longing4piedmont

Try this link....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum63/HTML/003450.html

Cholula

Suggest grabbing a taxi downtown. It's a straight shot of about 15 miles or so and will cost you in the vicinity of $20. There is probably a hotel shuttle that serves the downtown hotels but I haven't used it. Wouldn't suggest a car as parking is sparse and expensive. Plus you can access most everything downtown with a pleasant and interesting walk along the extensive riverwalk

Corporate Solutions

It's one of the nicer full-service Marriott's I think. The fitness center could use some upgrading though.

I know I'm switching gears, but the true treat is the local dining. Not sure how familiar you are with the area, but for upper-end dining, try Biga on the Banks. Fabulous restaurant and a 3 minute walk. Also, I think Rudy's has the best BBQ in the country, but it's a bit of a drive from the hotel.

http://www.biga.com/

paradocs

Actually, I'd walk to the County Line which is on the Riverwalk for fabulous BBQ. Rudy's is nearly a 30 minute drive and not worth the uninteresting trip.

Do a search on this board and the Starwood board for SAT restaurant recommendations. I remember participating in a few extensive discussions but not precisely where on FT.

And welcome to SAT! You will love our downtown: it is very charming, walkable, safe, clean, historic and the natives are generally friendly and helpful. If I can be of further help email me.

Edited to add: Cholula is right about a cab being the easiest way and on the fare. It has been about 2 years since I have been inside a room at that Marriott. The last time I was there the rooms were still very nice. The property is very centrally located downtown and is convenient to everything on foot or via the inexpensive trolley.

[This message has been edited by paradocs (edited Feb 23, 2004).]

Corporate Solutions

Next time I'm in town I'll try the County Line then.

NutroGuy

This is one hotel that WILL upgrade you. As a Platinum, they upgraded me to the Presidential suite without me even asking! I wish I could play the baby grand piano in the room. Also, it was the best view of the City of San Antonio. I suggest contacting the hotel and speaking to the manager. That could go a long way to getting the best room in the city.

SAT Lawyer

Take a taxi or rent a car. The latter would be my choice because San Antonio, like the rest of Texas, is not blessed with good public transportation and while downtown and the Riverwalk feature many great dining and entertainment options, there are many better choices further afield. If you can, try to make it to Paloma Blanca, the best Tex-Mex in the city. It's about 15 minutes from downtown. Well worth a visit.

FlyWithoutWings

What's the best property for a week long liesure trip to San Antonio? Basically something nice that has good access to all the typical attractions, shopping, etc. Thx.

BruceWG

It's been a while but I stayed at one of the the Marriott's right at the Riverwalk. Very good location for doing the typical tourist things (Alamo, Riverwalk area, etc.). I don't remember the hotel as being really great or really awful, but the location is good.

Bruce