Work travels took me to San Antonio, Texas, in the United States of America. After visiting this convention city, I ended up for several days at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk on a convention stay. The hotel treated this traveller well by offering a great upgrade, a late check out and by offering a solid M Club Executive Lounge with a great hotel location. Read on to see what this Marriott offers travellers…

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This post is one chapter on a work trip from Canada to San Antonio, Texas, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America

“Perfectly oriented to business Marriott travellers looking for an anonymous stay in a large format Marriott property in the San Antonio Riverwalk area”

Work travels (for once) took me outside of Canada to San Antonio, Texas for a little southern charm. When I had the opportunity to attend some training in this historic city, I jumped at the opportunity for a change of scenery.

Booking the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk:

The event I was attending was next door at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio Riverwalk. San Antonio is a city that sees a tremendous amount of convention traffic. As a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist, I was surprised to see that there were two Marriott hotels located immediately across the street from each other. This has been one of the few locations in the world where I’ve seen Marriott’s immediately across the street from each other.

When making the choice between the two Marriotts: the San Antonio Rivercenter on the Riverwalk, and the other San Antonio Marriott at the Riverwalk, I ended up at the San Antonio Rivercenter on the Riverwalk (this review) as a result of reports that this Rivercenter property had slightly better reviews overall, the property offered newer construction and had recently been fully renovated. Those three things were enough to convince me to stay at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk, despite the horribly confusing and unmemorable name.

I booked a standard “Guest Room – 1 King’ room. These are pretty standard hotel room at a snug 286sqft/26sqm, which is slightly smaller than your average hotel room.

It’s worth mentioning that most rates at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk have a $25 “Daily Destination Fee” that offers the following inclusions:

• A Daily $25 USD Food and Beverage Credit
• Daily In Room Fitness Package, upon Request
• Tickets to a Local Attraction of your Choice for Two Guests per Stay. Choices include GO RIO River Boat Cruise, Tower of the Americas Observation Deck or Alamo: The Price of Freedom

These items are actually items that most tourists and visitors to town might actually use. The GO RIO River Boat Cruise is very popular, with a boarding stop located behind the hotel. It’s difficult to get a lot of value out of the food and beverage credit, since there are many excellent restaurants located within ten minutes walk from the hotel. Most visitors appeared to turn this into a bar credit at the lobby bar, before heading out for dinner.

As with anything, the value of these credits lessens the longer that you stay. As a result, the daily destination fee incentivizes short stay travellers.

As with other hotel stays, my general booking strategy was to book the cheapest room possible and hope for a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum / Titanium level upgrade to a better room.

As always, I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.

Marriott Bonvoy Opportunities:

The San Antonio Rivercenter on the Riverwalk has variable pricing, dependent if you are travelling during a period of high demand. Rooms can be found for as little as 24,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with variable pricing up to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. It is worth checking out to see whether there are any Marriott Bonvoy point redemptions available in order to maximize value.

As a refresher, If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.8 cents per point, it only makes sense to redeem points under the right circumstances. For example, it would only make sense to redeem 24,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a room valued at over $192 USD. If you are redeeming against a room that is 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, then you’d have to have a room rate over when those same points are worth approximately $320 USD. While it’s unlikely you’ll get this much value out of your Marriott Bonvoy points, it is probable that room rates could get this high during a peak travel season.

Marriott Bonvoy members get the fifth night free when redeeming five or more day stay. Keep in mind that by redeeming five nights, and getting the fifth night free, will increase the value proposition by lowering the average number of points per night.

Getting to the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk:

I arrived into San Antonio International Airport. I ended up taking an Uber XL from the airport to the property. The ride took approximately forty minutes and $40 USD, as a result of a traffic accident along the way.

The property is well located in an easily accessible hotel district that is steps from the San Antonio Riverwalk area. In other conveniences, the property is steps from dozens of restaurants located in the Riverwalk area. This makes a stay at the property convenient, in terms of dining options.

The San Antonio Rivercenter is a massive imposing structure on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. There is no mistaking the large monolithic structure as a mega hotel when you approach.

It’s worth mentioning the San Antonio Marriott on the Riverwalk is located right across the street. When hailing your taxi or ride share, you’ll want to double check the name of the property (San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the Riverwalk) to ensure you end up at the correct property.

Checking into the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk:

I arrived to the property and headed inside. I was offered assistance with my bags from the doorman. However, since I was travelling with carry on only bags, I was pretty self sufficient for this trip.

The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk lobby area filled a massive atrium inside the property. The property is thirty eight floors tall with over one thousand hotel rooms. With such a large format hotel, it’s pretty easy to feel anonymous in such a large facility.

The lobby area contained the hotel restaurant “Triburary”. With such a large property, the lobby area was a gathering area for most visitors.

I had a friendly check in experience that was short and professional. While I did not get any fantastic suite upgrades, I did get a soft Marriott Bonvoy Titanium upgrade to an M Club lounge access – Guest room, 1 King, High floor; which was perfectly satisfactory for my three night stay.

Unlike some desperate haggling I’ve had to experience at other Marriott Bonvoy properties, I was confirmed for a complimentary Marriott Titanium late check out guaranteed at 4 PM on a Sunday night, without any dispute. This allowed me to take my last flight home on Alaska Airlines San Antonio – Seattle – Vancouver without any issues.

While I didn’t have a car, self parking was a steep $47 USD with valet parking at an even steeper $60 USD. While this isn’t out of line for most inner city hotels, it’s still pretty expensive for leisure oriented travellers.

The Room: M Club Lounge Access, Guest Room 1 King – High Floor

I navigated my own way up to the twenty sixth floor. The elevators at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk were all key coded and using bucket elevator efficiency.

I was happy to discover that I was located on the same floor as the M Club Lounge. While this typically meant a lot of foot traffic, I was assigned room #2610 located at the opposite end of the corridor.

The M Club Lounge Access room was a standard renovated Marriott room in current and contemporary colors. I’ve visited these rooms so much recently, they’ve really gotten to feel like home.

The sleeping area offered iHome clock radios, along with USB B & C power ports. This was an upscale touch from the usual clock radios I typically find in Marriott properties.

The room offered a small seating couch that was comfortable for one person. The room featured two small round occasional tables

The room featured a long desk, which was perfect for computers, electronics and other convention paperwork. These long desks are among my favorite features of Marriott properties. I typically use as much counter space as possible when I’m on the road. In this case, I was even able to store a few dessert trays from the M Club Lounge in addition to all the electronics I usually travel with.

The M Club Lounge room offered a great view from the twenty sixth floor.

The room also featured proper glassware and a small refrigerator to chill your water.

The M Club Lounge room offered the usual Marriott bathroom. The room offered a single vanity sink, which was perfectly fine for a single business traveller. The room also offered a stand up shower with the usual low pressure square Marriott rain shower head.

The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk floor plan offered limited suites. The property offers eighty seven suites out of a total possible one thousand rooms. As a result your Marriott Bonvoy elite upgrade chances are not likely to all too great at this property. One thing the floor plan did have going for it was limited foot traffic, making for a quiet environment.

In terms of sleep quality, the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk offered. solid sleep. Despite being located on the M Club Lounge floor, there was minimal traffic by my room.

Around the Hotel Property:

The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk is an urban business hotel with amenities that you would expect under this category.

Marriott M Club Concierge Executive Lounge:

The hotel featured a fully featured M Club Executive Lounge.

During my stay, the lounge was in operation twenty four hours per day. There were quite a few options for dining, including breakfast, evening h’ors d’oeuvres and dessert options.

The M Club Lounge was frequently occupied and rarely empty; even outside of food service hours. Located on the twenty sixth floor, the lounge offered terrific city views.

Consistent with North American Marriott Lounges, the lounge offered an honour bar. I usually don’t get too excited by these, since you can usually do nicer and better at a restaurant with a happy hour. However, it’s nice to have the option.

The lounge offered restaurant recommendations, along with friendly service.

It ended up being exceptionally convenient to have the M Club Lounge located on the same floor as the hotel room. I would end up swinging by for dessert items on a repeated basis.

Outdoor Pool:

The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk offered a small outdoor pool. The pool was located on the third floor on the shady side of the building. Unfortunately, this location meant that the pool and deck didn’t get a whole lot of sun.

Whlie the pool was not the highlight of the stay, it was nice to have in the event you’re the type of traveller that prefers to take a small dip to cool off.

Exercise Room:

The exercise room was located on the third floor. At times, we see exercise rooms that are located without any natural light. The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk offered a day light gym area that overlooked the pool zone.

The fitness centre was open seven days a week on a twenty four hour a day basis.

San Antonio Riverwalk:

Outside of the back doors of the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk is the San Antonio Riverwalk. I have written a separate post on the San Antonio Riverwalk and all that it entails. However, within steps of the hotel are dozens of restaurants and entertainment options.

There is a stop for the GO RIO Riverboat Cruise right behind the hotel. This is convenient for those using their credit from their daily destination fee.

Food and Beverage:

With dozens of restaurants located outside of the hotel doors on the San Antonio Riverwalk, it made little sense to enjoy dining inside the hotel itself. This is perhaps why the hotel has added a food and beverage credit within the destination fee at this property. Most were exchanging this into drink credits, since the lobby was a popular place at all hours.

The Tributary:

The primary food and bevreage outlet was the Tributary. Located in the lobby, the Triburary was frequently busy throughout most of the afternoon into the late evening.

While I didn’t get the opportunity to enjoy a drink at the Triburary, it’s nice to have a great lobby bar as an option.

Café Boccadillo:

Café Boccadillo represents the hotel’s grab and go option. While we’ve seen some Marriott’s offer an exceptionally small market, this one is among the largest that I’ve seen throughout the Marriott brand.

The Café Boccadillo offers a full suite of grab and go items, including alcohol. During my visit, it’s hours were 6 AM – 9 PM.

Bottom Line: San Antonio Marriott RiverCenter at Riverwalk

Overall, I was really pleased with my stay. It’s not often I’m happy staying at a large format hotel. Despite having over a thousand rooms, I ended up being quite pleased with my stay.

The property offered a solid lounge offering, a soft upgrade to a great view room that was in excellent condition, a convenient location on the San Antonio Riverwalk and a great 4 PM check out courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy status.

I couldn’t ask for anything more from a business hotel in a convention city.

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If you have stayed in San Antonio, have you experienced a stay at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter at Riverwalk ?

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