The Best Hotels Near the San Antonio River Walk

The building was the Pearl Brewery's brewhouse, and the conversion left the machinery in place rather than hiding it, which is why the lobby reads like an industrial room rather than a hotel lobby. It is 146 rooms, it anchors the Pearl district, and its own site calls it the flagship of Pearl's culinary and cultural scene. Texas Highways has profiled it under the title The Crown Pearl. Three places to eat and drink without leaving: Supper, a seasonal American bistro, Larder, the market and deli, and Sternewirth, the bar in the old brewing hall.

Be clear about the location, because this is where the search term misleads. Hotel Emma is not on the downtown River Walk loop. It sits on the Museum Reach, the northern extension of the River Walk, roughly a mile from the Alamo, with the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Tobin Center within walking distance along the water. If your plan is to step out of the lobby into the restaurant-lined downtown loop, this is the wrong hotel and the next three are the right ones.

The best of the hotels that are actually on the downtown water rather than near it. Its own site leads with riverfront architecture and sells three room categories built around the view: a Premium River View Room with balcony seating, a King Deluxe with River Walk views, and an Executive King Balcony. If a balcony over the river is the reason you are booking San Antonio at all, book this and specify the category, because the standard rooms do not have it.

Downstairs, Naranja is described on the hotel's own site as the only tequila and mezcal bar on the River Walk, and Dorrego's does Pan-Latin cooking. The hotel does not publish a room count, so we are not giving one. Houston Street puts you at the north end of the busy stretch, a few minutes' walk from the Majestic Theatre and five minutes from the Alamo.

Every room here is a suite, which matters more than it sounds. Its own site lists seven suite types including Cityview, Riverview, Riverview King Corner, Executive, the Contessa suite and two accessible configurations, so a family of four gets a separate sitting room on the river for roughly what a single room costs at the luxury end of this list. It sits on the quieter western arc of the downtown loop on Market Street, a short walk from La Villita and the convention centre.

Two honest notes. The hotel's restaurant is spelled two different ways on its own homepage, Ambler in the introduction and Amber in the dining section, so do not be surprised at the sign. And the rooftop pool that every third-party guide leads with does not appear in the hotel's own description of its amenities, only in a guest testimonial on the page, so confirm it is open when you book rather than planning the afternoon around it.

The value pick, and not by a small margin. Rates aside, what Drury includes is the free hot breakfast, the 5.30 Kickback from 5.30 to 7 pm nightly with hot food and drinks, and free popcorn and soda in the lobby from 4 to 8 pm. For a family of four staying three nights on the River Walk, that is two meals a day you do not buy at River Walk restaurant prices, which is worth more than any upgrade on this page.

The building is the former Alamo National Bank, 24 storeys, with a lobby the hotel describes as having 40 foot ceilings and stained glass windows, plus an all-suite tower. It is 368 rooms, the largest here. The heated rooftop pool and two whirlpools are on the 22nd floor, open 9 am to 10 pm. Its own page lists the River Walk as adjacent and puts the Alamo and San Fernando Cathedral about a block away each.

William Menger opened a brewery here in 1855 and the hotel in 1859, which makes it the oldest hotel on this list by more than sixty years and the only one where the building is itself a reason to come. Its own site gives 316 guest rooms and suites and describes the hotel as a historic partner of the Alamo. The Victorian lobby and the Menger Bar are open to walk through whether you stay or not.

On location it is precise about something most Alamo-area hotels fudge: the hotel is directly on Alamo Plaza, adjacent to Rivercenter Mall and the River Walk. That is a two minute walk to the water through the mall, not a riverside room. Book here for the history and the Alamo at dawn before the queues, not for a balcony over the river.

Smaller and quieter than the Menger across the plaza, at 138 rooms and suites, all non-smoking. Its own site places it steps from the River Walk and next to the Alamo, and lists an outdoor swimming pool, which is not a given at this price in this block. The hotel describes more than a century of hospitality on the site.

This is the pick when the Menger is full or priced above what you wanted to spend and you still want to be able to walk to the Alamo in a minute. You are a block further from the water than the Menger, which in practice means four minutes rather than two.

The building was the Medical Arts Building, put up in the 1920s, and it is the best piece of architecture any hotel on this list occupies: a narrow Gothic revival tower that its own site says is celebrating a hundred years of history. It overlooks the Alamo and bills itself as the official hotel of the Alamo. If you want a room with a view of the mission itself rather than the river, this is the one.

Its own site cannot decide how far it is from the water, which tells you something. One part of the homepage says three blocks from the River Walk and another says just steps away. Three blocks is the honest figure and it is a flat, easy three blocks, but if the river is the point of the trip, book Valencia or Contessa instead. The hotel does not publish a room count.