I travel often, having stayed at such up scale hotels like The Drake, The Ritz, Four Season's and some dumps like Extended Stays, Red Roof etc.... so I have a pretty good perspective on hotels.

I am 31 my wife is 27.

I was in San Antonio for business and choose the Hotel Contessa because I wanted a nice hotel, my wife was coming with me so I wanted something closer to the Ritz quality which this hotel looked like..... we got the hotel about noon and they let us check in as soon as we arrived (4 hours early), the bellhop was very nice and gave us all sorts of info about the area. The room was nice, a 2-room suite but the bedroom is on the smaller side, the living room was well furnished but unless you are spending a lot of time in the hotel room this room is pretty much useless. They could have easily made it one big room. The bathroom was nice and the shower had tons of shelving space. The Hotel is right on the Riverwalk but about 5-10 minutes away from the nearest non-hotel restaurant and a 15-20 walk to the center of the Riverwalk action. The hotel location is good in some aspect because it is quite and if you don't mind walking a little then the location is fine. But in the summer heat and humidity a 15-20 minute walk can get draining and you will sweat a lot so be aware of the clothes you wear.

The bad about the hotel is housekeeping, or lack there of. I have never seen anything like it, we were there 4 nights and only had our room cleaned once! The first day we were gone from about 8am until 3pm, when we returned the room wasn't cleaned, I called the front desk and was told housekeeping has until 5:30 to clean the rooms, this is appalling, a $300+ per night room can't get rooms serviced by noon – WOW!??? Our room was serviced about an hour later. The next day the same thing, we returned at 2pm to a uncleaned room, we left at 3pm when we got back at 7 the room was never cleaned! I called and they sent up new towels, on our third and last full day it was the same thing, never cleaned. I called that night and spoke to the manager on duty who apologized and offered to come up and clean it herself, she said they are at hotel capacity and struggling to keep up with housekeeping, she was nice about it and I explained to her the capacity issue they are having is not my problem, my problem is a uncleaned room again she was apologetic.

Overall the all the staff I dealt with was nice, even the housekeeper who cleaned our room that one time was very nice (and very cute, 20-something) but if I ever returned to San Antonio I wouldn't stay here again unless the rates were in the $100-$175 per night range. There are way too many better hotels on the up the Riverwalk that are better and cheaper. Overall I have had better stays are middle of the road hotels like the Holiday Inn, Best Western type places. The Hotel Contessa’s website is not an indication of how nice the hotel is, I suggest looking elsewhere and if all things are equal stay someplace else.

My family and I have been staying at Hotel Contessa for about two years know every time we go to SA for a weekend escape from big Dallas.

But most recently we stayed in the hotel for the fourth of july weekend and cannot express how satisfied my family is with the hotel. At the end of the day if my family is happy, I am happy. The bellstaff upon arriving always greets us inmediately and the front desk staff has our rooms ready as reserved thru www.thehotelcontessa.com.

the room are spacious (suites) and have all the modern luxury amenities (aveda bath prducts), nice towels, bathrobes, great views of riverwalk, and nicely appointed furniture.

visiting the lobby bar is always a pleasure since the bartender (blonde lady) always welcomes us back with our last name and knows our drinks.

this last time the pool was a bit crowded, especially at night but what can you expect on 4th of july weekend. However, there was always staff cleaning the area and mantaining towels for guest to use.

Most recently they have added a must do...at least for my wife it is...they added a Full Service AVEDA SPA on the 12th floor. My wife can probably decribe it better....All I know is she is peacefull and extremely satsfied with the services provided at the spa.

we tipically only have breakfast each morning but can say that service is superior than other 4star hotels in the area and food quality is high every time.

Our departure is always pleasant and they thank us for staying with them. My family and I will definitely be back for more.

Best advice- book thru www.thehotelcontessa.com for the best deals.

My hubby must come for business to San A. often. He has stayed at the Watermark and the Omni. I chose the Hotel Contessa because just wanted to see how it was, looked neat in pictures. San Antonio is a wonderful place; I had no idea it has all the stuff it does. Wow! Thank goodness they didn't pave over the River! Tip: Go to the Alamo and pay the extra for the audio tour. I spent 2.5 hours here.

I really loved it; the setting is wonderful. Rooms larger than most , nice bathroom. It's located in the best area overall to me. Just a little walk to Boudros. Right next door to the Villita shops, which were disappointing shop-wise but I enjoyed the preserving the architecture.

I have to say after seeing where the Omni & Watermark is; think it's too loud over there. The Omni's exterior is nice but interior just so so. Watermark's exterior wasn't anything special but hubby said he liked their fitness center. (Which is very important to him, less so to me). Another option that looked nice was the hotel next door to the Hotel Contessa; Wyndham or Westin? not sure.

The customer service of the Hotel Contessa is a lot to be desired. Our flight to San Antonio was delayed and we called the Hotel to relay that information and they said that was fine and they would have our room ready when we arrived. When we went to check in they told us we were going to another Hotel because they were over booked. We had booked 6 months prior through priceline. The inexperienced front clerk told us that our new hotel was equivalent to the Hotel Contessa and that we could walk there with our luggage. The new hotel ended up being 8 blocks away ( they wouldn't even give us directions). And it was not equivalent price wise to say the least. The Contessa said we could come back the next day to check in for our final day at that hotel. They wouldn't provide transportation until we started raising our voices. The staff kept trying to get us out the door. They expected us to check out of our new hotel at noon and wait for our room at the contessa at 4pm. The manager would not come out and speak to us. When I finally got someone on the phone I had to ask repeatedly for some compensation for the money I paid and they offered a future free night at the contessa. Give me a break. Luckily with priceline there is a 100% room guarantee and I finally got our money back.
Ended up finding a room a block away for $100 cheaper and the same amenities as the Contessa. Would recommend any other hotel in San Antonio Riverwalk area but the Hotel Contessa