My husband, two boys (20months and 7yo), and I stayed at the Drury Plaza July 2-6. We loved the hotel.
Location: We loved the location. It's very close to the main area of the riverwalk (though set back just about a block--which is nice). You can walk in one direction and reach the Alamo...walk the other and reach Market Square (we did both with two young kids--so I would not say either walk was bad). We could see some distant fireworks from our hotel room--I'm guessing even more could have been seen from on of the observation decks or the rooftop pool area.
Staff: The staff in every dept were amazing and very friendly (and this is saying a lot b/c several people staying were difficult to deal with). Excellent staff!! They should be commended.
Pools/hot tub/observation decks: There is a roof top pool--two hot tubs--it can be reached by access on the 22nd floor or directly from the 23rd(which with small children we prefered--fewer steps). The view was amazing--temperature prefect. We tried out the lower hot tub on the first night and loved it. There is also an indoor pool and hottub (although I did not see this listed on the website--I had read it on another post on tripadvisor). It rained off and on while we were there--so we did use the indoor pool one day. It's actually in a connecting tower--a bit of an easily traveled maze/couple of different elevators--but well posted. There are nice observation decks on both the hotel roof and the roof of the connecting tower--the tower deck is much roomier with nicer outdoor living furniture--but not as high up.
The room: we were in room 1801 (a 1bedroom suite--a corner room I believe)--we loved the view. the room and living area did feel a bit on the small side--but most downtown hotels in any area are. It had an interesting layout. It worked out well for us. Cleaned well. The only thing I did not like was no separate sink outside of the bathroom (with young kids that is always nice to have).
Breakfast: Good, free breakfast. The first couple of days we were there (Thursday/Friday mornings)--no waiting. However, that Sat and Sun morning were a different story--the line actually went out/down the hall toward the elevator. I'm guessing if you go down earlier--you might beat the crowd.
Evening reception--was nice--the have adult beverages/decent selection--as well as soda/lemonaid for the kiddos. Snacks included veggies, pretzels, popcorn, chex mix, goldfish crackers (which the kids loved), nachos. I saw a few people making a meal out of it. Once again--first night lower key---but Friday and Saturday night--there was a line (although not as long of a wait as breakfast).
My tips:
1. Avoid Sea World like the plaque on July 4th--I have no idea what we were thinking. Too crowded. Rude people abound--I felt so sorry for the SeaWorld staff. In the future, I'll avoid SeaWorld on all holiday weekends---and even the average weekend. The last time we went a few years ago--I think we went during the week--much better.
2. Dining: We ate out at several places. Here's the list and my take from our experiences:
Lonestar on the Riverwalk--nice, outside location---food not good, bad service.
Zushi Sushi--good food, average to bad service. This is right across the street from the hotel--so that was nice--and they do take out (which we did late one night) We dined in for lunch one afternoon. Dessert from there was yummy.
La Margarita (market square)--we went there before and I remember liking it--but did not enjoy it this time. Food was average. Tables crowded in. Service good.
Paesanos (riverwalk location): Excellent food. Good location. Although not super kid-friendly--they brought out the kids drinks in glass glasses--no lids/we were not given a kids menu--not sure that they had one--but they did have basic cheese pizza when we asked. Would recommend their speciality: Shrimp Paesano. This was one of my favorite places--just wish they would have had kid cups. Service was average/good.
Rita's on the River: we had bad service--bad food--crowded location. I would skip it all together.
Country Line (riverwalk location): good BBQ--I read reviews that it was a bit pricey and small portions. It is bit pricey for BBQ--but my husband and I split a meal (brisket/turkey combo) and the portion was fine to do so. I could not imagine a full meal myself--and my husband said the same. They had a kids menu--our kids shared one kids meal as well. That being said--it wasn't too pricey. Service was good from the waitress--but the host (seemed clueless--poor guy).
We ate at Seaworld for one meal.
3. Riverwalk--I love the San Antonio River walk. I did not find it to have easy access for strollers (I'm guessing that would transfer over to wheelchairs as well)--lots and lots of stairs--limited ramps and elevators (some out of order)--some stuff at street level--some riverwalk level--we had to carry the little umbrella stroller we had up and down several times--or unload--with one parent carrying the stroller and the other our son. With 4years and up--I would say this would not be an issue. Oklahoma City has a Riverwalk that has much better access.
There it is--the review and much, much more.







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