Holiday Inn El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel San Antonio

Clarion Hotel El Tropicano Riverwalk

by Ewingjr98

The El Tropicano is certainly not on anyone's list of fine hotels in San Antonio, but it's a good value for the money. The hotel is conveniently located at the northern tip of the Riverwalk, right alongside the river...the walk downtown is about 10-15 minutes along a very pleasant but quiet stretch of the river (the river taxis stop right at the hotel as well). Within a few hundred feet of the hotel you will find the Municipal Auditorium, the Korean and Vietnam Memorials, and the Southwest school of Art and Craft. The Greyhound bus station is also just a few blocks away on the Riverwalk. We paid $119 per night plus taxes (=$140/night) for a room with two twin beds. Compared to other downtown hotels, this is a very good price. The hotel has a pool and large fitness center, but the breakfast costs an additional $12. Parking is another $10 per day.

Clarion Hotels recently purchased the El Tropicano was from Sheraton Four Points, and many of the tourist maps have yet to be updated. Along with the purchase comes a much-needed renovation that is still underway. Expect a few minor problems here, but nothing that will ruin your vacation. For example, the front desk area is separated from the elevator forcing guests to go outside the hotel and re-enter to use the elevator. During my visit in June 2006 the lobby was about 90% complete and looked great. The rooms on the other hand need lots of work... the ceiling paint is peeling, the toilets were installed crooked, the wallpaper has been poorly patched, and in some areas the carpet is coming up.

Wonderful Weekend at the El Tropicano

by TripAdvisor Member levik81

We booked a weekend stay at the El Tropicano during spring break. The check in was quick and friendly. The service for the entire weekend was first rate. We had a large room. The room was very nice. The kids loved the flat screen TV. The bedding was great. We were suprised to find out that the large swimming pool was heated. The kids were very excited about being able to swim in a warm pool in March. The family ate three meals at the property. All of the meals were excellent and the price was very reasonable. My wife and I went to the bar and spent the entire evening Saturday night listening to a great band. I almost forgot to mention the large lobby. The lobby has a true tropical feel. I also liked the on property parking, because it is so convenient. We are looking forward to returning in the summer. Our only complaint is that the weekend went to fast. We loved the place.

Pleasant Stay

by TripAdvisor Member tealbird

El Tropicana was a nice hotel. We stayed there for 5 nights. They did a beautiful job on remodeling the lobby. Quite sparkly! I saved around $500.00 by staying at the end of the Riverwalk. Everyone I met was very friendly and quite helpful. El Tropicana is at the end of the Riverwalk right now although they are expanding the Riverwalk past the hotel currently. I dont know if our room was remodeled, but it was neat and clean, the only problem was the toilet flushed slowly. We did have to get a King suite because we needed to have a refrigerator in the room, my friend takes insulin. You can walk right across the street from the hotel and down some stairs and you are on the Riverwalk, but the heart of the Riverwalk is about a 15-20 minute walk from there. We took the trolley to the Riverwalk a lot, the trolley picks you up from the front door of the hotel, or you can also walk across the street and pick up the River Taxi. It will drop you off anywhere you want along the Riverwalk and brings you back but stops at 9 or 10 pm so plan accordingly. We did not rent a car when we were there, the public transportation was all we needed for this trip. The hotel also has 2 toucans, a tortoise, and a bearded dragon in a glass enclosed area. They say sometimes the iguana takes a ride on the tortoise back! The bar area opens at 4 everyday and they also put some appetizers out. There was a nice pool, I dont swim but it looked pretty. We ate breakfast in the dining room twice, the breakfast was good, we ordered off the menu, but they also serve a breakfast buffet. There is a small gift shop off the lobby also. We would definately consider staying here again.

loved my stay

by TripAdvisor Member mshadr

I arrived on the 22nd and was greeted quickly and taken care of. Our room was clean and everything was in working order. On the morning of the 23rd someone broke a glass table by the pool but I was impressed how quickly it was cleaned up. We had the breakfast buffet and it was delicious and we were greeted and taken care of will stay there again.

Great environment...!

by TripAdvisor Member NickDZ

Met another couple down there on a Friday evenning...great band...friendly bar service, with a great poolside bar and movie screen...and a wonderful breakfast buffet!
Also took a direct dowtown trolly to enjoy more San Antonio culutre!

Had a Blast

by TripAdvisor Member WeekendTraveler8

My wife and our kids really enjoyed the hotel. We are fans of LSU and they substituted the LSU football game for the "Dive In Movie" which is shown on a drive in type screen above the activities deck. The kids were in the pool while we enjoyed our drinks and cheered on our Tigers ... oh and lest I forget to mention we won with one second left on the clock. What a game on the big screen.

The lobby is way cool, the staff attentative and the breakfast the next day was wonderful. The kids ate for free and we enjoyed our breakfast which was included in our Best For Breakfast package.

We'll be back .... thanks for the memories!

Nice inexpensive hotel near riverwalk

by TripAdvisor Member jbrecher

I've seen some unkind reviews of this hotel. Yes, I saw the angled toilet, but so what. The rest of the bath was nice sized. I'm betting the "potty snobs" have a smaller one at home.
We stayed 3 nights over Thanksgiving. We found it to be clean, very friendly and helpful front deck staff, and the food was very good. Yes, I could see they were still remodeling in some rooms but wasn't effected by that.
The trolley system goes in front of the hotel every 10 to 15 minutes and you can also get the water taxi to come pick up right at the hotel and transport you to the center of the riverwalk.
The rates are as good as it gets near riverwalk( under $100/night). If you like to walk, the river starts at the hotel so you can walk the 10 or 12 blocks to the center of the riverwalk action.
A pleasant stay.

San Antonio/Lackland AFB

by regnac

"SAN ANTONIO"

Visited for 7 days. Went to see sons on Lackland AFB. Base had very little to do, bowling alley, golfing, paintball. DO NOT EAT at Smokin Joes BBQ, Horrible!

"San Antonio Riverwalk"

Riverwalk was nicely decorated, nice mosaics. It is mainly restaurants, not a lot of actual stores. Stores are located mainly around Alamo and at the Riverwalk Mall.

Landry's seafood was excellent, Texas Land & Cattle was comparable to Outback , but pricier.

"El Tropicano Holiday Inn"

Used Pricelines name your price and saved over $600 under regualr rates. Did the same with rental car and saved $80 with Hertz.

Staff was extra friendly, secure parking for $14/night. Restaurant(Mangos) was great, good buffet and excellent dinner. Had coffee bar that had better Caramel Machiatos than Starbucks!