Notes from the Road: San Antonio

A confluence of culture

Alamo City’s roots are deep. How deep? It was named for the patron saint of lost things more than 40 years before the fatal siege that earned one of the oldest and largest cities in Texas its nickname and star tourist attraction. Today, the region is a diverse hub of Mexican, Tejano, German, Irish and Czech culture. Visit San Antonio President and CEO Mark Anderson calls his city one of the most authentic and is proud how it has carefully preserved its heritage while being one of fastest growing in the country.

The city celebrates its location as a major military base and home to FBI and NSA offices, information technology workers at Rackspace, USAA and Southwest Research Institute and, of course, tourism (some 12% of the workforce is hospitality-related). More good news: San Antonio International Airport (SAT) is in the midst of a $2.5 billion expansion that will make it that much easier for the rest of the world to enjoy the city I quickly toured while at Cvent Connect recently.

Meet and Stay

During Cvent Connect, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center was filled with big ideas, 4,000 attendees, partner booths and an Innovation floor designed to help meeting profs sleep better at night by solving everything from sourcing to data analysis. The compact, multilevel format allowed attendees to quickly move from one activity to another. The downtown property was built as part of HemisFair in 1968 and has since expanded to 514,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space with 86,500 sq. ft. of column-free multipurpose space, 70 meeting rooms and two ballrooms—including the largest one in Texas. It also houses the Lila Cockrell Theatre for performing arts.

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Next door, Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk features its own 115,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Topgolf Swing Suite and rooftop pool terrace, along with more than 1,000 comfortable guest rooms. I loved the convenience of being near the convention center and the river walk.

Thompson San Antonio Riverwalk, a Hyatt property, brought more sophistication to town when it opened in 2020 with 162 guest rooms and 12,551 sq. ft. of meeting space. The addition this year of LSPACE Cabanas on Cenote Pool Deck turned a stay into an escape.

Eat

When in Southern Texas, BBQ is almost a requirement. We got our fix at a Neon Rodeo staged at Smoke Skybar, an indoor-outdoor venue that boasted beer and live music in addition to smokey, saucy deliciousness.

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The culinary scene is just as diverse as the history of this Creative City of Gastronomy (a UNESCO designation since 2017). Those rich cultural influences along with homegrown talent from the Culinary Institute of America San Antonio ensure that continues to be the case. In addition to some of the best Tex Mex on the planet (we are looking at you Rita’s on the River, Rosario and Carriqui), historic Pearl district is a dining mecca. Here, more than two dozen restaurants, lounges and bars tell their stories through their craft. Pullman Market at Pearl is a fun way to sample the bounty—it encompasses a specialty grocer, sourdough bakery and chef supply shop.

Do

The 15-mile Paseo del Rio, aka the San Antonio River Walk, is the gateway to Museum Reach, which includes The Tobin Center for Performing Arts, San Antonio Museum of Art with its trove of Egyptian artifacts and a robust outdoor gallery of sculptures, including a light and sound installation called “Sonic Passage.” The colorful bargeway also leads to Texas’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site, five mission sites and a historic ranch.