On my visit to San Antonio, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk as that’s where the Award Travel meetup presentations were being held and where most of the attendees were staying. I paid 27k Hyatt points for the stay, 12k for Friday night (off-peak) and 15k for Saturday night (standard). The cash price per night was around $300 including taxes.

I had never been to San Antonio before so it met my criteria for a points and miles meetup because it was a place I wanted to visit. Last year I went to the Travel On Points meetup in Pittsburgh for a similar reason.

I enjoyed meeting some new people and reconnecting with some old friends over the weekend. The hotel itself was perfectly fine. There were something like 70 Hyatt Globalists plus others staying on a Guest of Honor reservation (with full Globalist benefits) so I didn’t bother asking for an upgrade at check-in. I did ask for a higher floor so I would have a good view and also some distance from the noisy restaurant and bar on the lobby level.

I was on the 11th floor, which is the top floor. In fact, I was across the hall from the Presidential Suite (and I never found out if someone from our group was staying in it). It was a fairly standard Hyatt Regency room with a comfortable bed, plenty of charging outlets and a small fridge to keep water bottles cold.

The bathroom had a walk-in shower and single sink. There was both a couch and a desk. The view was of the “other side” of San Antonio facing away from the river toward the Alamo. The room has definitely been updated fairly recently as the hotel itself is pretty old.

Breakfast at the hotel was a buffet over the weekend and was included as a Globalist benefit. There were eggs made to order and plenty of options. The food quality was good and you could order coffee-based drinks from the server.

I checked out the pool area which was on the roof, just down the hall from my room. There were some neat looking covered loungers on the pool deck. I also used the gym a couple of times. One of the treadmills rebooted in the middle of my workout so I took the hint and went for a walk on the Riverwalk instead.

Overall, I had a pleasant stay. I was proactively offered a 4pm checkout and with a 6pm flight, it would have been helpful. In the end, I switched to an earlier flight so I left around 11am. I got a ride from the airport from some other attendees who had rented a car, but I took a Lyft back to the airport which was around $20.

San Antonio was fun for a weekend. If I came back to the area, I would probably try and stay at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort outside of town. The Riverwalk was fun for a night or two, but it’s very touristy and has mostly chain restaurants and bars. I did make a quick visit to the Alamo as the hotel is literally 100 feet from the entrance. Here are some pictures:

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