yellowrose477

We are visiting S.A. in January. I have located a VRBO with the address of 214 S. Monumental Street. Could you please tell me if this location is close to the Riverwalk, Alamo area? And also if it is in a safe part of town? I am not implying that S.A. is not a safe city - but I am a visitor and know nothing about your city. Thank you for your help.

ChristieP

As a general rule: anything south/SW of I-35 in San Antonio is not a good neighborhood. This is south of I-35.

J62

Go on maps.google.com and you can see the location, photos of the house, and actually "walk" down the street to the Riverwalk and see the entire route.

It's about 1.5 miles. I would not consider that comfortable walking distance as a tourist, especially if you want to go back and forth during the day.

qwovadis

dump area avoid lots of scammers on vrbo craigs list

look into extendedstay america places or cheap central hotels

betterbidding.com aroundtheriverwalk is ok but a few blocks

over gets druggy seedy dodgy quickly.

yellowrose477

Thank you very much. This was what I was thinking as well. It is so difficult when you do not know a city to pick good lodging. Is it advisable to stay in the Riverwalk area or closer to the airport or medical center area?

J62

I don't get your question?

Why are you going to San Antonio?

If you're visiting the airport, stay near the airport.

If you're going to the medical center, then stay near the medical center.

yellowrose477

I'm sorry that I was confusing. We are going to San Antonio as a visitor to see the Alamo, Riverwalk, Missions, etc. Just trying to find the best, safest area to stay. Thank you.

OO

It is tough when you dont know a city, yellowrose! Medical center is out in Timbuctu, commercial and ugly. The airport isn't much better, and sorry to seem so negative, but that address you gave is in a neighborhood that is neither very nice nor convenient to the Riverwalk. I'd stay in the Medical center even before I'd consider staying there!

Try to stay downtown close to the Riverwalk. I think you will be much happier. The only downtown neighborhood (as in a house that might appear on vrbo) I would consider for a stay would be the King William District, and even that can get dicey in the outling reaches. There are some relatively inexpensive hotels on the Riverwalk--a Holiday Inn, a Druty Inn, both very reasonable hotels. Good luck. I hope you find what you are looking for, but please DO abandon that Monumental St house!

OO

By the way, DH, who was a Riverwalk hotel GM (neither of the hotels I mentioned to you) until his retirement earlier this year, said you should be able to get some good rates in January, unless a citywide is booked, January is not a good month for San Antonio hotels. You are lucky in that January 2013 will be the first January in years that the river won't be drained for cleaning...I guess because they did such extensive work on it this January. Again, hope you find what you are looking for!

yellowrose477

I was checking on Priceline tonight and if you check on the Riverwalk area for hotels - it is south of I-35. ChristieP mentioned that things south of I-35 were generally not the best area to stay. Now I am more confused. Is the Riverwalk area and the Downtown area different areas of town?

Austin

I don't get that remark about south and southwest of i35. I suggest you tell us your budget and/or do a little checking on Riverwalk hotels and suggest a few, and we can tell u our thoughts.

OO

Riverwalk area and downtown are very safe. I've walked by myself through good and the not so great areas and never had the slightest worry. West of 37 is the majority of "downtown" as well as Riverwalk and they are good safe areas providing you stay relatively close to the CBD and Riverwalk. 35/37 are more a north south direction as they travel through downtown. The highway system is a mess downtown IMO, with I35, I37, and I10, forming a square around the better area. Stay east of the downtown section of I35 once it has turned south, west of the downtown section of I37, and north of the downtown section of I10. A map should clarify what I'm trying to describe.

Found a good map. You are looking to stay in the beige area. http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visit...d.aspx?id=7012

yellowrose477

I couldn't open your map unfortunately - it said a file was damaged! I really appreciate your information though. You really seem to understand what I was asking. I was able to look at the map and figure out the area you were talking about - it is pretty much the same area that Priceline has outlined for it's Riverwalk hotels. OO I really appreciate your help.

OO

Yellow rose, the map will really help you. See if you can get to it this way. Go to this link http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visit...aps/index.aspx then click on the "downtown map". Both these links are cut and pastes from their site so you should be able to get in.

yellowrose477

I still can't open it up. I am going to shut down for the night. I will try and open it at work tomorrow. I have looked at hotels all evening! What do you think of the St. Anthony Riverwalk Wyndam, The Menger and Holiday Inn near the River walk? Thanks again for your help.

OO

The Menger has the best location of the 3, right next door to the Alamo. It's an old historic hotel. I've seen their public spaces only, and they have charm. Are the rooms kept up? That I couldn't say, but am sure you can find online reviews. That's one of the drawbacks of a local answering hotel questions! Few of us ever stay in them. Its certainly one of the better tier of hotel.

The St Anthony is another old grande dame historic hotel. I've never been in, but can say of the 3 you mention, it has the worst downtown location, directly across the street from a homeless park. That doesn't make it unsafe...the downtown homeless have always seemed benign, and certainly are well policed, so I wouldn't worry about them, but not sure you want to look at that as you come and go. I've never been approached by anyone begging and I walk downtown a lot.

The Holiday Inn is further out. Never seen their rooms, but have been to a function there. It's public spaces are nice for a Holiday Inn, I was surprised, but of the 3, it is the furthest out. It's just an OK hotel. I suggested that when you were looking at the house and I thought price was a major factor. (You can see the house on zillow--it's a $74,000 house with a $64,000 house next door. It can't rent for very much!)

Here's another thought. This hotel is new (an old renovated department store) and nicely done. I have not been in, but DH was given the tour before they opened. He says the rooms are nice. It's TownePlace Suites, a Marriott property. Here's the link http://www.tpsriverwalk.com/ It's located just up the street from the hotel he was running (Hyatt Regency), and only a few steps from the Riverwalk.

Try this for getting into that link I was trying to get you to for maps. It's a good website for tourists...lots of info other than the maps. Input visitsanantonio.com into a google search. Should bring it up. On their homepage, look at the top menu for "Plan", then that drop down menu brings up maps.

Austin

Try the Hotel COntessa. They have specials from time to time. Lovely rooms and all suites. The only place I stay when I go there.

yellowrose477

Thanks so much for the help. I will look into the Mariott place and Hotel Contessa tonight. Though I will NOT spend the whole evening looking like I did last night,
OO would you ask your DH is it is accepted to haggle with the hotels to get a cheaper rate - is it best to just go to hotels.com or something like that. I can't name my own price as we need rooms for different periods of time as the other couple going with us not staying as long.

yellowrose477

Hotel Contessa looks very nice - but is way over our budget. Thanks Austin.

OO

Yellow rose, the flagged properties are not going to haggle because they operate under a contractual agreement with wholesale and opaque sites to honor a specific rate for a specific date. Going below that they can actually end up owing the wholesaler or opaque site money. That's from the horse's mouth By flagged hotel I mean the majors such as Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, etc.

Look for discounts, AAA, AARP, etc. Different dates have different rates simply because of occupancy for those dates. Hotels.com would be a good site because your group has different arrival/departure dates.

I'll be curious to learn where you end up!