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The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n
Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
The Monarch San Antonio<\/a>, the long-sought hotel anchor at\u00a0Hemisfair, just got its finishing touches, and the historic El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel is set to reopen this fall as\u00a0S\u00edtio El Tropicano<\/a>\u00a0after a significant reinvestment.<\/p>\n Despite such grand unveilings, it\u2019s not a great time to be opening a hotel in downtown San Antonio\u00a0\u2014 particularly an upscale establishment.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Plaza San Antonio Hotel and Spa\u2019s outdoor courtyard features ample seating and the Anaqua Garden Bar. The boutique hotel is located at the corner of South Alamo Street and East Cesar Chavez Boulevard in downtown San Antonio.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News The bar of Cavalier in the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk hotel as seen on Monday, March 31, 2025.<\/p>\n Josie Norris\/San Antonio Express-News A fourth floor room at The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News People dine at Aleteo rooftop restaurant at The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News The Kimpton Santo Hotel, a 10-story luxury hotel located across the street from Hemisfair’s Yanaguana Garden in downtown San Antonio, is pictured on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News The Tenfold rooftop bar at Kimpton Santo is hosting a party on New Year’s Ev.<\/p>\n Kimpton Santo Dean’s Steak and Seafood at Kimpton Santo<\/p>\n Kimpton Santo The Plaza San Antonio Hotel and Spa recently reopened at the site of the former Marriott Plaza Hotel in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The boutique hotel is located at the corner of South Alamo Street and East Cesar Chavez Boulevard, which features 253 guest rooms, a restaurant named Corinne San Antonio and an outdoor bar named Anaqua Garden Bar.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News The InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk hotel has a pool deck with cabanas.<\/p>\n InterContinental Hotels Group The InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk hotel has 390 rooms.<\/p>\n InterContinental Hotels Group One of the four food and beverage concepts at the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk hotel is Deco Bar, a lobby bar.<\/p>\n InterContinental Hotels Group A rendering shows\u00a0renovations planned at the El\u00a0Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel.<\/p>\n Courtesy of El Tropicano Hotel LLC A rendering shows\u00a0renovations planned at the El\u00a0Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel.<\/p>\n Courtesy of El Tropicano Hotel LLC A rendering shows the upcoming lobby transformation for S\u00edtio El Tropicano, which Trestle Studio plans to reopen in the fall.<\/p>\n Trestle Studio<\/p>\n But they\u2019ve been coming fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new wave of hotel supply is coming despite a drop in visitor demand since 2019 due to the post-pandemic slowdown in convention business\u00a0\u2014 the city\u2019s traditional tourism backbone\u00a0\u2014 a slowdown in domestic leisure travel blamed on high inflation and the weak economy and a decline in international visitors attributed to the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies and rhetoric.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n RELATED: Lender takes over luxury Thompson hotel downtown at foreclosure auction<\/a><\/p>\n The situation already is putting pressure on downtown properties, as evidenced by last month\u2019s foreclosure sale of the Thompson San\u00a0Antonio-Riverwalk<\/a>, a 20-story luxury hotel that opened in 2021.<\/p>\n It adds up to what Source Strategies, a local hotel consulting firm, says is one of the most turbulent stretches the San Antonio market has faced since the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Its data tells the story.<\/p>\n As the number of rooms in the urban core increased 4.2% since 2019, the number of nights sold plummeted 15.6%. That\u2019s pushed revenue per available room\u00a0\u2014 a key measure of hotel performance\u00a0\u2014 to an increase of an anemic 2.3% since the pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has not come anywhere close to keeping up with the rate of inflation,\u201d said Paul Vaughn, director of data operations at Source Strategies.<\/p>\n The declines appear to be accelerating.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A rendering shows\u00a0renovations planned at the El\u00a0Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel.<\/p>\n Courtesy of El Tropicano Hotel LLC<\/p>\n In the final three months of 2025, occupancy in downtown hotels slid to just 59%, more than 9 percentage points below the same period in prepandemic 2019. Revenue per available room fell nearly 9% from a year earlier.<\/p>\n That helped drive a citywide revenue drop of 7%, the steepest decline among Texas\u2019 major metros and far off the statewide average decline of 2%.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect this demand to slowly rebound, but it will take time to see occupancies rise to the pre-pandemic level as this supply is absorbed into the marketplace,\u201d Vaughn said, adding that the activity suggests investors see a turnaround ahead. \u201cDevelopers and franchises are risk-averse and would not invest in San Antonio if they did not expect to profit.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n International travel\u00a0<\/p>\n Downtown\u2019s glut of luxury hotels\u00a0\u2014 which tend to attract more international than leisure travelers\u00a0\u2014 is growing as foreign visitation\u00a0has been steadily declining.\u00a0<\/p>\n International travel to the U.S. declined 4.8% in January compared with last year, Forbes reported<\/a>, the ninth month in a row with a decline in foreign visitors.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Are San Antonio\u2019s luxury hotels among the cheapest? Here\u2019s what Hotels.com says.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Many visitors are apprehensive about traveling to the U.S. due to President Donald Trump\u2019s strict border policies, travel experts say, including a 39-country travel ban<\/a> and visa bonds of up to $15,000<\/a> for visitors from certain countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jorge Urbina, cleans a glass behind the bar at The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n Through the first six months, the U.S. was on track to lose $12.5 billion in international traveler spending, according to\u00a0a report from the World Travel & Tourism Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n The decline was largely a result of many\u00a0Canadians boycotting the U.S.<\/a> in response to trade disputes and political tensions after Trump\u2019s suggestion to make the country a 51st U.S. state. As a result, Canadian travel to the U.S. declined by 22%, with roughly 4 million fewer trips than in 2024, resulting in a loss of about $4.5 billion in revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n International travel has been a big slice of San Antonio\u2019s tourism pie. In the 2024 fiscal year, San Antonio saw 39.2 million domestic and international visitors, according to Visit San Antonio<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As international travel declines, hoteliers are hoping for more business driven by conferences in the city \u2014 and that the upcoming expansion of the Henry B.\u00a0Gonz\u00e1lez Convention Center in San Antonio will boost visitation. The downtown complex\u2019s\u00a0major expansion<\/a> is a $750 million project to add 192,000 square feet of event space as part of the first phase of the $1.3 billion\u00a0Project Marvel initiative<\/a> to create a massive sports and entertainment district downtown.<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Will investing millions more in San Antonio\u2019s Convention Center pay off?<\/a><\/p>\n The Convention Center has been steadily rebounding since the pause on events during the pandemic. Its total annual revenue totaled $26.9 million in fiscal year 2025, well above the $19.9 million it generated in 2019 before the pandemic, according to the city of San Antonio. It\u2019s also a 12.5% increase from 2024\u2019s $23.9 million, generated from the approximately 375,825 visitors that year, and a 14.5% increase from 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Spending generated by visitors to the Convention Center averaged $142.2 million from 2010 to 2019 and $130.8 million from 2010 to 2023 at hotels, restaurants, stores and other attractions. In the coming years, city projections suggest, spending could climb 19% with the expansion.<\/p>\n Closures<\/p>\n Hoteliers also are being hit by other economic\u00a0issues<\/a> such as rising costs for labor, supply, insurance and energy. Taken with the other challenges, they\u2019re among the reasons several prominent downtown San Antonio hotels have closed as a result.<\/p>\n Last month, the upscale Thompson\u00a0sold at a foreclosure auction<\/a> to Southern Realty Trust. Owner DC Partners previously said the property had been pummeled by high interest rates and the neighborhood\u2019s increasing number of hotel rooms for visitors to choose from. The Thompson generally has been the most successful of the luxury hotel offerings.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Hotel Havana checks out\u00a0\u2014 River Walk fixture closing after 15 years<\/a><\/p>\n In October, Hotel Havana closed<\/a> its doors without explanation after 15 years on the River Walk.<\/p>\n Kimpton Santo hotel’s Tenfold Rooftop bar will become The Tenth Noel holiday pop-up Dec. 19-25.<\/p>\n Mike Sutter\/Staff<\/p>\n In January, the San Antonio Housing Trust purchased Sonesta ES Suites, an extended-stay hotel at 425\u00a0Bonham St. with plans to refashion the building<\/a> as 220 one- and two-bedroom apartments.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n El Tropicano, which is reopening in the fall with new owners, remained closed after the pandemic despite the former owner\u2019s plans for a renovation. It was at risk of foreclosure before becoming embroiled in a legal dispute<\/a> and ultimately changing hands to begin heading toward its reopening this year.<\/p>\n River Walk history<\/p>\n The El Tropicano and Monarch \u2014 which also was long delayed by multiple business factors \u2014 illustrate both the challenges downtown hotels are facing and the fact developers and operators are still investing in the long-term future.<\/p>\n Trestle Studio<\/a>, a real estate investment firm; Sopris Capital; and the Town Lake Co. purchased El Tropicano in 2023. The group plans to reopen the historic River Walk hotel after completing extensive renovations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n El Tropicano Hotel on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in San Antonio. The hotel has been closed for several years and was embroiled in a legal dispute earlier this spring. It has since changed hands and is now slated to undergo renovations.<\/p>\n Salgu Wissmath\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n \u201cEl Tropicano wasn\u2019t just another acquisition opportunity for us; it was the chance to steward a true cultural landmark and reawaken a social anchor,\u201d said Jake Lamstein, founder and CEO of Trestle Studio. \u201cAs the first hotel on the San Antonio River Walk, it holds deep meaning in the city\u2019s history. We\u2019re drawn to places with legacy, where architecture and community already intersect.\u201d<\/p>\n The hotel, which originally opened in 1962, will feature 315 guest rooms, three culinary concepts and what will be the city\u2019s largest hotel pool deck. The new owners secured historic tax certification and state and federal tax credits for the project.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re restoring key midcentury architectural elements, maintaining portions of the iconic, tiled fa\u00e7ade and distinctive material details, and preserving the original craftsmanship wherever possible,\u201d Lamstein said. \u201cApplying for historic tax certification reflects our commitment to meaningful adaptive reuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0First look at plans for facelift at El Tropicano, the landmark San Antonio River Walk hotel<\/a><\/p>\n The developers are taking a long-term approach with reinvestment in the historic landmark, he said, hoping to stand out among competitors and attract new customers with \u201cstrong culinary and wellness offerings, dynamic community programming\u201d and a private membership offering.<\/p>\n \u201cDowntown San Antonio is experiencing renewed energy and investment,\u201d Lamstein said. \u201cWe\u2019re uniquely situated between some of the city\u2019s most engaging pockets of culture and development, like King William and\u00a0Southtown to the south and Pearl District to the north. Reopening in 2026 allows us to further develop San Antonio\u2019s web of creative enclaves, aligning with the current momentum to ensure the hotel returns not as nostalgia, but as a contemporary icon rooted in the city\u2019s evolving story.\u201d<\/p>\n The Monarch<\/p>\n The Monarch, on the other hand, just opened with 17 stories, 200 rooms,\u00a0three new restaurants<\/a>, a full-service spa, 15,000 square feet of event space and a $2 million public art installation. Nightly rates start at $509 and fluctuate seasonally.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The view from the 17th floor terrace at The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n The $185 million hotel, owned by\u00a0Zachry Hospitality<\/a>, sits on land the San Antonio company is subleasing from the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp. and is part of a larger effort to revitalize the site of the 1968 World\u2019s Fair\u00a0\u2014 a monumental event the Zachry family helped bring to the city\u00a0and for which it built the Hilton Palacio del Rio across the street.<\/p>\n Rick Slutter, managing director of Zachry Hospitality, said the hotel has been overwhelmed since it opened March 3, with sold-out nights and restaurants at capacity. He believes its position as a boutique hotel helps set it apart from other luxury competitors.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile there are elements within the city and within North America that have presented challenges within tourism, the luxury market continues to grow,\u201d Slutter said. \u201cWhen you find a property with exceptional food and beverage, personalized service and memorable team members, it goes a long way to make up for what you can\u2019t control. Guests who are still traveling are looking for experiences and distinctive elements of design.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0The new Monarch hotel at Hemisfair is almost here. Here\u2019s the opening date.<\/a><\/p>\n In the luxury category, the number of rooms completed in downtown San Antonio has increased 3.5% since 2019, including a whopping 7.1% increase since 2024 alone. But the number of nights sold decreased about 17%\u00a0\u2014 and remained flat from 2024 to 2025, according to Source Strategies.<\/p>\n Oak & Amber steakhouse in the lobby of The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. The 17-story luxury hotel opened earlier this month is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a level of inflation that can be difficult to get a handle on, but we\u2019ve built that into the business plans of all our hotels,\u201d Slutter said. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re always watching, making sure we\u2019re on top of our vendors and deliveries.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Slutter said he believes city projects, including\u00a0Oxbow Development Group\u2019s expansion in Southtown<\/a>, the Alamo and the plaza\u2019s makeover<\/a> and the first phase of Project Marvel<\/a> will help drive visitors to the city\u2019s urban core in the long term.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s never been a better time to open a luxury hotel downtown,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s so much energy building within the city between the arenas and the expansions of the Convention Center, the Alamo and the new food and beverage experiences in town. It\u2019s the perfect time for someone to visit San Antonio for the first time or to return and check into a world-class hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Monarch hotel Friday, March 6, 2026, in San Antonio. 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