![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SitioElTropicanoHotel_RiverwalkDowntownSanAntonioLodging_MembershipClub_MakeoverRenovations05_06.24..jpeg\")
Renovations, remodeling and construction work areas are seen during a private preview event for the new S\u00edtio El Tropicano. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\nThe 1960s-era El Tropicano Hotel in downtown San Antonio is undergoing a $100 million makeover not expected to be complete until December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But on Wednesday, invited guests were ushered from a dusty parking lot enclosed by construction fencing and scaffolding through a breezeway lush with palms and champagne into the hotel\u2019s future Flamingo Bar.<\/p>\n
The urban resort\u2019s bar is an homage to the live flamboyance that once resided in the rotunda-like space, said a spokeswoman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one way the developer plans to preserve the 9-story hotel\u2019s colorful history and mid-century modern design and bring the building \u2014 vacant four decades \u2014 back to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite ongoing construction, the boutique real estate investment firm Trestle Studio of Chicago and New York City, which acquired the hotel in 2024, opened the doors for an invite-only event this week, making two announcements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Renovations, remodeling and construction work areas are seen during a private preview event for the new S\u00edtio El Tropicano. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
In addition to a unique club membership model that will be offered at the hotel, it has also partnered with Emmer & Rye Hospitality of Austin to manage the hotel\u2019s restaurants and bars.<\/p>\n
For an annual fee, club members will have access to private entry and social spaces within the hotel, 24\/7 use of the fitness facilities, a spa and massive pool deck along with other amenities and perks. The club will be limited to 300 members \u2014 local entreprenueurs, civic leaders, artists and others.<\/p>\n
In addition, the hotel will feature three \u201cculinary venues\u201d with menus developed by Emmer & Rye\u2019s Kevin Fink<\/a>. In 2024, Fink opened Pullman Market in the former Samuels Glass Co. headquarters at Pearl.<\/p>\n While most of the building at 110 Lexington Ave. remains a construction zone, one completed and furnished guest room among the total 315 in the hotel offered a sneak peek of the remodel. <\/p>\n Inspired by the avant-garde design of Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994), a well-known Brazilian landscape architect, the room features curved lines, deep green hues and rich wood tones.\u00a0Michael Hsu is the interior designer and the firm Studio8 of Austin is the architect.<\/p>\n Many of the guest rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the 5,000-square-foot resort-style pool deck and bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also motivated by Marx\u2019s creativity is the new name given to the hotel \u2014 S\u00edtio El Tropicano. In Spanish, Sitio translates to place. Marx called his garden in Rio de Janeiro, S\u00edtio Roberto Burle Marx<\/a>. <\/p>\n In fact, a tropical plant with large, glossy leaves growing in the midst of the dilapidated Tropicano is what initally inspired Trestle Studio CEO Jake Lamstein, a longtime developer and hotelier.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything was rather decrepit and then there was this one beautiful growing Monstera plant in the middle of the lobby,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The stories of people who had once visited the hotel, a celebrity-favorite in its heyday, also moved Lamstein: \u201cThey worked there or they had a quincea\u00f1era, everyone had these stories.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the restoration and remodel has thrown some \u201ccurveballs,\u201d he said, making it 100% more difficult than any other project he\u2019s taken on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging that way, but with that has come all this discovery of all the really cool spaces that we didn\u2019t even know existed when we bought it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trestle Studio also owns Lakeway Resort and Spa near Austin, and The Hotel Chalet in Chattanooga, Tenn.<\/p>\n El Tropicano is located steps from the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and within a downtown neighborhood situated between the central tourist district and Pearl.\u00a0<\/p>\n Opened in 1962, the swanky El Tropicano was the first riverfront hotel on the San Antonio River Walk, according to the tourist destination\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Long vacant, plans for a major renovation kicked off in 2018 after Alamo Equity and Phoenix Hospitality Group acquired the property. The work was expected to be completed in 2022 but then the hotel closed abruptly in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.<\/p>\n In May 2023, investor and former broadcast executive Emilio Nicolas Jr. sued Alamo Equity principal Logan Anjaneyulu for mismanagement. The case was moved to arbitration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Soon after, the property was headed to foreclosure after its owners defaulted on a loan from an affiliate of developer Weston Urban, which helped finance the acquisition. It was pulled from the auction block days later after an agreement had been reached to sell the hotel to its latest owners<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tax records reveal the 185,000-square-foot property was most recently assessed at over $9 million.<\/p>\n Trestle Studio\u2019s plans go beyond a refreshed hotel in downtown San Antonio already flush with a growing number of luxury lodgings and rooms that go unused during off seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The membership club model it\u2019s introducing is unique in the city\u2019s hospitality landscape, but not necessarily in other places. A founding membership is priced at $12,500 as a one-time fee; other tiers of membership start at $3,500.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen hotels introducing membership clubs throughout the world as a way to really create community,\u201d said Christine Moriarty, chief brand and marketing officer at Trestle Studio. \u201cThe whole point of the membership club is to create a vibrant home base for San Antonians that are going to work here, but also be able to have them utilize our amenities and be treated like a VIP.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SitioElTropicanoHotel_RiverwalkDowntownSanAntonioLodging_MembershipClub_MakeoverRenovations01_06.24..jpeg\")
A completed guest room at S\u00edtio El Tropicano Hotel in downtown San Antonio. Booking now open for dates starting in mid-December. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260624_PoolView_01.jpg\")
A rendering shows a poolside view of S\u00edtio El Tropicano Hotel, which is set to open before the end of the year. Credit: Courtesy \/ S\u00edtio El Tropicano<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SitioElTropicanoHotel_RiverwalkDowntownSanAntonioLodging_MembershipClub_MakeoverRenovations16_06.24..jpeg\")
Construction fences and gates surround the S\u00edtio El Tropicano Hotel along Lexington Avenue and North Saint Mary\u2019s Street on June 24, 2026 as renovation on the historic hotel continues. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scott-Ball_el-tropicano-hotel-development-downtown-hospitality-11-28-2023112923_4.jpg\")
El Tropicano Hotel seen from above in 2023, which was three years after its closure in 2020. Credit: Scott Ball \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SitioElTropicanoHotel_RiverwalkDowntownSanAntonioLodging_MembershipClub_MakeoverRenovations13_06.24..jpeg\")
A guest waits for their vehicle to be retrieved by the valet under a carport area during a private preview event of S\u00edtio El Tropicano on June 24, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n