Crowne Plaza Hotel Riverwalk

After reading the reviews of this hotel, I was definitely not looking forward to the weekend getaway we booked to stay at this hotel. I was expecting the worst! Though my experience was not as bad as I expected it to be, it definitely wasn’t great.
— Parking garage is connected to the hotel which is good. Elevators were messed up and took forever to arrive. The walk to the lobby is not awful but it is quite a distance.
–The lobby was actually pretty nice/​updated. The staff was extremely friendly.
–The elevators to the rooms were the WORST. We had to wait ~20 minutes EACH time and had to keep pushing the button because the light would go off. It was the most annoying thing ever and I hope to never experience it again. We were on the 9^th floor so at times we chose to walk down the stairs. but we didn’t opt to walk up the stairs so ended up waiting for a long time for an elevator. There are 4 but only 2 working ones. Nice, huh? I read reviews on them that were posted about a month ago so you’d think they would have fixed them by now.
–Rooms were pretty nice looking. Only issue there is that the AC SUCKS! It only goes down to 74 and just barely blows air.
In a nutshell, it’s not an awful hotel but it’s not one of the best. They definitely have some work to do.

I have stayed in Crowne PLazas many times and generally they are great hotels to stay in. This one though I doubt I will use again.
The overall feeling is that this is a fairly older hotel. The AC in the room worked but was very slow to cool the room. A tough thing to swallow in the hot Texas summer. The parking was expensive ($ 25 a day). The killer though was the elevators. It seemed only one of the four cars would be working at any one time. If you did not constantly watch the Call Button, the light would turn off while you were waiting for a car to arrive. My kid’s job was to watch that button and press it every time the light turned off. Their fingers got a workout during this stay. When a car did finally arrive, it was usually jam packed due to a lack of service from the other cars. Then once you were on, there was always the chance the car would fail to move on to the next floor. It would just sit there and open and close the doors on the floor it was on. You just did not get any warm fuzzy feelings when you used the elevator and dragging luggage up to the 20^th floor by stairs was not really an option for us.
The hotel is located on the Riverwalk but a little off the beaten path. For some this may be nice to stay away from the noise of the Riverwalk and city but for most I bet this is more of a negative than a positive. The staff itself seemed nice and courteous and overall the place was clean. I did not see the swimming pool but the kids used it and all seemed quite happy with it (granted they are kids and easily pleased with a hole in the ground with water in it). But for me the cons outweigh these pros and we will be staying in another location next time we visit.

Only given one star because I can’t rate it lower. Don’t even bother using the elevators. They never work. It’s like they were trying some sort of social experiment and making everyone walk 21 flights of stairs. The management does not care. They say that they are replacing all of the elevators. Nonsense. Post a sign if that’s the case.
Do NOT stay here.

3.5 stars
The pros:
+good location, near Riverwalk (a couple blocks to the main tourist area) although no direct access from the hotel
+friendly, professional staff (the porters, concierge and valets were all very helpful)
+rooms were clean and comfortable
+Beds/​pillows were comfortable
+fitness center was clean, well equipped and open 24 hrs
+rooftop pool
+free wifi
+breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant was good, included an omelet bar and many options, service in the restaurant was excellent
The cons:
–hotel/​rooms needs some updating
–elevators were über slow and always very crowded
–The sheets were low thread count, felt rough like sandpaper (yes, I’m a princess)
–The parking is an additional fee $ 23.75/day for self park, $ 28/​day for valet (we just went ahead and did valet and valet service was always prompt)
–The wifi was slow, connection was not good
All in all, a decent stay. A good deal for the money, especially during summer/​peak season. We might stay here again.

I booked this with Hotwire, and got terrified after looking at the reviews. However, our stay was clean, quiet, clean bathroom, and we had a great room. The bed was very comfy. Tips: I wouldn’t park in the garage, we parked in the parking lot across the street, it’s cheaper. We had free wifi in our room, we just asked for it from the front desk. Staff was very friendly, and we didn’t see any need for a remodel. Everything was very modern looking. I attached some pictures, you can see for yourself.
As some previous reviews have said, I saw no shady people around the outside of the hotel, and the neighbourhood didn’t scare me, and didn’t seem scary at all.
If you’re looking for a hotel on the Riverwalk closer to the nightlife, this isn’t the one for you. I like being on the opposite end though. It’s quieter. About a 10 – 15 minute walk along the Riverwalk until you get to the more occupied section of the Riverwalk.
PET FRIENDLY!!! Our doggie loved this hotel. Two enthusiastic paws up!
And if you’re a Phi Mu like me, there are quatrefoils EVERYWHERE! Weeee!

First off I booked this place using Hotwire, so I did not know where I was booking. Hotwire said it was 4 – 5 star hotel. This place might have been that 20 years ago, but it could use some real updating. First off charging 25 $ a day for parking is fucking crazy, then charging 10 $ a day for WiFi is even worse (how is it a shitty motel 8 has free parking and WiFi, but this place does not). The staff was okay not bad, but not what I expect from a higher end hotel. The worse part about this place besides the fact Kate saw a cockroach in the lobby is the elevators. They are horrible If one ever shows up it will stop at random floors, skip your floor, be over crowed since they never work when one does work everyone gets on. The room had a really nice view since we were on the 17^th floor, but it was very small.
I will never stay here or any other Crowne Plaza again.

I was really disappointed with the lack of cleanliness in this hotel. As busy as this hotel is, they really need to focus on keeping the common areas cleaner. The elevators were dirty. The carpeted areas throughout were filthy. Would I stay there again? I don’t think so.

After searching for a hotel on the Riverwalk that wasn’t crazy expensive for a weekend getaway, I settled on this hotel. Boy, did I make a mistake.
The area of the hotel is pretty sketchy. Lots of random, shady people milling about outside. It’s a short half block from a bus station which is bustling with strange people, as well.
The lobby/​bar/​restaurant area is beautiful and well kept. But that’s where the cleanliness and beauty ends. The hallways are dingy and dated. The rooms are dark and dated and appear to need a good cleaning. The bathroom was dirty.
The front desk staff is not helpful and borderline not courteous. The nicest staff in the entire hotel were the bartenders. Housekeeping didn’t come until after we left for dinner our first night.
We reserved a car to take us to an event at the Alamodome. The concierge assured us the car would be there to pick us up. The car never showed and we ended up having to walk the 1+mile in the heat of the day at peak humidity because there was «nothing they could do» to get us another car.
We ordered room service (2 cold sandwiches) and were told it would take 15 – 20 minutes. 2 hours and 4 phone calls later, no food. Apparently, the order was never put in. So, we didn’t eat.
The elevators are extremely slow. Having to wait 15 – 20 minutes for an elevator seems excessive and ridiculous.
All in all, it’s best to spend the extra money and stay at another hotel.

The room wasn’t bad, but do not give them your credit card number! I paid for my room in advance through
, and the hotel told me I had to leave a card for $ 50.00 deposit for ‘incidentals’ which I understand. But then they charged me for my room again. On top of that, the room I originally booked at a different hotel had parking and internet included, this hotel charges extra per day for each. They also put a hold on my credit card for that, in addition to charging me for it along with the room. I had so much money being held by the bank that my overdraft protection had to kick in and I got charged for that. My bank was reasonable and understood, so they removed the charge. When I tried to get through to the Crowne Plaza, I got voicemail, so left a message. After 3 hours, I called again, and got a busy signal. Tried again, got through and it rang until the line finally went dead. Called again, got through, put on hold for 15+ minutes, so hung up and called again. By the time I got through to someone, I was so upset I could hardly talk. And all she did was say «I just got here and started my shift, ma’am, let me put you on hold.» I tried to say something and she hit the hold button anyway. I finally spoke to someone who said the account will be credited within 7 – 10 business days. Totally unacceptable, I should not have been charged in the first place. Also, every time I tried to exit the parking garage, my room key wouldn’t work, so I had to call the front desk and wait for them to buzz the gate open. When I went down to check out at 7:00am, there was nobody to be found. I wanted to straighten out my bill then, but had a plane to catch and no time to track down an employee.
Will not stay there again.

We were extremely disappointed in our stay, for numerous reasons, which began when we pulled into the hotel.
We arrive at the hotel at 3:30. At the valet stand we pulled up and exited our vehicle. We unloaded our luggage and waited by the door for a one of the valets. While waiting, two cars pulled up to ask questions and they were helped. We still waited. Finally as one valet began to walk past us, my wife stopped him and told him that we were checking into the hotel. He pulled out his pad and asked if we would be self-​parking or using the valet. Really? If we were self-​parking, we would not have been waiting for 10 minutes for one of you to simply take our car.
We then proceed to the front desk. By this time it is 3:45 and we are told that our room was not ready. Check in time is at 3. This is very frustrating and I have never had to wait to check in to my room at any other IHG hotels. The front desk representative takes all of my information, including my credit card for incidentals. She explains that it should be 30 to 40 minutes at the maximum, for our room to be ready. She takes my cell phone number, in order to call us as soon as the room is ready. We walk over to the bar and proceed to have a few drinks and wait. And wait. At 5:30 we still have not heard from the front desk, and my wife walks over to check. She speaks to different front desk representative who tells her there are some rooms available and checks her in. Where was our phone call? How long were we sitting there with a room available.
We are checked into room 1208 and proceed with our evening. After returning from dinner and a walk down the Riverwalk, we return to the hotel bar for a nightcap. I order our drinks at the bar and we sit at a table where my wife notices something in my drink. A piece of spinach? Lettuce? I am not sure, but it is food and should not have been there. We leave the bar.
Back in the room, I take a shower while my wife kicks on the A/​C. There is a horrible noise coming from the walls. It sounds like something is about to explode. My wife calls downstairs, believing it is the A/​C causing the noise, to request help. After the shower, we realize that it is not the A/​C unit, but rather the pipes when the shower is turned on. My wife calls back downstairs and tells them that we have discovered it is not the A/​C, but rather the shower and to cancel the maintenance call; she just has to take a quick shower before bed so we will deal with it tomorrow. She is told that the maintenance call will be canceled for the evening. She then puts out the do not disturb sign and begins to prepare for the shower. After about 10 minutes, there is a knock at the door. It is maintenance. Even with the do not disturb sign on the door and the call canceled, they knocked anyway. Very frustrating.
After showers, we pull the top cover back to get into bed. There is some kind of brown/​black stuff on the bedspread. It is not a stain, but actually grime of some sort on the underside of the cover. At this point we are furious and completely exhausted from our experience so far at the hotel. We remove the top covers and just use the sheet to sleep.
The following morning, my wife calls and speaks to the front desk supervisor. She explains what has occurred and asks what our next step should be. The front desk supervisor apologizes and says she will move us to another room. She says it might be just a while; they were booked the night before and will be cleaning rooms as soon as guests check out. That was completely understandable and we tell her that is fine. She also offers a free breakfast coupon for 2 to use either morning of our stay. While we do accept the «gift», it is strange that in every other Crowne Plaza I have stayed at, I always receive the breakfast coupons as a perk of being a Platinum member. Not here. Here it is offered as a condolence prize. We then take our outrageously loud and uncomfortable showers.
Before leaving out for the morning we stop by the front desk. My wife tells the front desk representative about the situation and that the front desk supervisor was working on getting our room changed. She gives the front desk my cell phone number, again, and requests that they call as soon as a room is available. We proceed with our morning.
We return from our morning out around noon and go to our room to wait. And wait. Finally at 2:30 my wife goes downstairs to get an update. The same representative that took my phone number earlier that morning tells her there is the same type of room available on a lower floor. Again, where was our call? The trip did not end there, but that is the maximum amount that can be written for a Unilocal review.

Nice enough hotel right off the river walk. I see many complaining about river walk location — hotel is literally 500 feet from river walk entrance and a short 10 – 15 minute walk to river center where all main dining scene is.
Free wifi in lobby, $ 10 per day per device in room. Valet parking on site and parking garage across the street for $ 24 a day.
Nice outdoor pool area. Workout room is a bit more than most hotels, dumb bells up to 50lbs and a small variety of weight machines to go with multiple treadmills and bikes.
First floor has a bar and restaurant. There is a Starbucks about 4 blocks away as well as other morning food options.
Rooms are quite standard. Overall nice stay in a convenient location.

Pros: Nice, clean hotel. Friendly hotel staff. Great breakfast buffet!
Con: Hotel is located a little farther from the main Riverwalk attractions and restaurants. Parking fee is a little hefty.

I was overall very satisfied with my recent stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk. The hotel is located just off of the Riverwalk and is about a ten minute walk to a variety of restaurants and bars. There are options that are closer to the hotel, but walking ten minutes will give you many more choices. The hotel itself has one bar/​restaurant on its premises.
My room was very comfortable and clean. The beds are covered with fresh white linens and fluffy duvets– definitely the kind of hotel beds that you beg to stay in longer, not desperate to hurry out of. My room was well lit, both with natural and artificial lighting. I was also very pleased to see that my room was complete with a large, flat screen television. The only thing missing? A mini-​fridge! Apparently refrigerators are located within some of the hotel rooms (perhaps the more deluxe options), so do inquire in advance if this amenity is important to you.
This hotel offered a perk that I’ve yet to see before– if you opted to reuse your towels (opt against house keeping during your stay) you had the option of hanging a little «eco-​friendly» notice on your door each night and in return received a $ 5 gift card to be used toward the purchase of food and/​or drink at the hotel bar, restaurant, or gift shop. You have the option to do this every day of your stay except the day that you check out. Be sure to look for the little «eco-​friendly» notice if your room so that you don’t miss out on this little perk.
I stayed at the hotel to attend a conference and I found the conference facilities to be good not great. Many of the conference sessions that I attended involved activities that involved small group work or walking around the room and the set up of the rooms wasn’t very conducive to such activities. I also didn’t think that the rooms were refreshed enough between sessions (like water pitchers refilled and new glasses brought in).
I dined at the hotel restaurant a few times and thought it was pretty good. A breakfast buffet is offered daily for $ 13.95 and includes your typical array of breakfast foods: pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit, yogurt, cereal, sausage, bacon, omelets, etc. It isn’t very impressive, but it’s ok. The lunch menu offers a fairly simple selection of sandwiches, salads, and wraps.
A few final notes… The staff was overall friendly and helpful. The hotel offers free wifi in the lobby and conference areas, but internet access will cost you $ 9.95 per day in your room.

This is a beautiful hotel. I attended a 4 day conference this month and was pleasantly surprised, after reading some reviews here on Unilocal.The conference areas on the second and third floor of the lobby were very nice. Everything was clean, sparkling and comfortable.
The room was a standard hotel room, with nicer-​than-​average linens and a great large flat-​screen TV. There were ample outlets for cell phones to be charged and hair irons to be plugged in (there were four girls staying in a double bed room). Blow dryer and iron in room were a great plus, as well as decent bathroom counter space.
Food was a different issue. The buffet breakfast was $ 13.95, and other options were pricey enough to make you say, «I’ll just get the buffet!» The food wasn’t great. I’m an egg enthusiast, and found them to be a bit disappointing. How do you make eggs disappointing? The omelette bar was a cool option, though. Other than that, generic foods were served that I could get at any other hotel’s continental breakfast for free, and health conscious people only had a couple truly clean food options.
Service was decent. I’m not a terribly demanding guest– I’ve worked in the service industry and know that the pay isn’t great and the work is hard. I think the employees of this hotel were pretty good at handling guests. Some of the restaurant workers could use a bit of customer service training, but many of them were young.
Traveling in a group of about 10 people seemed to be overwhelming to the desk clerks. One person made reservations for us all, and acquiring the right room keys was quite a chore, but I suppose these are safety measures.
The crowning glory, however, which just made me up my rating from a 3 to a 4, was the fitness center. A whole rack of free weights (5 – 75 lb. dumbbells if I recall) and an abundance of cardio machines and nautilus equipment enabled me to stay on track with my fitness regimen.
Overall a decent experience, but the good far outweighed the bad in my opinion.

this hotel was clean and the staff friendly. it is NOT a four star hotel as it was sold to us.
it did fulfill our need of a place to crash, cheaply, for our trip to san antonio for restaurant week.
the elevators are slow, some of the carpet in the common areas was worn, but our biggest complaint was regarding the lobby bar.
it is not much to look at, I can get past that with good drinks, but they missed that boat as well. my wife wanted an irish coffee, no coffee. said coffee would take another 10 – 15 minutes. so my wife asked for a dos x, the guy next to us was enjoying one. the bartender said all he had was warm, not chilled. so we opted for shiner bock, their only tap. I noticed the beer poured with no head. then we noticed the taste was off… I think they don’t have their kegerator set up correctly.
we did enjoy the pool, but unlike the pool at the westin we stayed at last time in SA, no bar in the pool area.
my final warning is, location. while it IS on the riverwalk, it’s on a remote branch void of the usual eat/​drink options. it IS conveniently located near the greyhound station and bill millers BBQ drive through. both are great if you are a hobo watcher. we saw a few that had made a nice cardboard pallet in the bbq place, only to have their setting wetted by a freak thunderstorm. all this hobo coming and going next to the hotel prompted the best one liner from my 4 year old son «hobo farts are stinky».
hey, it was good enough for us and only about $ 75. hobos were just the icing on the cake.

Hotwire 3.5 star hotel in the riverwalk north area:
BAM… Crowne Plaza Hotel it is!
For a 2 night stay at $ 75, it was not too bad at all. Previously I had a reservation at the days inn near the alamo, and they have charged me the same price even at AAA discount! SO… OF COURSE HOTWIRE’s deal was more awesome. AND staying at the Crowne Plaza was way much safer and peaceful than staying at the Sheraton Gunter, knowing of all these hauntings and sights that I read so much about. (I don’t know if I believe in that stuff but it just creeped me out and I was on a trip by myself! I had to switch out hotels!)
The lobby was clean and standard. Nothing much to expect since I was only staying there to focus and prep for my interview. I got a king size room, which was beyond huge for one person. Came furnished with king size bed with numerous pillows that I loved, a couch, a desk, and a spacious room/​bathroom. I couldn’t ask for more during my hotel campout for the day and night! Parking at the hotel was more than $ 20 valet/​parking. I recommend parking across the street in the lot for $ 8 overnight and $ 2.50 for day or night rate. That is way more reasonable.
Internet, unfortunately, was a charge of $ 9.95÷24 hrs… but for some reason, at check out they told me no additional charges…(we’ll see my cc bill later)
Staff were friendly and prompt. Check out was a breeze.
No complaints! Yes it is not in the heart of the riverwalk but hey I wasn’t there to be a tourist even though I was so tempted to! Thanks for the stay!

I wish I could give 3.5 stars because it was a bit better than «ok».
The rooms were clean
The service was friendly
The beds were comfy.
The rooms were comfy.
The pool was clean.
It on the same block as an entrance to the river walk (but not in the middle of the action) You just walk «behind» the building and take the stairs down and you are on the river walk.
They over billed us but were glad to fix the charge upon checkout.
Would I stay again? Yes, if the price was right but there are probably more memorable hotels in the area.

Pros: pets allowed for a fair deposit price, beautiful lobby, right on the River Walk, and we got a good price on the room.
Cons: $ 24 to self-​park at a garage on another block, not as close to the «real» River Walk as we thought, seedier part of town,

Yeah I’m breaking the mold of all you whiners.
The staff was excellent! Everyone I encountered was nice, helpful, and eager. On that front, the only complaint is it taking an hour to get my milk and cookies, and I had ordered chocolate chip but received oatmeal raisin [it worked out though, because my chocolate craving had died down by then]. The next night though, my cheeseburger and fries were at my door fast! And it was impressive for room service as I tend to find hotel food quite lacklustre.
My room was very clean and the bed, a California king, was wonderfully comfortable. I slept really well in this bed, which is hard for me to do while traveling. There was some black ink on the white curtains though, and the blackout curtains were only for decoration and just covered a third of each window. We had a view of the Riverwalk and some buildings, not much to see. Kind of a dim part of town. Paying for high-​speed internet is also kind of weird, and I didn’t like that. The walls must be thin because I could hear our neighbor screaming at his television word for word [racist and lewd language.] when I was in the bathroom.
There is no airport shuttle here but it’s only a few miles from the airport.
I liked this place a lot, and for a young couple who wants to be within walking distance to the sights and Riverwalk without dropping their whole paycheck, the Crowne Plaza is the way to go.

I was totally prepared to give this hotel a four-​star rating. Other than our key-​cards to the room not working as well as they should, and having to get them reprogrammed a couple of times, I found nothing wrong with this hotel. Our room was on the 8^th floor and we had a River Walk view, which really wasn’t much, because there is nothing on that part of the River Walk. We could see the pool from our room and the pool looked awesome, and it looked clean from our vantage point.
The room was fine, albeit kind of small. There were three of us staying in the room with two double beds. We were all comfy and had little problems getting around each other while getting ready in the mornings.
All of the staff that we encountered were all very nice. The security people even helped my friend when he skinned his toe on the stairs coming up to the hotel. They bandaged him up, and gave him extra bandages and band-​aids to take to the room.
My problem with the hotel is after checkout. I was billed for valet even though we paid cash before we left the hotel. Valet is $ 26 a day (ouch), and I wasn’t really budgeted to have that all charged to my debit card, so I went negative in my account and was charged a NSF.
I called the hotel on Tuesday morning when I realized I had been billed for the valet charges. I was transferred to accounting, the accounting person said «hold please» and I was transferred without knowing it to guest services. After telling my story for the third time, I was going to be transferred back to accounting. When I explain that I was just speaking to someone in accounting, the lady at guest services put me on hold to find out what was going on. She came back and gave me the name of the head controller, Laura, and transferred me to her. I explained my situation for the fourth time, and was told I would be transferred to Claudia who would definitely be able to look up my account and see what happened. Claudia was able to help me, but not until I faxed the valet receipt to her. After a few emails to my friends, they were able to fax the receipt to me within a few minutes. I immediately faxed that to Claudia with my bank statement attached.
This was all on Tuesday. I didn’t get credited back to my account until today. Friday. This entire week I was negative in my account because of their mistake. Luckily I had cash to get me by. They didn’t credit the NSF charge, which I don’t know if it’s worth fighting that or not…
Overall it’s a nice hotel and I would probably return, but not so sure after this whole ordeal.