After the Fall of the Alamo:

Historic Hotels of San Antonio

They reference their history a little differently in San Antonio. It all started with an event that happened at a Spanish mission in 1836. After William Barrett Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and 186 others made their sacrificial stand, the fall of the Alamo became a marking point. The Shrine of Texas Liberty is not only the physical center of San Antonio, but the historical center as well. While that’s hardly a revelation, I was surprised at the extent of the association. It’s illegal to construct a building in San Antonio that casts a shadow over the Alamo. The old mission infuses the city with a living message that true freedom is not self-centered, like an inspirational letter you must go to San Antonio to read. While visiting the city, I’ve found that staying at a historic hotel is a great way to connect with San Antonio’s heroic and eclectic past. Dates in the city’s history are referenced in relation to the February 1836 battle. In other words, discovering your San Antonio hotel was built in 1853 is secondary to knowing it was constructed 17 years after the fall of the Alamo.

The Pilgrimage

For years the common and the famous (including one of the most famous people ever to use the word pilgrim, John Wayne) have made the journey to see the Shrine of Texas Liberty. As San Antonio grew, hotels were built to accommodate these travelers. There is a wealth of history bound up in the city’s historic hotel buildings. Each of these structures affords the opportunity to experience parts of the city in much the same way as the travelers of decades ago.

In a city rich in architecture, San Antonio’s historic hotel buildings are gems of the past. There are historic hotels in San Antonio, and there are historic buildings that have been transformed into hotels. An overlooked aspect of this former frontier town, San Antonio has preserved its old buildings while others in many cities have found the wrecking ball. There is a wealth of hotel buildings that were constructed within 90 years of the fall of the Alamo (or by 1926 if you're not keeping track). Here are four of my favorite historic San Antonio hotels.

The Menger

Twenty-three years after the fall of the Alamo, local businessman W.A. Menger opened a hotel across the street from the revered battleground. At the Menger (http://www.historicmenger.com/) you can gain a sense of San Antonio life in the 1800s. The hotel is filled with antiques purchased by Menger himself on trips to New York and Europe in the 1860s and 1870s. The original advertisement for the hotel stated that the owner “spares no pains to have his table and all the accommodations of his house, at least equal to any hotel in the West.”

The original section of the Menger was designed by John Fries, the same architect who led the reconstruction of the battle-damaged Alamo. Fries is credited with giving the Alamo rooftop its defining parapet silhouette. His plan for the Menger led to a fifty room, two-story hotel overlooking Alamo Plaza. If you stand in the plaza facing the hotel, the 1859 portion is on the right. The iron lace balconies evoke comparisons to New Orleans' French Quarter buildings.

The first time I traveled to San Antonio was to attend a conference at the Menger. I was thrilled when I found out that the hotel is across the street from the Alamo. When I arrived I became almost as excited about the Menger itself, a building that is a repository of history, with its accumulated stories and artifacts. One of the most repeated accounts is of the flamboyant Oscar Wilde strolling through the hotel’s tropical garden in 1882 “sipping spiked lemonade and smoking long, foreign cigarettes.” One can imagine the contrast the Irish playwright would have been to the cowboys of the Old West.

One of my favorite experiences at the Menger was sitting in that same tropical garden on a calm evening. I was working on a presentation for the conference I was attending, but I was also taking in the setting. It was late March and the temperature was about 75 degrees and there were no insects or humidity. It was one of the most peaceful scenes I’ve ever experienced. Apparently the garden was somewhat less tranquil in the past because alligators used to live in the courtyard's small pool. According to the story, the reptiles were given in partial payment for a large room bill.

Near the tropical garden is the Menger’s Colonial Room Restaurant. Open continuously since 1859, the classical restaurant has witnessed several famous diners, including Presidents Grant and McKinley, and General Robert E. Lee.

In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt, along with gilded age empire builders like Cornelius Vanderbilt, came to the Menger to organize the first U.S Volunteer Cavalry or the “Rough Riders” as they were known. This was the regiment Roosevelt led on the famous charge up Cuba’s San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American war.

The Menger also has connections to another famous monument. The sculptor of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, frequented the Menger and kept his studios at the hotel for several years. One could speculate that Roosevelt’s association with the Menger influenced Borglum’s decision to make the famous “Rough Rider” the fourth face on the granite monument.

The Menger is like a live oak, a tree that never stops growing. Almost immediately after the hotel was finished, it was expanded. After that the Menger grew again in 1881, 1887, 1899, 1912, 1949-1950, 1953, 1966-67, and 1988. Today the Menger has 350 rooms and suites. The building now encloses two courtyards, one is the tropical garden and the other is an outdoor swimming pool. The original lobby has been restored to its Victorian era appearance. The Menger is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi. It is a rambling, elegant building that faces both the past and the present, with the Alamo on one side and a shopping mall on the other.

La Mansion

Sixteen years after the fall of the Alamo, four teaching monks of the Society of Mary founded a school on the banks of the San Antonio River. The original meeting place of St. Mary’s Institute was the second floor of a livery stable on San Antonio’s military plaza. By 1853, a European-style limestone building was constructed along the river on a section of what would become the Riverwalk. Over the next 50 years, the building was expanded as the school grew. St. Mary's Institute became St. Mary's College, which in turn became St. Mary's University.

In 1966, the school moved to another campus. An alumnus of St. Mary’s Law School bought the original property and expanded the structure to the San Antonio River bank. The hotel opened for San Antonio’s World’s Fair, the Hemisfair, in 1968. True to its name, La Mansion del Rio Hotel (http://www.lamansion.com/) has the look of a Spanish Colonial Mansion. The hotel was expanded in 1979 and again in 1986 to the current 337 rooms. Situated on a relatively quiet stretch of the Riverwalk, La Mansion is also one of the more expensive hotels in the downtown area, but with its tiled floors, courtyards and sweeping arches, you can have the experience of staying at a colonial plantation house.

The St. Anthony

Seventy-three years after the fall of the Alamo, two cattlemen opened a hotel across from Travis Park, named for the Alamo’s commander. The hotel has been in constant operation since 1909. The owners named the hotel after St. Anthony de Padua, the patron saint of San Antonio. It was the first hotel in the country to be completely and continuously air-conditioned. Like the Menger, the St. Anthony (www.wyndhamsanantoniohotels.com/stanthony) has received several additions and renovations throughout its history. However, unlike the Menger, the St. Anthony was built up more than out. The hotel is 10 stories tall with 402 rooms and suites and is a combination of art deco flair and French Empire style. After its opening, the St. Anthony was compared to the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

One of the most notable aspects of the hotel is the lobby, which is known as Peacock Alley. True to its name, many people of note have strutted through the elaborate hall with its eight foot chandeliers, French Empire furniture, and Remington paintings. Eleanor Roosevelt stayed at the St. Anthony, as did President Eisenhower, General Douglas McArthur, World War II hero Aude Murphy, and Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco. Several actors and actresses from the “Golden Era” of Hollywood also walked through Peacock Alley on their way to their rooms, including Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson, and John Wayne. You can now stay at the John Wayne Suite for about $250 a night.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the St. Anthony a couple years ago. True to our value-seeking style, we ended up in a huge guest suite that cost less than one-hundred dollars a night. Looking around the room as we first walked in, my wife, Trish, commented “we can have our own conference in here.” The room, filled with mahogany furniture, was the size of a small house. It also overlooked the rooftop pool (which is on a lower section of the multi-tiered roof). A relaxing summer's night swim in the pool, overlooking the lights of downtown San Antonio, was the perfect way to top off our trip.

The Emily Morgan

Ninety years after the fall of the Alamo, a building that is considered one of the top ten achievements in American architecture was built. Constructed as the Medical Arts Building, the structure housed doctor’s offices and a small hospital for five decades. In 1976, the building was converted to commercial office space and renamed the Landmark Center. Nine years later, in 1985, the Gothic Revival, triangular-shaped building was converted to a hotel. Emily Morgan, the hotel’s namesake, was known as the Yellow Rose of Texas. She became famous for her role in aiding the Texas army in the battles immediately following the Alamo.

I include the Emily Morgan Hotel (http://www.emilymorganhotel.com/) primarily because it is such an impressive building. It grabbed my attention as my wife and I were walking from the St. Anthony to the Alamo. The thirteen story building stands out in the low sky line of San Antonio. The Gothic architecture of the Emily Morgan includes terra cotta gargoyles that ring the building on the ground level. The architect had a sense of humor. Varying from the conventional pattern for gargoyles, these sculpted creatures are afflicted with various medical ailments from toothaches to broken arms.

The Emily Morgan has been extensively renovated in the last few years to make the interior as striking as the exterior. The recent rise in the price of its 177 rooms is reflective of all the changes. Like the Menger, the Emily Morgan Hotel is across the street from the Alamo.

Beyond the Checklist

San Antonio is a city worth returning to again and again for the experience, not just another travel destination to be checked off the list. I would recommend staying at a different historic hotel each time you visit. Visit the Riverwalk at night, read Colonel Travis’ letter “to all Americans in the world,” stroll through the gardens of the Menger, and swim in the St. Anthony’s rooftop pool (as a hotel guest of course). I’ve never had to rent a car in San Antonio. You’ll always be within walking distance of any place downtown.

Sidebar

Other Historic San Antonio Hotels

· Crockett Hotel www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/satch?irs=null Built in 1909, the Crockett was constructed on part of the original Alamo battleground. Davy Crockett helped defend the land that is now the southeast palisade of the hotel.

· Gunter Hotel (http://www.gunterhotel.com/). Also dating to 1909, the Gunter is similar in style to the St. Anthony.

· Fairmount Hotel (www.wyndhamsanantoniohotels.com/fairmount) Constructed in 1906, and moved adjacent to the Riverwalk in 1985, the Fairmount is the largest building ever to be moved.

· Drury Inn and Suites Riverwalk (http://www.druryhotels.com/properties/%20sanantonio%20riverwalk.cfm): Also along the Riverwalk. The building dates to 1924 and was recently converted to a hotel.