My friend Caitlin invited me and Milo to go on a weekend trip to the Hyatt San Antonio Riverwalk hotel with her, and I was so excited! I planned on doing lots of short trips with Nate and Milo this summer, because I really wanted to learn how to travel well with a baby. But traveling with Nate and Milo is nearly impossible right now (it’s sooo much work for me to have to carry all the luggage + baby gear + Nate’s wheelchair), so we’ve had to put that on hold until Nate’s leg heals.
We stayed in a beautiful suite at the Hyatt San Antonio Riverwalk. This hotel is located right on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, so it has one of the best locations in the whole city. It’s walking distance to the Alamo, a bunch of restaurants, and so much more! Of course, with this being a hotel stay during a pandemic, we mostly hung out in the room and did a few socially distanced outings, but it’s a great hotel location regardless.
I’m really thankful for friends who make a point to include me and my baby in their everyday lives. Bringing a 10-month-old along for a hotel stay changes everything, from the car ride to the schedule to the restaurant meals and the ability to leave the room after 7 pm (helloooo early bedtime!), so I was absolutely amazed by my friend Caitlin for inviting the baby along on this stay.
About the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk
Pros:
Amazing location! Seriously, it’s literally right on the Riverwalk.
The Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk is a huge hotel, so it’s not too hard to book a room (unlike tiny boutique hotels).
There’s a pool, gym, restaurant, Starbucks…all the amenities.
It has the “wow” factor with an indoor pond right when you walk in the front door
There’s plenty of parking, both valet and self-park.
The Q Kitchen restaurant is fantastic! We had a huge meal and loved the roasted brussels sprouts with bacon-date jam, the gulf shrimp tacos, and the milk chocolate bread pudding for dessert.
Cons:
Although it’s a 4-star hotel, it was built in the 80s. It’s a very grand hotel, but it’s also a little bit dated.
The rooftop pool has a great view, but it’s a very simple pool and not as luxurious as modern hotel pools.
Weekends were CROWDED! Definitely stay on a weekday. Our first night (Thursday) was wonderful, but by the time we checked out on Saturday morning it was very crowded, and staff didn’t enforce mask wearing. There were signs up to wear masks, but a lot of guests weren’t wearing them in public spaces.
Since we were traveling with a baby, we stayed in an Ambassador Suite and it was sooo nice!
Ambassador Suite
– 1,100 square feet of space
– one bedroom with a king bed (for Caitlin)
– another bedroom with two double beds (me and Milo, but of course they brought in a pack-n-play for him)
– a separate living area
– dining table for six
– 3 bathrooms
– a wet bar. Oh, and a pool table, which was Milo’s favorite part of the whole trip.
On our first night, we ate at the in-house restaurant, Q Kitchen. (Milo ate all the bacon off the wedge salad, per usual). And then for the rest of the weekend, we went on a few outings, like going to the Mission San Jose (it was nearly empty on a Friday morning and we got to explore the whole thing to ourselves!), dinner at La Fonda on Main (the fajitas on homemade flour tortillas were amazing), and a few brewery visits (my favorite two San Antonio breweries are Roadmap and Kunstler.)
{Pictured above} We got in a little bit of pool time at the rooftop hotel pool (barely, thought – see those dark clouds coming in? It was windy!). Milo loves being in the water and splashes his little arms like crazy!
{Pictured below} And when Milo was napping, you’d better believe that Caitlin and I took advantage of cocktails-to-go from the downstairs bar. Selling Sunset + an Aperol Spritz was the perfect duo for this staycation.
One of the perks of traveling with Milo is that he wakes up at his normal time (6:30 am) on vacations, so I was able to sneak out and go for a stroller walk on the Riverwalk while it was still empty. We got in some morning snuggles, too.
And then of course, the dinner at La Fonda on Main was incredible. Easily my favorite meal of the trip! I had the combo beef/chicken fajitas and a margarita and I was in heaven.
2020 has been such a weird year, I’m always so thankful for any little bit of travel adventure I can squeeze into my life. San Antonio is only 1.5 hours from Austin, but this still felt like a much-needed escape from normal life.
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The photos are gorgeous! I’m so happy you and Milo got to join me for this trip! Can’t wait till we do it again 🙂