O'brien Historic Hotel Downtown Riverwalk An Ascend Collection, San Antonio

My husband and I stayed at the O'Brien hotel and found it to be very adequate. We paid a bit more than 120/night for it, and for the price it is quite nice. I cannot comment on the breakfast because I woke up after 9:00 and they stop serving at this time. I did manage to get downstairs by 9:30 and was able to grab a few packets of oatmeal and some hot water--which was a pleasant enough meal. Also, the coffee is fairy decent, on par with most hotel coffees I think. The location is fairly good, and my husband and I were able to walk everywhere. We parked in a garage about 3 blocks away for 15$ a night (we parked here first because we arrived to San Antonio in the morning, and did not want to move our car to the hotel location. If you park at the hotel 10$ a night is a great bargain! All other city parking is upwards of $12 and is not patrolled by a security guard, as the hotel parking lot is). Granted, this is not directly adjacent to the Riverwalk or the Alamo...we probably walked about 10-15 blocks to reach these destinations, which was fine with us because we're both young and healthy and had no intention of getting plastered prior to returning to our rooms. The beds are more comfortable than most similarly priced hotels, the shower is decent, the air conditioning excellent. The balcony is nice, but shared. The rooms were quiet. Brand new doors led to the balcony, which may have reduced the noise quite a bit (compared to previous posters). My only complaints: The balcony door was not locked upon arrival, so make sure you check it before you go to bed. The fan in the bathroom did not work, nor did the hairdryer. Otherwise--very adequate for a few days, far less fussy than other hotels, but for the price you cannot go wrong. The interior is a bit worn, the location a bit out of the way, but it is one of the cleanest facilities I have ever used (which is extremely important). I would recommend this for anyone that is physically able to walk a few miles in the San Antonio heat (or make use of the trolly).

When I checked in I agreed to 10.00 parking fee and was given a tag to put on my dash. There was a parking space for my car. Came back from dinner, no parking spaces. Desk girl said she would remove 10.00 from bill. She directed us to a lot across the street that was full. We went to the Hermann lot where we had to pay 12.00, but we could not leave our car over night. So we had to come out at 9:00 and move car to the lot that was full but now had 1 space. What an aggravation. The hotel oversells the parking spaces. But they say first come first serve. Well I was first serve but had my space taken by someone that checked in later. The staff was very rude about it. The street noise from cars is awful. I had a hard time going to sleep and the I was awakened at 5 a.m. but car noise. The shower rod fell down. Dinky breakfast bar on first floor, but you have to go to 2nd floor to find a table to eat on. The TV stopped working. When I reported it the next morning the desk girl said they were installing a new box, like no big deal. I will never stay there again. Only giving service and value one star because I can't leave it blank.

This hotel was very nice. A beautiful historic hotel with newly renovated rooms. The service was very good and everyone was very helpful and polite. Parking was not easy would be the only complaint.

We arrived too early to check in, and the manager confirmed our booked room type (king, balcony) and told us to come back after 1:30. When we came back, not only had he "accidentally" changed our room rate to $40 more, but suddenly we only had a 2-queen room. That would have been OK, except the balcony door didn't close all the way, and also wouldn't lock (they are shared balconies, so definitely a security issue). After requesting a different room because of this, the only thing they had was a room on the street side. Because this is a "historic" (i.e. old) hotel, the windows are single pane and it sounded like we had an interstate barreling through our room all night. After a sleepless night, we asked for a different room yet again. They claimed to have no other rooms, so we were stuck. Clarion hotels have 100% satisfaction guarantee: if anything about your stay is not to your satisfaction, the room is free. Needless to say the O'Brien did not honor this guarantee, and have ignored subsequent customer service inquiries; Clarion simply passes the complaint on to the local management, who then ignore it. Overall, a disappointing experience: they tried to jack up our room rate, didn't give us our booked (and verbally confirmed) room type, the room wouldn't even lock, and the room we ended up in was terribly noisy. After all that, they wouldn't even honor Clarion's satisfaction guarantee. Most of the employees tried to be helpful and was friendly, but the manager was rude and could have cared less.

This hotel was very nice. It's in a good location, the room was clean, the staff was nice. It's a short walk to the riverwalk and the alamo. Only complaint would be the limited parking area. But I would definetely stay again.

This hotel has a great location, near the riverwalk and buses. Nice staff, though not always very knowledgeable. Our room was clean though dark due to a small window and dark appointments. The bedding was top notch and everything was in working order. The waffles are great though you wait in line a while to make your since it is one at a time. There is no place to eat the waffle except back in your room since the lobby is quite small.

Just a short block to the Riverwalk, this hotel was clean, safe and well run and a fraction of the price of the hotels right on the river. The room had everything we needed including a balcony where we could hear music from a local concert in the evening. When we were there the facade was under renovation but we never heard any noise or suffered any inconvenience because of it. I plan on returning and would reccommend this hotel to friends.