Menger Hotel

AVOID THIS HOTEL IN THE WINTER. This is my fourth convention here. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning and the temperature is going down to 39 tonight. I looked at the temperature in my room and it said it was 67° in my room. I called the front desk and asked them how to turn on the heat. They told me the manager has not turned on the heat and she does not know if they will. As of now, they have no plans to as far as they’re aware. I called a month before this convention and checked because this has been an issue EVERY SINGLE TIME we are here. I was told a month before «of course we will have the heat on»
Save yourself getting sick staying at this hotel. It is a beautiful hotel but obviously does not care about it’s guests comfort.

The Menger Hotel is a beautiful hotel, full of rich history but it was built in 1859 and yes of course they have done numerous updates throughout the decades but it’s like an old house it’s beautiful but comes with quirks of old age. It’s on the far end of the river walk slightly inconvenient but a much better rate on the room than the hotels on the water. Great view of the Alamo from several rooms as well. Check-​in was easy and friendly. Comfortable bedding. Nice rooms. Beautiful pool area. The only problem I had with The Menger is that housekeeping (despite the do not disturb sign on our door) came 3 times. That’s right 3 times on the morning of possibly the worst hangover I’ve ever had. Twice we didn’t answer. The second time we simply said we don’t need housekeeping today. So she then call the room and asked when we would be checking out. I told her in my most patient voice that we will check out when it comes time to check out which is NOT 9:15 AM!!! I would stay here again for the nostalgia alone. Beautiful place. Oh and supposedly haunted by several ghost but I never saw one.

A beautiful old hotel right next door to the Alamo.
This place is haunted! The ghosts apparently haunt certain rooms and hallways (third floor, I think) So be careful of apparitions and phantasms.
The hotel restaurant is known for its mango ice cream. Bill Clinton reportedly even diverted Air Force One while flying coast to coast to stop in for some of it. It’s shipped worldwide.
The bar in here is old and really cool and historic.
There are restrooms available to the public off from the lobby.
The shops in here are fun and cool, worth checking out.
The parking is in the back of the place in a private garage.

If you like an older, less pricey, historical hotel, then this hotel is for you. While they do have modern amenities, the only think I don’t like is the lack of central heat and air. One system controls the entire building. That aside, I’ve stayed here four times since 2008 and the staff has always been accommodating. If I had a problem or issue, they solved it and quick. On my most recent visit, I wasn’t happy with the room they assigned me at first. So, they quickly got me a different room the very next day. The location is central to just about everything that downtown San Antonio has to offer including the Riverwalk. And, it’s next to the Alamo. I will always keep the Menger in mind when deciding on a hotel in downtown San Antonio. And no, I haven’t experienced any paranormal activity. :0)

This is an older hotel, but in a great location. I’ve always enjoyed staying here. Not as pricey as some of the other hotels.

As you can tell from the photos, the lobby/​downstairs of the hotel is absolutely beautiful. There is so much to look at, inside and outside. There is a really nice outdoor pool and hot tub area that wasn’t crowded even though we were there during Christmas break. As others have said, the rooms are nothing special. It’s what I would expect from a Days Inn. That doesn’t bother me, but it was surprising given the ornateness of the first floor. However, the location can’t be beat! It’s about 20 feet away from the Alamo and a 5-​minute walk from the Riverwalk. There is a big mall right next door and lots of food, shopping, and entertainment options so close. It was so fun staying in an area where we could walk to everything! We also had breakfast at the restaurant one morning and it was fine, not anything special but about what you would expect.

From the stories to the atmosphere, it’s pretty neat, still has a lot of old fashioned qerks to it and the haunted stories were neat.

Went to the Menger Hotel for a wedding tonight. First: absolutely beautiful, antique looking hotel. Very classic. The servers and staff were on the ball, very attentive and friendly even to a busy wedding service. Second: parking is overly expensive at $ 21, but I guess they can totally ask those prices right? They accidentally charged our card 3 times for parking. This alone I will not be coming back for any reason. Third: food was decent, they had a selection of everything and the food stayed warm. The front desk ladies were rolling their eyes and pretty rude to my husband as we were paying our valet, I don’t really know why? But overall we had a great night and the hotel is beautiful.

We have walked through before while we had guests in town and always wanted to stay. We were having our floors redone and decided to take the opportunity to stay and I’m so glad we did. It was a wonderful evening getting to stay in such an historical place! Everything was just beautiful and I love that it hasn’t become too modernized.
It’s also perfect that it’s right next door to the Alamo, close to the Riverwalk and restaurants.
We absolutely would stay again if the need arose and would recommend to everyone.

i haven’t stayed at the hotel but visited a few times and really like the décor. amazing lobby, bar and garden. will be back.

In all honesty, I love the hotel.
I thought staying the weekend there would be fun! Alas, my review is anything but fantastic: the room was super small and drab. I had to ask to be moved and the second room was an improvement but still lackluster.
Overall, the hotel is gorgeous and I admire the historic aspect to it however it is unlikely that I would stay again but it was an okay weekend stay.
Front desk Staff is okay. Valet staff is below average. But again, love the hotel itself.

I love historic places, and especially historic hotels. Unfortunately, the Victorian lobby and half of the historic portion of the Menger were closed for repairs/​renovations when I was there on 20 August. I was still able to stay in the open section of the historic wing, though.
The room… was adequate. I considered asking to be moved because of a bit of a moldy smell, but I only really noticed it the first minute or so after each time I returned to the room, and I was only going to be there two nights. Bed was a single, which is somewhat unusual for a hotel, but whatever, I’m just one guy travelling on my own anyway.
I saw in another review that someone mentioned the lack of towel bars or hooks in the bathroom — I was also frustrated by this. Once you use a towel, what are you supposed to do with it? I’m neat by nature, and refuse to just leave things lying about. I wasn’t on my computer much, but I did notice the same intermittence that another Unilocaler wrote about.
Restaurant was lackluster. I ate dinner there on the first night, and it was completely empty. It was probably after 9pm, but still, kinda creepy. I was tired from the road, though, and needed food without going out. Ordered a steak, and again — just adequate. Problem here was that while the steak was no better or worse than something I would grill myself (both in the quality of the cut and the preparation) they want 27 bucks for it. Come on. Let’s not kid ourselves. Despite the fact that the mixed veggies on the side were pretty good, it was a 17 – 18 dollar meal at most. Thankfully upon check-​in, they gave me a 20% off coupon for the restaurant, so I wasn’t too miffed. Breakfast on my second day there was better, though still overpriced.
The one thing you can’t indict about the Menger is the location. It’s literally right next to the Alamo, and a street away from the Riverwalk. Also, it’s a Stash Rewards member, which I love.

One of the main reasons why we decided to stay at The Menger hotel was because of the amazing location, literally across the street from the Alamo, next to the Rivercenter Mall (coffee?), and a few steps away from the Riverwalk. You can’t beat the location of the hotel, it is close to everything touristy you want to do in San Antonio. Unknown to me, the fiancé had tried upgrading our room to a more romantic package, but because we had booked our room through kayak and had already paid, they were unable to do anything for us however the manager sent a complimentary bottle of champagne to our room so that was very nice. The hotel was absolutely GORGEOUS on the inside, with breathtaking antique furniture pieces and the Victorian area… wow, wow, wow a definite picture worthy location. Putting location and looks aside, there are a few things that I really wished we got our money’s worth out of it.
The bed was absolutely awful. We had booked the room to have one bed instead of the only option we got online of two double beds. When we checked in, the receptionist told us we had been given a room in the newer section of the hotel with a QUEEN sized bed which we thought was absolutely perfect. Sadly, when we arrived at our room what we saw was something completely different. Not only was our bed a FULL, but the comforter looked more like a piece of paper, literally paper thin. The bed was HARD, with absolutely no support. We woke up every morning of our 3 night stay with sore backs. For the price guests pay, it would be beneficial for the hotel to buy better mattresses and perhaps fluffier comforters?
The shower… the bathtub we were given had a moderately noticeable crack but water didn’t seem to escape from there so I guess it’s fine? The shower temperature really drove us insane thought, it would randomly change from extremely hot to cold and back and forth all over again. Water pressure was the only good thing about this bathroom.
The staff at the lobby and even room service was very friendly so no complaints there. The only thing we thought was a little odd was that despite having the «Do not disturb» sign on our door, (we stayed out late the night before at the Riverwalk) at around 12pm when we finally woke up and slowly started getting ready, I went across the hallway to throw some water bottles away in the bigger trash can where the ice machine was, and room service gave us the strangest look. I didn’t think much of this until I came back inside the room, «DO NOT DISTURB» sign was still on our door, when we got several loud knocks on our door (fiancé was taking a shower) and room service asked me if we wanted our room cleaned. Uh what? I understand it’s 12 in the afternoon but not everyone on vacation wakes up at 9am and is ready to leave their room, we had literally gone to bed at 4am the night before. We ended up telling the room service lady that we were okay and didn’t need anything done to the room and she simply smiled, nodded and walked away. 30 minutes later, (the do not disturb sign is still on the door) we got a phone call from the lobby asking us if we wanted room service in our room since they had been unable to come in. We ended up asking them to bring us new towels even though we were fine using the ones from the previous day and we simply just wanted to rest without being disturbed.
Despite that, the valet guys were friendly and kept our car in the garaged section of the hotel for 2 out of our 3 nights (We assume the generous tipping had something to do with the car getting a nicer spot). WARNING: There’s only about… 7 spots? Maybe a few more in the garaged section, otherwise your car stays at a parking lot next to the Crockett hotel in the blazing sun. They said with what you pay for ($ 28 a night) your car gets watched, but it’s very unnerving how anyone can walk around the parking lot (which is about a 2 minute walk from the hotel, not behind the hotel or next to it, but across the Crockett hotel which is next door). There’s a little hut where I guess the security person stays, but when we walked to our car and looked around to make sure there were no dents or scratches, we never saw anyone approach us to ask why we were touching the car. (Notice, we never went inside the car in this instance.)
As for ghosts… we never did quite see anything weird happening but we did have a weird instance where we heard an infant baby hysterically crying in the room next to us, this went on for about 5 – 8 minutes. This all happened at about 10pm. (We heard the baby crying from the nook where our desk was) When we went outside to see what was happening, we noticed the room next to us was a fire hose room and some girls that were walking around never heard a baby crying.
In spite of the uncomfortable bed and weird shower situation, we would stay here again for the beauty of the hotel and amazing location. Again, the staff was always very friendly and very accommodating.

Horrible room! Old and moldy. We arrived and were placed in an old room which must have just been painted. It smelled so strongly that we had to move rooms. Second room was dingy and moldy and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned.
We ended up asking for our money back when really we should have been compensated for the hassle. Bad business.

Ok!!! I get how old this hotel is… However the Driskill hotel in Austin Texas was built in 1886 and OMG what a difference! And this is not a get what you pay for … I just left Omni houston and paid half as much for a MUCH MUCH nicer bed and tub and free parking AND free coffee delivered in the am…
The lobby and pool
Area and bar are beautiful
But the rooms are similar to a motel 6 … And the staff is not exactly friendly!
I’ve stayed nearby before… Sheraton Gunter and Omni and at a less expensive rate and were way more pleased!
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!
The fleshy colored paint on the walls and garage sell find looking furniture and sad sad beds… Need attention to!
But a good note… Good location!!!

The Menger is a Texas treasure for those who appreciate history. The service is excellent and all staff I encountered during my 5-​night stay were friendly and helpful. The restaurant, which I only sampled for one breakfast, was surprisingly very good. I usually avoid hotel restaurants because they tend to disappoint, but not only was this dining room historic and well-​maintained, but the food was high quality and the service prompt and consistent.
For those of you who prefer modern and brand new, the rooms here are dated and could use a renovation. But this is a 156-​year old hotel, people. One-​hundred-​and-​fifty-​six years old!!! This will probably be like their 9^th renovation! I have to give them a break, considering that the lobby is gorgeous, as original as they could keep it with modern conveniences such as AC and lighting advances in the last century and a half. Antiques, carved embellishments, historic wallpapers and pictures adorn the spacious lobbies and hallways. There is a gorgeous, floral feast for the eyes in the large courtyard just outside the lobby.
And the Menger Bar? Theodore Roosevelt recruited for his Rough Riders Cavalry there. THEODORE ROOSEVELT!!!
Go there. Drink in the history of the place. Walk the halls where presidents walked. And after you return, exhausted from the Riverwalk, refresh with the famous mango ice cream in the dining room!

Well the common areas are quite beautiful. Lots of history & historical photographs & memorabilia line the hallways. Nice courtyard than anyone rarely used. Lovely floral arrangements & relatively friendly employees. Great location adjacent to the Alamo & Riverwalk so yeah if that’s your main bag then sure.
But when you disembark the elevators the smell of meemaw’s old fried chicken & pappy’s old cigarettes hits you BAM right in the face. I felt like I was back at great grandma Maw’s place awaiting a scratchy kiss from Big Daddy so that I can be handed a chicken leg.
Upon entering our room there was a longish walkway with your bathroom in the right & the closet directly across from it. The bathroom needs some updating. I’m all for historical restoration but that does require restoring. The faucets ran either scalding or frosty, rarely did Goldilocks zone happen especially in the shower.
Also the walls are paper thin so pray you don’t get stuck in a room with children next door. Anytime an adjacent room shuts or opens any door (bathroom, closet, or exit) it feels like it’s happening in your room and the toilet flushing is equally loud.
I mean I don’t want to sound like it was terrible but I’ve given a 5 star review to a motel so for me it’s all about what you pay/​expect & having those either met or exceeded. And well, the Menger was a little womp womp in the end for me.

This hotel is best known for being historic, built in the mid 1800s (I believe 1869), and host to many great history stories and it is supposedly haunted. I’ve always wanted to stay here, at least once, and I finally did. Albeit the stay was not planned and I arrived at 3AM, but I still stayed!
This hotel is right beside the Alamo and the Rivercenter Mall. It’s smack dab in the middle of downtown and there are so many things you can do within walking distance.
All of the staff I met at 3AM was exquisite and pleasant and helpful. I was able to get a room for cheaper then any hotel site listed and everyone was just great and didn’t even seem phased as to have to deal with my drunken stupor state.
I went to my hotel room and the room was very clean, nice, but extremely small. If I had a few guests over it would’ve been too much — I could even see if someone was claustrophobic, they may have issues with the size of the room. There was a comfy chair, a desk and a desk chair, a TV, the bed, and night tables in the room. So I of course, went straight to bed. I’m not a big fan of the mattress as it was a bit too hard for my tastes and I wasn’t very comfy on it. I was awoken at 9AM by the sounds of drums and cannons from the Alamo and I couldn’t really get back to sleep.
So I then decided to take a shower. The shower head is absolutely ridiculous. It appeared to have one setting of «water everywhere». So when I turned it on, water literally went everywhere in the bathroom. I was able to push the head so it was facing the wall. The stream was only on hard, and despite my attempts to turn the nozzle it stayed on hard. The water temperature fluctuated the entire time and never stayed one temperature — ranged from super hot (which is what I wanted) to lukewarm. After that, I fell asleep in the comfy chair and then moved to the bed where I took another small nap.
Overall, great staff, prices were pretty good as well compared to other hotels ($ 140ish compared to $ 200-​$ 300). You get a great sense of history. I wouldn’t not not stay here again, but I’d also maybe try another hotel just because I wasn’t a fan of the beds.

This hotel is beautiful at Christmas! We walked in during the day and the extravagant brunch looked absolutely delicious. Everywhere I turned there were different stations of food and desserts.
For dinner, we came and sat in the colonial section which was also very pretty. I decided to try the shrimp scampi and the escargot.
The service was a bit slow but surprisingly the food was really good. I wasn’t expecting much since it seems like it’s run like a catering hall but honestly it was much better than I thought.
The tree was stunning and made for a great photo op :)

If you are looking for a brand new hotel, this is not for you. However, if you love beautifully maintained history in an ideal location with a very comfy bed at a reasonable rate, book at Menger Hotel on your next San Antonio getaway.
My husband and I stayed here last night with a couple of buddies hoping for some spooky paranormal activity on Halloween. Although we didn’t end up getting spooked, we could definitely feel the history of this gorgeous hotel. So much of it is original. In moments you can feel like you are traveling through time!
Our room was located in the original portion of the hotel. It was spacious and elegant. We had a lot of fun hanging out there. The beds were extremely comfortable. We slept really well. I can’t wait to stay here again!

Das Menger Hotel wurde nur etwa 25 Jahre nach dem benachbarten Massaker von the Alamo von deutschen Auswanderern aufgebaut und ist in seiner altehrwürdigen Eleganz einfach erhaben und hat eben noch einen Touch Wild West. Die Bar des Mengers ist genauso alt, wie das Hotel und wurde von der Frontseite am Alamo– Platz an die Seite verlegt, aber mit dem originalen hölzernen Interieur. Entsprechend dunkel ist das Innenleben auch bereits am helllichten Tag und von der Decke grüsst der Elch. Und was ist das für ein Riesentier. In dieser Bar kann man kein Mineralwasser trinken. Shiner Bock darf fliessen und dieses texanische Originalbier der deutschwurzeligen Schoelzl-​Brauerei ist dunkel und liegt tief im Gaumen. Frau vergnügt sich derweil im Rhinestoneglitzersouvenirladen des Hotels und lässt sich Zeit, soll sie doch. Theo Roosevelt lächelt mich an und will mich nach meinem zweiten Shiner Bock für irgendeinen Freiheitskampf werben, ich winke ab ist im Urlaub zu anstrengend. immer wieder kommen und gehen Besucher, besonders wegen der sagenhaften hölzernen Gallerie und des originalen Flairs. Jedesmal, wenn die Tür aufgeht und der helle Sonnenschein ins Dunkel leuchtet, dann vermutet man Gary Cooper oder John Wayne eintreten zu sehen (in der Hotelhalle steht ja auch der Rollup mit Wayne als Davey Crocket und dem in Texas weltbekannten Zitat: You kin go to hell, I will go to Texas !). Herrlich unemotional, ich liebe es. Irgendwann kommt Frau mit 5 Glitzershirts zurück und meine Menger Bar Zeit ist abgelaufen. Die sollten noch ein paar Modeläden mehr bauen, hier am Alamo Square in San Antonio, Texas.