By: Frances Ferrante | From: Tradeshow Executive
SAN ANTONIO—San Antonio’s River Walk is on its way to adding a luxurious, new convention hotel. The former Wyndham San Antonio will be transformed into the 391-room InterContinental San Antonio, expected to open in late 2024.
Behind the development is Trailbreak Partners, a real estate investment and development firm based in Denver, which worked with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Scarlett Hotel Group to secure the $158 million in financing needed to completely transform the property.
“San Antonio keeps growing and evolving and we are excited to welcome the new InterContinental in 2024,” said Marc Anderson, President and CEO of Visit San Antonio. “Even during the pandemic, San Antonio has continued diversifying and offering additional reasons for meetings and trade shows to choose our city by opening more than 100 local, chef-driven restaurants, over a dozen new hotels and new unique event spaces. The new InterContinental San Antonio will continue the city’s trajectory of offering luxury accommodations and event space in our unbeatably friendly and walkable downtown.”
The structure for the InterContinental San Antonio originally opened as an office building in 1958. Located adjacent to the Weston Centre, the 21-story building features direct access to the River Walk and a river taxi landing area. When the renovation is complete, InterContinental San Antonio will include 40,000 square feet of meeting space, world-class restaurant and bar experiences, and a rooftop pool with downtown views.
Plans also call for bespoke paintings, sculptures and furniture enhancing the lobby and guest rooms. There will be an array of flexible indoor meeting spaces, and meeting rooms will be constructed using electrochromic glass, also known as smart glass.
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“Turning this property into a luxury hotel is an amazing opportunity for us to contribute to the city of San Antonio,” Zio Pekovic, Principal and Co-Founder of SHG, said. “San Antonio has been ranked within the top three cities for conferences for many years, and we’re proud to bring a luxury hotel brand like InterContinental into the central business district, minutes from the Henry B. González Convention Center.”
San Antonio has been in the spotlight in recent weeks as the host city for the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW, the industry’s premier international travel marketplace. The convention drew 5,000 attendees from more than 60 countries to the city May 20-24. Downtown San Antonio has also seen the openings of three other luxury hotel properties in recent years: the Thompson San Antonio earlier this year; the St. Anthony Hotel, which completed a $24 million renovation in 2015; and the Hotel Emma in 2015.
“We are delighted to enhance our growing luxury and lifestyle portfolio in the Americas with the addition of InterContinental San Antonio,” Matt Frankiewicz, Senior Vice President, Development, Americas for IHG Hotels & Resorts, said. “InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is the world’s first and largest international luxury hotel brand with 211 open properties and 93 in the global pipeline, and this property is an exciting addition to the brand portfolio.”
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Reach Marc Anderson at Marc.Anderson@visitsanantonio.com; Zio Pekovic at zio.pekovic@scarletthotelgroup.com; Matt Frankiewicz at matt.frankiewicz@ihg.com