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San Antonio · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Tobin Center

Fiona Gallagher

Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand

Updated 1 September 2026 · 79 San Antonio hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in San Antonio, out of the 79 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.8 down to 4.3.

All five are within 1.6 km of Tobin Center.

Hotel Emma

Highest rated of the five

Hotel Emma

★★★★★4.8 from 3,428 reviews

Hotel Emma comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.8 from 3,428 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 5 star property, found under poi and around $1338 a night on the dates we checked.

79 hotels in San Antonio qualified for this list and five made it. Mokara Hotel & Spa is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Hotel Emma1

    Hotel Emma

    ★★★★★4.8 from 3,428 reviews

    1.6 km from Tobin Center, about a 20 minute walk

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    • Mokara Hotel & Spa2

      Mokara Hotel & Spa

      ★★★★★4.7 from 1,129 reviews

      700 m from Tobin Center, about a 9 minute walk

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      • Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk3

        Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk

        ★★★★★4.6 from 5,133 reviews

        800 m from Tobin Center, about a 10 minute walk

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        • The St. Anthony, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio4

          The St. Anthony, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio

          ★★★★★4.5 from 3,289 reviews

          400 m from Tobin Center, about a 5 minute walk

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          • Thompson San Antonio - Riverwalk, by Hyatt5

            Thompson San Antonio - Riverwalk, by Hyatt

            ★★★★★4.3 from 993 reviews

            under 200 m from Tobin Center, about a 1 minute walk

            • Pool
            • Spa
            • Gym
            • Restaurant
            • Bar
            • Parking

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          How this list was put together

          79 San Antonio hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Tobin Center second, then took the top five.

          Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

          The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

          What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

          Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

          Fiona Gallagher

          Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand

          Half her year is already on research boats, so holidays are deliberately dry land. Long-distance hiking routes in the off season, alone, with nothing being measured.

          Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.