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San Antonio · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near San Antonio Zoo

Fiona Gallagher

Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand

Updated 1 September 2026 · 7 San Antonio hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in San Antonio, out of the 7 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.8 down to 4.2.

All five are within 2.7 km of San Antonio Zoo.

Hotel Emma

Highest rated of the five

Hotel Emma

★★★★★4.8 from 3,411 reviews

Hotel Emma comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.8 from 3,411 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 $1993 a night on the dates we checked.

7 hotels in San Antonio qualified for this list and five made it. Ranch Motel & Leisure Club 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 3,411 reviews

    2.4 km from San Antonio Zoo

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    • Ranch Motel & Leisure Club2

      Ranch Motel & Leisure Club

      ★★★★★4.7 from 288 reviews

      900 m from San Antonio Zoo, about a 11 minute walk

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      • IHG Army Hotels Foulois House - Historia3

        IHG Army Hotels Foulois House - Historia

        ★★★★★4.7 from 40 reviews

        1.7 km from San Antonio Zoo, about a 21 minute walk

        • Gym
        • Parking

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      • O'Casey's Boutique Inn - Bed & Breakfast San Antonio4

        O'Casey's Boutique Inn - Bed & Breakfast San Antonio

        ★★★★★4.7 from 124 reviews

        2.7 km from San Antonio Zoo

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        • Holiday Inn Express Building 5925

          Holiday Inn Express Building 592

          ★★★★★4.2 from 301 reviews

          2.0 km from San Antonio Zoo, about a 25 minute walk

          • Pool
          • Gym
          • Parking
          • Pet friendly
          • Kid friendly
          • Air conditioning

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        How this list was put together

        7 San Antonio hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to San Antonio Zoo 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.