San Antonio Express-News: Luxury InterContinental hotel opens with dining options in downtown San Antonio

The San Antonio Express-News reports on reopening of a prominent hotel in downtown San Antonio, the former Wyndham now renovated and reflagged as the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk. Reporter Madison Iszler reached out for some insights about the state of San Antonio’s downtown CBD hotel market. The article, Luxury InterContinental hotel opens with dining options in downtown San Antonio, provides the details of the renovation by Scarlett Hotel Group and Trailbreak Partners. Source Strategies Senior Vice President Paul Vaughn offers some insights:

The InterContinental hotel’s completion adds another luxury option in the area, a segment of the hotel market that has been under-supplied and is smaller compared with Austin, Dallas and Houston, said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president at Source Strategies.

“It shows that there’s more demand for higher-end properties,” he said.

The article outlines the features of the InterContinental after the three-year renovation process, with more luxury features than originally planned. Source Strategies provides some context about the challenges that have faced the San Antonio downtown lodging market in recent years.

Hotels downtown have not fully rebounded from the pandemic. The number of room nights sold was down 15.7% and occupancy was down 13% in 2023 compared with 2019, while revenue per available room was up 7.3% and average daily rates were up 27.4% over the same period, according to Source Strategies.

“Leisure travel is still pretty strong. It’s the group and convention travel that is still lagging,” Vaughn said. “It’s still going to be a year or two before we’re fully back to where we need to be.”

Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic recover, developers are still exhibiting confidence in the San Antonio downtown market:

“We’re very bullish. San Antonio’s economy combined with the InterContinental brand — we see it as a highly successful venture,” said Doug Elenowitz, co-founder and principal at Trailbreak.

Read the full article, Luxury InterContinental hotel opens with dining options in downtown San Antonio, on the San Antonio Express-News website.