<B> San Antonio Briefs</B>
By Robert Selwitz
Rio Trans offers a new way to navigate the heart of San Antonio. Launched in mid-March and covering 2.5 miles of the San Antonio River famous for the RiverWalk, Rio Trans is not a tourist sightseeing boat. The water shuttle makes nine stops near a number of key San Antonio destinations.
Jane Story-Stock, director of sales and marketing for the operator Yanaguana Cruise, said that "while everyone will enjoy the experience, it also will benefit business travelers. Instead of fighting traffic--either in your own car or a taxi--Rio Trans offers a relaxed and hassle-free way of maneuvering through San Antonio."
Furthermore, she said, "people who work downtown or have multiple meetings no longer have to worry about limited parking. They can simply hop on a Rio Trans shuttle."
Fares are $3.50 for a single trip, $10 for an unlimited day pass, or $25 for an unlimited three-day pass. Access to the 40-person craft are via tickets purchased only at shore sites near Rio Trans docks. Story-Stock said that by keeping the boats cash-free, the safety of passengers as well as operators is enhanced.
The Rio Trans River Shuttle runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Departures are every 20 minutes from designated stops, many of which are close to popular hotels.
Starting at Shuttle Stop One at the Four Points Sheraton, Rio Trans stops at the IBC Center, near the Holiday Inn River Walk (stop two), near the Hyatt (stop three), at the Convention Center (stop four), at the Marriott River Walk Hotel (stop five), at La Villita, including the Hilton Palacio Del Rio, the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, and the Fairmont Hotel (stop six), at the River Walk Plaza and Homewood Suites hotels (stop seven), at the Radisson Market Square (stop eight), and at the Adam's Mark Hotel (stop nine).
Incidentally, Yanaguana--the shuttle's operating company--was the name originally given San Antonio by its resident Payaya Indians. When the Spanish gained power in 1691, however, they renamed the city in honor of their arrival on the feast day of San Anthony.
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A series of recently announced hotel projects should soon swell San Antonio's current stock of 24,000 rooms.
Next year, Westin Hotels and Resorts will open its first pair of San Antonio hotels. In conjunction with two Texas development concerns the hotelier will develop the 500-room La Cantera Resort in northwest San Antonio, adjacent to the Six Flags Fiesta Texas Theme Park. It is scheduled to open during the summer of 1999. Several months later, Westin will debut its 473-room River Walk hotel.
Plans also are afoot for a $140-million Sheraton hotel adjacent to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The facility, which will offer at least 1,200 rooms, is supposed to be ready for business in 2001 when expansion work on the Center itself is to be completed (<I>BTN,</I> Oct. 13).
Recent noteworthy San Antonio hotel debuts include the 410-room Adam's Mark, a conversion of the former National Bank of Commerce building at 425 Soledad Street on the River Walk. Among the amenities created by the $50 million project are 21,800 square feet of meeting space. The Adam's Mark opened for business last August.
The 220-room Residence Inn Downtown, the 27-room Havana River Walk Inn, a 217-room Red Roof Inn Downtown and a 116-room Holiday Inn Express Suites also debuted in 1997.
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The first phase of the $187 expansion and renovation effort at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center will be finished next summer. This work, which began in 1995, involved adding 200,000 square feet of exhibit space to the city's prime exhibition space.
After the expansion, renovation focus will shift towards the original 240,000 square feet of the 30-year-old center. In 2001, when all work is completed, San Antonio will be able to offer 440,000 contiguous square feet of exhibit space, a separate 42,858-square-foot ballroom and 58 meeting rooms.
Until the expanded space opens in 1999, the original area will be in use. When work begins on the original sector, all exhibitions will be staged in the new area.
Steve Moore, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently called the project, "without a doubt, the most important development in San Antonio's convention history since HemisFair '68. The expansion will help us attract more and larger conventions. It will boost hotel development. And it will keep us competitive as one of the best convention values in the country."
Addressing hotel growth prospects, Moore noted that there are a number of groups that once enjoyed meeting in his city, but which have simply outgrown the existing space. And, at present, holding two simultaneous moderate-sized meetings in the convention center's available space was a challenge.
"Since the expanded facility will allow us to dovetail several conventions at the same time, the added space should be a prime incentive for the development of more quality hotel rooms," Moore said.
Another CVB official agreed that "being able to host multiple meetings at the same time absolutely drives hotel growth. All in all, the convention's expansion will have a huge ripple effect.