This Sexy New Hotel Has History, Heart, and a Steakhouse You Won’t Forget
The newer crown jewel on San Antonio’s skyline sits where the past and present collide in the most spectacular way.
The Kimpton Santo San Antonio — Riverwalk beautifully blends a new-build hotel and a restored 1850s German-English schoolhouse into one of the most distinctive luxury properties in Texas. Positioned perfectly between downtown and the artsy enclave of Southtown, this is a hotel that doesn’t just give you a place to sleep — it gives you a story to tell about your stay.
Old Bones, Bold Vision: A Hotel Unlike Any Other
Opened in August 2024, the Kimpton Santo is the brand’s first property in San Antonio and the fourth in Texas, weaving the city’s rich historic culture into the very fabric of each guest’s experience. The hotel takes its inspiration from the soulful essence and traditional architecture that have long characterized this romantic southwestern city, adding a twist of contemporary luxuries and bold design — complete with a renovated 19th-century schoolhouse, an outdoor courtyard shaded by century-old live oak trees, and the tallest luxury open-air rooftop in the city.
The 347-room hotel’s modern 10-story tower houses a spacious lobby and living room, luxurious guest rooms, and a rooftop pool and lounge with sweeping views overlooking downtown and the neighboring green space of Hemisfair Park. Like the city’s own patron saint, Saint Anthony, the Kimpton Santo tells you you’re home.
Dean’s Steak & Seafood: Old School Never Tasted So Good
Let’s start with the best—and with an observation I have made over many years of travel: Some hotels have restaurants, and some have dining destinations. Dean’s Steak & Seafood is firmly the latter. Adapted into the historic 19th-century schoolhouse, this classic steakhouse and bar offers an elevated menu of prime steaks, A5 Japanese and Texas wagyu, and top-quality seafood — simply put, a one-of-a-kind steakhouse unlike anything else in the city.
The mood lighting, stone, leather accents, hanging lanterns and greenery transport you to a Hill Country oasis, making it a perfect date-night spot, with white cloth table or booth seating alongside individual spots at the raw bar. Many of the original architectural details remain, including the interior and exterior façades and a stunning vaulted exposed-wood ceiling.
What to order? You have to start with the raw bar, which receives fresh shipments daily. The oysters, colossal shrimp, and crab legs are delectable. Of course, you must have a true Texas steak; The Alamo is an elevated surf-and-turf that pairs a very thick 8-ounce filet with tender lobster tail broiled in rich bone marrow butter, giving it a velvety, melt-in-your-mouth texture. And don’t skip dessert: the baked Alaska arrives in showstopper fashion — layers of cake and ice cream encased in fluffy meringue, set ablaze at the table. Have your camera ready.
Drinks With Depth: The Study and Tenfold Rooftop
The Kimpton Santo doesn’t settle for a single watering hole — it offers two of the most inviting and discreet bar experiences in the city, each with its own distinct personality.
The Study is an intimate cocktail bar with a literary and botanical theme, tucked off the courtyard, offering a cozy speakeasy style with signature cocktails inspired by classic books. Curated cocktails and small plates are available for indoor or outdoor seating, so you can sip under the century-old live oak trees just outside. It’s the kind of place where an evening can quietly become a memory.
Then there’s Tenfold Rooftop — and the name says it all. Ten floors up and ten times better, Tenfold is San Antonio’s premier rooftop cocktail lounge and the city’s only year-round, all-weather rooftop experience with 360-degree views of the skyline. The bar’s playful cocktail list highlights tequila and mezcal, with drinks ranging from boozy to frozen to refreshing. For the truly adventurous, the exclusive “10x Tour” is a prix fixe menu featuring 10 chef-selected dishes from 10 different regions around the world. Weekend reservations are highly recommended — this rooftop fills up fast.
Sky-High Splashing: The Pool Scene
San Antonio’s premier rooftop pool sits at the Kimpton Santo, where you can enjoy the stunning city skyline and the hotel’s historic courtyard while basking in the sun on the pool deck. For a truly relaxing day of swimming and lounging, private cabanas are available for reservation.
Whether you’re nursing a frozen cocktail from Tenfold or simply soaking in the panoramic views, the pool deck is one of those rare spots where you’ll forget you have anywhere else to be. This is not a stingy pool. It’s big enough for many guests, and everyone is so friendly you’re sure to make some new friends during your stay.
Pride Is in the DNA: A Welcoming Space for All
The Kimpton brand didn’t just add an LGBTQ+ policy as an afterthought — it was practically built on those values. For more than 40 years, Kimpton has been unwavering in its support for the LGBTQ+ community, with Pride woven into the very fiber of who they are as a brand.
Kimpton was the very first hotel company to score 100% on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, achieving that distinction in 2004 and maintaining it every year since, and also received the HRC Innovation Award for Workplace Equality for its pioneering benefits programs, including transgender-inclusive, fully-insured employee health plans.
Take a tour of the King suites at Kimpton Santo here:
Kimpton serves as the National Hotel Partner of The Trevor Project, supporting the organization’s 24/7 crisis services for LGBTQ+ young people and its education, research, advocacy, and peer support programs. Guests can access a special Trevor Project rate code that provides a discount while simultaneously directing a donation to the cause — meaning your vacation literally does good.
The boutique hotel brand was founded in San Francisco, and that spirit of radical welcome has traveled with the brand to every city it’s entered — including San Antonio. For LGBTQ+ travelers, the Kimpton Santo is more than a hotel stay; it’s an assurance that you will be seen, celebrated, and genuinely welcomed, every single day of the year — not just during Pride Month.
The Bottom Line: San Antonio Has a New Star
The Kimpton Santo is everything a good hotel should be: rooted in place, bold in design, serious about food and drink, and warm to every guest who walks through the door. The preservation of the historic buildings is impressive, and the contemporary Texas touches feel just right: Open, relaxed, grounded, unpretentious.
Happy Hour with complimentary drinks happens in the living room, and it’s a great place to chat or crack open the laptop, if you must.
Whether you’re visiting the Riverwalk, catching a show at the nearby Hemisfair, or simply looking for a city escape that punches well above its weight, San Antonio’s Kimpton Santo deserves to be at the very top of your list.
Kimpton Santo San Antonio Riverwalk is located at 431 South Alamo Street, San Antonio, TX.
A Short Stroll Away: The Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa
Just a few minutes’ walk down South Alamo Street from the Kimpton Santo sits another downtown gem worthy of its own spotlight. The Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection — San Antonio’s first Marriott-branded Autograph Collection hotel — preserves and repurposes its historic 19th-century architecture into a premier destination designed to refresh the body, mind, and soul. Rising seven stories above Alamo and Durango streets, the property is nestled on six acres of beautifully tended grounds laced with lovely courtyards, fountains, year-round blooming flowerbeds, and lawns dotted with ancient oaks. The mood here is deliberately quieter and more garden-like than the Kimpton Santo’s urban energy — think a lush, secret oasis tucked just off the bustle of downtown.
The real jewel is the spa. The Spa Plaza San Antonio is nestled within the historic grounds and located in two beautifully reimagined 19th-century homes, featuring six treatment rooms, a Zen Lounge, and a Wellness Concierge to guide guests through a holistic spa experience. Among the standout treatments is Shirodhara therapy, a soothing Ayurvedic technique that uses warm herbal white sage oil applied to the forehead’s “third eye,” and many of the signature massages and body rituals incorporate aromatherapy oils native to South Texas. Each morning, guests are invited to join a complimentary Tea Ceremony at 10:30 a.m. beside the property’s historic Anaqua tree, showcasing the hotel’s unique Anaqua tea blend — a deeply local touch that makes the Plaza feel like it belongs entirely to San Antonio.
Together, these two South Alamo properties offer travelers a compelling choice: the Kimpton Santo for bold design, dining and nightlife, and the nearby Plaza for hushed garden luxury and deep restoration.
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