I reserved room for New Year's Eve. Paid a little bit more than I normally would pay because I wanted it to be special for my Fiancé and I. Lobby was beautiful. As we got off elevator, scenery changed. Stains on carpet. We got into our room and it was freezing. We tried turning on heat ( as it was a cold night). Remote did not work. And AC would not turn off. We tried to move vent up and it fell off. Carpet in room had stains. Restroom was very small. Toilet is too close to wall. There was calcium build up and a patched up hole in the tub. TV was old and dusty. And it is way too far from the downtown Riverwalk area. The pictures on the Internet are deceiving. We checked out after 20 min. It is equivalent to a $60 motel room. I do not understand how they can charge $200 a night. So NOT worth the cost. We found a room at a Comfort Inn for that night. Now for that room I would have paid $200! I paid $84....look elsewhere before you think of booking with " El Tropicano"!! As for all the positive reviews here, I find it hard to believe they are legit. Must be employees filling out these great reviews...

Kathryn M

Stayed Dec 28th through 31st, 2012. Made reservations directly with hotel; day before realized we had not asked for a handicap accessible room and sent an email. Room was ready when we arrived and was very nice; very clean, fridge and microwave, large walk in shower and very comfortable bed. We especially liked the European style air conditioning as with asthma needed cold temps. We heard no noise from our room and was not far from the elevators.

The staff was very helpful with helping us get around San Antonio and the best thing was the trolley stopped across the street and dropped directly in front of the hotel. Day pass was well worth the four dollars.

Complimentary breakfast was good and the staff was extremely helpful in all departments, front desk, bar, coffee bar and breakfast area. We did all the tourist things, and it was easy to get to the riverwalk, market square, Rivercenter Mall, trolley narrated tours and trolley system. We were able to park on the lower ground level all days even though the hotel had two large private events one evening and $18.00 a day was cheap compared to the other hotels. We had a free shuttle from the hotel to take us to two homemade from scratch Italian and Mexican restaurants and bring us back to the hotel. Very nice.

Since everyone was so helpful and friendly, even though there was the Oregon State/University of Texas football game in town, we do not understand the negative reviews--perhaps impatient people. We would definitely stay at this hotel again.

It was a very, very long day of travel on December 20,2012 and I was traveling in from Canada and joining my husband in Houston to drive to our "Favorite" Hotel in the U.S. which is "El Tropicano". We staggled in at 4;00 in the morning and was greetd by a cold front outside but a warm smile inside. It sure was a sight for sore eyes after a long and arduous trip we were ever so delighted to arrive!!. We had our room ready for us and after we unpacked we were ready to greet the Mayan Experience the next Day. Well, we did experience it in the form of utmost professionalism, attentiveness, care and courteous customer service at "El Tropicano". So I hope this review will provide some insight to your travel's

They did a really great job remodeling this hotel...lots of light, very contemporary updated decor. Rooms are nice (a bit small), and the bed is comfortable. VERY clean!!!! (They are not afraid to sanitize the bathrooms!!!) Food is good. Service is excellent. Staff super nice! It is in the museum/art district area of San Antonio, so the walk along the riverwalk to shops and restaurants is a little longer, but its a pleasurable walk...the riverwalk is beautiful on this end. This truly was a great surprise to us, and I will definitely return. Excellent value for the money.