San Antonio
Texas


The Experience

Opened on the Riverwalk in 2003, in the historic 19th-century L. Frank Saddlery building that once made saddles for the likes of Pancho Villa, the Watermark is set on the quieter edge of the Riverwalk, but close to nightlife, the downtown business district and the Alamo. It's an ideal base for work, pleasure or recuperation, and riverfront seafood restaurant Pesca provides a welcome alternative to Tex-Mex beef and tacos. It also brings the Southwest firmly into the 21st century, with 98 contemporary-chic rooms and a 17,000 square-feet spa. Mesquite scrub and hydrotherapy? Pancho Villa would be so lucky.

The Rooms

Apart from the earthy colours, leather-bound desks and occasional Texas artwork, rooms are more contemporary than cowboy. River View rooms have wide balconies overlooking the water; that's the only difference between them and standard deluxes, though it's enough to justify the upgrade. All range between 425 and 600 square feet, with hardwood floors, cast-iron four-poster beds, 27-inch flat-screen TVs and bathrooms with marble vanities and Jacuzzi tubs. Three Spa Rooms adjacent to the spa on the second floor are slightly larger at 650 square feet, their arched, light-filled floor-to-ceiling windows adding extra calm to your posttreatment reverie.

The Service

Once you saddle the valets with your car, everything is geared to soothe and relax you. Front desk and concierge staff, all Les Clefs d'Or members, are not only quick to give you city maps and recommend nearby sites -- the Alamo is only three blocks away -- but also to suggest a visit to the Spa Concierge to explain any treatments. There's a refreshing Southwestern style and swagger to the staff too, from the waiters and bartenders who'll recommend a top-shelf tequila with your seared tuna, to the swiftly efficient housekeepers who carry baskets instead of pushing trolleys.

The Highlights

The chief attraction is the 17,000-square-feet spa. One of only two Mobil Four Star spas in Texas, it has 19 treatment rooms, serene relaxation lounges and dozens of signature treatments, from Avocado Lime Blossom Scalps to Mesquite Scrubs and Spanish Rosemary Massages. Then visit chef Scott Cohen's Pesca restaurant, which specializes in wild seafood; sit down in a sleek dining room with a stone-and-glass centerpiece bar that offers 75 types of tequila along with plates of oysters and lobster tail, or take your meal at a table alfresco, out on the Riverwalk.

-- Douglas Rogers

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