Need help with Arlington and San Antonio, TX

[MOM POPPINS]

I would also look under the sites I listed above for a hotel in the Ft. Worth area. Go to www.priceline.com first and put in Ft. Worth Texas and look at the map and see what vicinity the Will Rogers Complex is in. Then go to www.biddingfortravel.com and look under that area for the hotels that are coming up in Ft. Worth. I have saved lots of money using priceline and bidding for travel over the past few years. If you have any questions please ask away. I also liked Fiesta Tx and there are some great 4 star hotels that come in that area for around 70 to 80 as well. If you need help let me know.... I love visiting San Antonio!!!

 

[horseshowmom]

I've been looking forward to trying Priceline and had planned to on this trip. Since there are only 3 of us in my family (and we have a twin size inflatable airbed), I wouldn't have had to worry about the type of room.

However, since our friends decided to go too (which we're very happy about), I don't want to risk Priceline - they have 3 kids. I don't want to take a chance on winding up with only a king bed and "messing up" their vacation. I know that I'll probably be able to request two beds, but there's always that chance of not getting them.

I am looking forward to trying Priceline in the future (and would have especially liked to have tried for the resorts at San Antonio/Sea World).

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Just a tip, Priceline is so reasonable you can usually book 2 rooms for the price of 1. So you still might not want to rule it all together. I started using Priceline when our ever increasing family needed 2 rooms!

 

[cowtownmom]

Which hotels have you looked into for Fort Worth? There are a number of them on University Drive, which are just up the street from Will Rogers. How long will you be in Fort Worth? I live here and will be more than happy to tell you about some of the places to visit, if you have time for any extras.

 

[cowtownmom]

I forgot to mention a wonderful hotel we've stayed in in SA. The Menger Hotel. It is a historical hotel and in a fabulous location. You literally walk across the street to go to the Alamo! Of of another corner is a Dillard's Dept. store, which is part of the Riverwalk Mall. We LOVED this hotel! So much history AND it's haunted! We got a great rate there last summer (under $75 a night I believe). As mentioned earlier, Sea World is way away from the Riverwalk area. It's out on the west side of town. Unless you're only in SA for one night, I would recommend staying in the downtown area just because there is more to do. We drove out to Sea World for our day there. It wasn't bad - took about 20 minutes.

Back to Fort Worth, I would really recommend staying near Will Rogers just because there is so much in that area. It's in the Cultural District. Our zoo is right there too and it is wonderful! It has been ranked as the top zoo in the South. The newest area of the zoo (opened a couple of years ago) is called Texas Wild and is so great. The "Town" portion of TW was developed with the help of Disney designers! You can really see their touch to it!

 

[prncess674]

My vote for a hotel in San Antonio is the Westin Riverwalk. It is literaly right on the water. It is really great!

I am not sure if you have completely ruled out SF in Arlington but as long as you aren't looking for Disney you will love it. We had a great time. Lots of roller coasters and adult rides.

 

[horseshowmom]

While I started out with the intention of staying out near Sea World, I've just about decided to stay downtown instead. Everyone wants to go to the Alamo and visit the Riverwalk, so I think it would be just as easy to just stay there. Plus, there would be more things to do in our time that we weren't at SW (instead of just going back to the hotel). Thanks to everyone for helping us decide that part of the trip!

cowtownmom,

I have searched and searched trying to find a good hotel that was reasonably close to the Will Rogers Complex. Almost all of our spare time will be spent there while we're in Fort Worth (we will try to work in a few other things though - particularly the Cultural District museums).

After a lot of searching, I finally found a Hawthorn Suites that's supposed to only be 3 or 4 miles away (most of the other hotels were either booked or way too high for us). It's located at 6851 West Freeway.

The registration clerk told me that it's on the south side of I-30. Since we'll be coming in on I-30, that should make it easy to find. Can you tell me if this is a reasonably safe area to stay in? It looks like it should be pretty easy to get back and forth from the WRC.

Thanks for the help!

 

[VickiVM]

I'm glad you decided to stay downtown SA. We just got back from spending the day at the Texas Folklife Festival which was on the grounds of the Institute of Texas Cultures. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this museum which is right across from the Alamodome off I-37 and Durango. The downtown trolleys will take you there. I have visited this museum many times and never get bored with it. It has many exhibits of all the various cultures that are represented in Texas. The kids love it and it's a wonderful way to get out of the Texas heat and absorb the culturea and ethnicities of Texas.

Last summer we decided to be tourists in our own city and booked a room at the Holiday Inn right off of I-35 in Downtown. We trolley hopped all weekend and did all the sights. The room was like $99 with one of those travel magazine rates. (Those magazines you get at truck stops, or convenience stores that advertise special walk in rates for various hotels/motels.) Right across the street for Holiday Inn was the downtown trolley stop. For 50 cents you can get just about anywhere downtown and that includes transfers (just ask for a transfer voucher before you get off the bus).

Have a great time in SA and...GO SPURS GO!!!

 

[Kirby]

I am not sure if you have completely ruled out SF in Arlington but as long as you aren't looking for Disney you will love it.

I would agree with this, but then again there is no place like Disney World.

Just in case you decide to visit Six Flags, the Coca Cola cans have a deal on them. Up to June 27 on Monday - Fridays you can buy one park ticket and get one free. So I would check out the cold drinks some where when you get here if the date is within your timeframe.

 

[cowtownmom]

sbclifton,

The location of the Hawthorn Suites is great for your stay. If it's the one I'm thinking of! It's right behind a Maccaroni Grill (YUMMY Italian food if you've never heard of it!). I'm thinking that's where it's located. There are quite a few places in that area, but I'm 98% sure I'm remembering the right one. I would say it is less than one mile from Will Rogers and the museums begin in just the next block. Our new Modern Art museum opened up just this past winter. I have not been yet, the the building itself is quite impressive. There is also the Kimball Museum, which is world renound, that is really good. Let me know if you're interested in knowing what the main exhibit going on right now is and I'll let you know. They've just changed over from the previous one and I'm not remembering what is going on right now. You'll want to BE SURE to go the the Amon Carter museum. It has a lot of American Western Art (Russels and Remingtons). The Cowgirl Hall of Fame is a really cool new museum that opened this past year. It's right in the same area, so you can do a lot and see a lot without having to go very far. You all should try, if your schedule permits, to go to the North Side of town too. It's the Western part of town with the Stock Yards, Billy Bob's, lots of Western culture up there! Some of the original old west buildings in town. There is a fun/famous place to eat called Joe T. Garcia's. A number of celebrities like to go there when they are in town!

How long will you be in Ft. Worth?

 

[cowtownmom]

sbclifton,

I'm glad I drove by to check to see if the Hawthorn Suites was the one I was thinking of - it isn't. I was thinking of Fairfield Inn (A Marriott property). I looked up the Hawthorn Suites location. It is okay. I would say it's safe there. It's a bit out of the way, in comparison to the other hotels in the University area, but not too bad. When you were doing your search, did Fairfield Inn come up? I believe their rates are about the same as Hawthorn. It may be that you did find them and they are booked.

 

[Kirby]

Saw this website, SAsave.com, advertised on the tv last night. You might look there for savings in the San Antonio area.

 

[horseshowmom]

cowtownmom!

Bless your heart! That was so sweet of you to check out the hotel for us. I feel a lot better about it now. I did check the University Ave. listings, but they were booked or well over $100 for just a room.

I did find one or two places that were a little better, but they only had double sized beds. Both husbands refuse to sleep in a double bed. Sooo, this Hawthorn will work for us. It's not as close as I would like, but it beats the other options that I had.

I am going to check again just before we leave, because as big as this show is, there are bound to be some cancellations.



SAN ANTONIO

I have been overruled by the rest of the adults who want to stay near Sea World. We're buying the Fun Cards, so that we can go more than one day, and they want to be near it (and do downtown just the one day).

Thanks for the hotel suggestions and the SAsave website. I will be checking it out!

Thanks again!
Sheila

 

[horseshowmom]

I want to thank everyone for all of the help that you offered!

It looks like we will be staying at the Radisson Hill Country Resort while in San Antonio. I was able to get it at a gov't rate of $80 (which is certainly incredible for that resort). It has 2 Q beds in the room. Out of the 4 adults going, 3 of us work for the same school district (which they said would qualify us for the gov't rate). I've also signed up for Radisson's Gold Points in the hopes of getting a complimentary upgrade.

I did check some of the other properties mentioned that were near the 410 loop, but they weren't much cheaper (if at all), so we decided on this one.

The Menger and the Westin Riverwalk were both very tempting, and I hope to stay at one of them in the future.

Thanks again!!!

 

[cowtownmom]

Glad to hear you've got everything booked/planned! When do you head out this way??

 

[Madangel32]

Congrat! Sheila!

You will be pleased with the Radisson. It is fairly new. I sometimes stop by their to get a coffee on my way to work. It is about 5 minutes from my house.

You are soooo close to Sea World. You will just need to cross over the light at Highway 151 and you are at the Main Gate to Sea World.

Have lots of fun! And drink plenty of water! If you need anything else, please let me know.


Angel

 

[horseshowmom]

We'll be in Fort Worth from Saturday morning until Tuesday morning (we leave here Friday - my mother can't wait for us to leave, so she can spoil our Chihuahua! LOL).

Then we'll be in San Antonio until Friday. We'll head back through Houston to go through the Space Center. Then we'll come up through Mississippi to visit Natchez and Vicksburg for Civil War historical sites.

What with the museums in Ft. Worth's Cultural District, the marine biology and Texas history in San Antonio, the space science in Houston, and the Civil War history in MS, we should be a very well-educated bunch by the time we return home! LOL

Thanks again!

P.S. I've already bought lots of bottled water to take with us!

 

[SeaWitch]

Be sure and see the new RL Stines (Goosebumps) 4D lighthouse adventure at SeaWorld. IMHO not anywhere near as good as Disney could have done it... but very nice in it's own right.

 

[horseshowmom]

It's already on our list! Thanks!

 

[sk!mom]

We take many trips to San Antonio and I recommend the Downtown Riverwalk area. I have had great luck with Priceline's 4 star level, always getting the Hyatt Regency for $50 to $65 per night. It is a beautiful hotel directly across from the Alamo.