This 4-day trip to San Antonio was the perfect family getaway for us. Between the water park, organized kids activities and on-site recreation, there really wasn’t any need to leave the resort during our trip. Our family of four, including boys ages 5 and 2, had a great time and look forward to coming back again.
What is the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa?
The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is a 4-star hotel nestled in the Texas Hill Country on the north side of San Antonio. It’s approximately 30-minutes north of downtown and the popular San Antonio Riverwalk. It’s also about an hour’s drive from Austin, 4 1/2 hours from Fort Worth-Dallas, or 3 hours from Houston.
The resort boasts a full-service spa, 2 championship golf courses, including the TPC San Antonio (home of the Valero Open), and multiple on-site dining options. There’s a conference center and other special event facilities. But the main attraction, at least for our family, was the River Bluff Water Experience.
The River Bluff Water Experience
Pools, etc.
This sprawling pool area includes several slides, a lazy river and a seemingly endless number of pools. There’s an adults only pool that overlooks the golf course and is relatively screened off from the bustling activities in the main area. There’s a kids splash pad area that has mini slide of their own. There’s a kids pool with a sandy, walk-in beach area. There are a few hot tubs hidden throughout the pool area and a main activity pool.
Cabanas can be reserved at or around most of the main pool areas. The cabanas give you some nice shade and a little bit of privacy and guarantee a nice comfortable area for you and your family. We are pretty low-key and had no problem staking out a spot that included some lounge chairs, umbrellas and a side table or two.
The first day, we set up shop at the main activity pool and scored some chairs close to the wade-in entrance. This pool is pretty shallow throughout, only reaching 4 to 4.5 feet in the very center. Our boys had no problem splashing/swimming around.
Towards the end of our second day, we discovered the kids pool with the sandy beach area and it looked awesome! It was the best of both worlds, the kids got to play in the sand (aka, dig a bottomless pit) and then they could run straight into the pool to wash off. This pool is very shallow but it has a true “deep end” on the opposite side of the beach entry. It’s a smaller pool, so don’t be surprised if these seats fill up quickly. They have lounge chairs and shorter beach chairs which can be placed directly in the water, which was nice when it got really hot in the afternoon.
For families with older kids, the main activity pool is probably where you want to plant your gear for the day. There are several secluded clusters of chairs away from the main area. If you’re lucky, I would highly recommend snagging one of the smaller sections close to the entry/exit of the lazy river. These areas are not only quieter, they’re typically located near beautifully landscaped parts of the property and make you feel like you’re in the hill country.
Slides & Rides
The River Bluff Water Experience (aka “The Pool Area”) has several water slides and our oldest son, Canyon (age 5), had a BLAST on the tube-slides. We rode them over and over again each day. Even on the busiest day, we were never more than 4th or 5th in line.
The Acequia Slides are located above the kids splash pad area and feature dueling slides that can be navigated in both single and double tubes. Kids have to be at least 42″ to ride with an adult or big kid over 48″ and anyone over 48″ can ride solo. Both slides feature a handful of twists and turns and covered portions where it goes pitch black.
The Pedernales Falls Tube Slide allows smaller riders over 36″ to join the fun, and our youngest son, Winston (age 2) was able to ride down this one with me, although he didn’t have much interest in doing it a second time. It’s more of a “white water” experience with slower turns and shorter drops. It dumps you into a landing pool area where you have a choice to make, either exit the pool and make a quick run up the stairs for more slide-time, or you can continue down another chute and drop down into a branch of the lazy river that hooks up with the main river.
Lastly, they also have 3 additional body slides for riders over 48″ in height. One slide has a walk-in chamber where they drop the floor out from underneath you and then you slide through a translucent tube that twists and turns. The other two slides are open top slides with more of a traditional single drop.
All of the slides had lifeguards patrolling the top and bottom sections. Tubes are provided by the hotel and are included in the resort fee (no additional charge or rental).
Kids Activities
Throughout the week, the hotel offers a variety of organized activities for kids. Most of the events are free, but some of the arts & crafts activities do carry a small fee ($5 to $12). The activities change from day to day, and a greater variety of options are offered on the weekends. Some of the activities include magnet decoration, survival bracelet making, airbrush tattoos, decorate your own float, make-your-own ice cream, cookie decorating, build-a-bear, sand art creations, and many more!
S’mores are offered nightly (for free) at one of the fire pits between 7pm and 9pm. Be sure to ask around to make sure you know which fire pit! We got told multiple things and ended up taking an unintentional late night stroll around the entire property before finding them. While we probably needed the exercise, the kids were not thrilled about it.
The hotel also provides a fun little scavenger hunt where kids have to scour the property looking for some stuffed-animal longhorns. I thought this was cool because it forced you to explore the entire property, including the spa and the conference area. This hotel seemingly goes on FOREVER! Once you find all 7 longhorns and take some selfies with them, the kids can collect their reward (Dum-Dum suckers for us) from the front desk.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that every night around dusk, there was a large, unorganized gathering in the common area outside of the main lobby where kids of all ages were running around and playing tag, whiffle ball, red rover, etc. This was a really great after-dinner activity that helped us get some extra energy out of kids before they went to bed. And it’s free! We took some glow-sticks with us and the kids had a ball; they even made a few friends along the way!
Golf
The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is also home to two 18-hole championship golf courses.
The Canyons Course offers dramatic, varied topography and was designed by Pete Dye. It’s a Par-72 course with a total length of 7,106 yards. With the exception of the outer corridors, the entire course is planted with Bermuda grasses. Native Texas grasses fill in the areas between holes and help blend the course into the natural scenery. This course was the host of the PGA CHAMPIONS TOUR San Antonio Championship from 2011-2015.
The Oaks Course was designed by Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia as player consultant, and it is the current host of the PGA TOUR Valero Texas Open. It’s a traditionally designed tournament course that offers both narrow tree-lined fairways as well as wider fairways that give players the option on which route to take. There’s less than 100-feet of elevation separating the high and low points of the golf course. It’s a par-72 course with a total length of 7,435. Just like the Canyons Course, it is planted with a variety of Bermuda grass species.
The courses are overseeded with rye in November, which should keep the fairways and greens nice and green throughout the winter months.
Green fees for the Oaks Course when I called were running $275/person. This was for a 7:15am tee-time on a Wednesday morning. For a dad on vacation with his family, this was a little too steep of a price for me. I was just happy Lauren would let me step out for half a day to play golf (thanks babe!). I ended up booking a tee-time at the The Quarry Golf Course instead for about $100. It’s a 20-minute drive from the hotel and one of the most iconic courses in town. I highly recommend!
If golf is an integral part of your tip to this resort, I strongly recommend looking at their “stay-and-play” packages which appear to offer more competitive pricing for the rooms and rounds when combined together.
Dining Options
One of the main reasons we opted to vacation here, as opposed to an Airbnb at the beach, was because we really wanted a break from cooking, cleaning and dishes! We made a commitment to buy all of our meals on this trip. There are half a dozen dining options at the hotel, but they all seemed very similar and their menus uninspired. Lauren and I think they missed the boat by not having a more family-friendly, casual restaurant. We were surprised there wasn’t an on-site pizza option. I was also a little disappointed at the lack of “border-style” influence on the menu. It’s possible that with teenage kids the restaurants would be more approachable, but with little kids who are kind of picky, it just didn’t give us as many options as we would have hoped.
High Velocity Sports Bar
We ate here the first night. Not because it was a sports bar with huge TV’s…..really I swear! It had the most relaxed and casual environment and the menu looked approachable for the kids.
We swung by the host stand on the way back from the pool and put our name on the list. We were told it would be a 20-minute wait, but Lauren had enough time to run back upstairs to the 10th floor, with a toddler, change and come back and we still waited for what felt like at least 30-minutes. No problem, though. We had nowhere to be.
Lauren and I both got salads, and my Southwest Casesar Salad ($17) was very underwhelming. Definitely no match for Lauren’s version of a Southwest Salad! Lauren’s Greek salad ($13) was good and hit the spot for her. Winston got Mac & Cheese ($12), which he seemed to enjoy. Canyon got Chicken Tenders ($12) and fries, which were pretty average if you ask me.
We also ordered a local IPA on draft ($8), a glass of Kris Pinot Grigio ($12, I think) and two signature cocktails ($16, I think).
The whole experience took about 90 minutes and cost us around $140. While it wasn’t terrible, it just didn’t feel like there was much of an effort behind any of the food items. Maybe that’s our mistake for ordering two salads at the sports bar?
Rivertop
This is the food outlet located in the pool area. You have the option of ordering at the large bar area and waiting for your food, or you can order from a server directly from your chair. To me, this was executed very well. The servers we encountered everyday were super friendly, they always seemed to be upbeat and moving quickly. They were very pleasant to deal with.
The first full day, we ordered lunch and ate it poolside. I got grilled Mahi Mahi tacos ($17), and they were pretty dang good! They came with a side of chips & salsa, which I can never be mad about.
Lauren ordered a Blackened Chicken Sandwich w/ Fries ($17), and it tasted great as well. The boys ordered grilled cheese ($10) and chicken tenders ($14). Both came with fries and neither of them finished their meal (shocker, I know).
We HAD to get frozen cocktails, because, we ARE on vacation right?!? I got the frozen Margarita ($16.50) and Lauren got the frozen Pina Colada ($16.50) and opted for the additional rum-floater ($4). Both were actually really delicious. I am a bit of a margarita snob, and this one was salty and citrusy, in a good way. I was really happy that it wasn’t sweet. While they were expensive by any standard, we felt like we got great service and our food and drinks were really good.
With tax & tip, our poolside lunch cost around $165. Because it was SO convenient and the food was good, we made a second trip to the pool later that afternoon and ordered food again. This time we took it back to the room and chilled out for a little while before S’mores. I got the tacos AGAIN, they were that good. Lauren got a Turkey Wrap ($16) and it was solid as well.
Other Food Options
On the last full-day of our trip, we opted to dine elsewhere. But there are a few other restaurants on site that we’d like to check out sometime, perhaps without younger kids.
Cibolo Moon
This seemed to be the main restaurant of the hotel. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with limited menus available in between. They have a variety of buffet options, including kids buffets. At meal time, there always seemed to be a wait. We saw carving stations and a variety of breakfast/brunch options sprawled out in the dining room. It had an upscale casual decor, pushing towards a higher end country club feel.
18 Oaks
The Steakhouse; Open for Lunch and Dinner with a shoulder menu in between. Their lunch menu looked very appealing, we were just always at the pool during lunch time. They have a nice, traditional steakhouse menu for dinner as well with prices very comparable to that of a standalone restaurant like Bob’s, Del Frisco’s, etc. With little kids, this wasn’t a very viable option for us.
Crooked Branch
This is the lobby bar. It has a modest, but well-thought out, by-the glass menu. Premium spirits were available, and a decent selection of whiskies were neatly presented on the backbar. They have a small bar menu that includes flatbreads, hummus and such. It looked and sounded appetizing, but we never found ourselves hanging out here. It was mostly occupied by adults, conference attendees or people traveling on business.
Room Service
Room Service is also available from 7am to 10pm daily.
Health & Wellness
The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa offers also offer a full-service spa. The Lantana Spa is open daily from 9am – 6pm and has its own dedicated building between the hotel and the golf pro shop. There are a variety of packages available that combine multiple treatments, or you can purchase individual treatments a la carte. Treatments include massages, facials, and nail care. Enhancements can be made to certain treatments including CBD Infusions, Essential Oils and more.
The spa also has its own private pool area and the Replenish Spa Bistro. The Bistro has a smaller menu of light, nutritious options and it is open from 11am to 5pm.
Additionally, the resort offers a fitness center that’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The fitness center offers a variety of machines, free weights, cardio equipment, Peloton bikes and more.
We were told that our resort fee included access to a sauna/steam room, but we never found them.
Insider Tips, Tricks & Hacks
All-in-all, we had a great experience at the JW Marriott. Our family of four opted for the standard king room. We had 463 square feet, a king-sized bed, pull-out sofa bed, a HUGE flat-screen TV that even let us sign into our own Netflix account, a mini fridge (that was partially iced over), an in-room safe and a generously sized bathroom. Our 5-year-old slept in the sleeper sofa, and the 2-year-old slept in his pack-and-play. It was smaller than an Airbnb, but it was perfectly fine for the amount of time we actually spent in the room.
This is the kind of trip where you can really splurge and go all-out. Suites, steaks, valet parking, golf, spa, room-service, etc. But there are also ways to make this easier on the wallet. Now that we have kids, we’re quickly learning that we have to make some changes on the fly to get through the entire trip.
- Don’t overpack – The hotel feels like it’s in a remote location, but it’s really 5-10 minutes from major retail shopping. We forgot toothpaste, ran out of sunscreen, Topo Chico etc. There’s a massive H-E-B Plus that’s 10-minutes away and has just about everything you could ever need.
- Chick-fil-A – is right next to the H-E-B, only 10 minutes away. I snuck out twice in the morning to grab breakfast and bring it back to the room. Everyone was happy and we probably saved $40 each day by not eating at the hotel.
- H-E-B Grab & Go – The H-E-B Plus has some excellent prepackaged grab-and-go options for a cheap lunch that you can bring back to the hotel room or eat in one of the common areas. One morning, we snagged some PB&J sandwich kits complete with pretzels, hummus and a clementine ($4.50 each) for the boys, and then we picked up a Cobb Salad & a Greek Salad for us. Total cost for lunch that day was around $18.00 (or the price of one frozen cocktail at the pool!).
- Pizza Delivery/Takeout – We saw SEVERAL families sharing pizza around tables in the lobby or outside in the courtyard area. Grimaldi’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s are all very close to the hotel. We ordered Papa John’s and had it delivered to the lobby. Sadly, it took us nearly 2 hours to get it. I would recommend sending someone to pickup the pizzas instead, especially during peak times.
- Glowsticks/Party Favors – We brought some glowsticks and left over party favors and let the boys have fun with these at the end of the day as the sun was going down. The hotel has a huge, beautifully landscaped lawn area where lots of families congregate after dinner. Kids were playing tag and whiffle ball and running around. Our boys got to hand out a few glow sticks and made some instant friends because of it. Cheap entertainment that helped wear them out just a little bit more before bed time.
- Sand Toys – If you want to guarantee yourself some sand castle building time, then definitely bring your own tools. We didn’t bring any, but there were plenty of tools just laying around throughout the day that our boys “borrowed” for an hour or two. But, it would have been nice to have a bucket and a shovel or two that we could call our own.
- Food/Drinks at the Pool – They have really big signs at the check-in counter that say “NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED” and “NO COOLERS OR YETI CUPS ALLOWED” – take this with a grain of salt. We saw plenty of people with coolers, outside food and Yeti cups walking around. I spoke with a few staff members, and they made it sound like they were required to post this signage for liability purposes. We may or may not have brought in our own tasty beverages and/or outside food. Just use some common sense.
- Parking – Valet parking is available for $39/day, or you can self-park for free. Just remember that you’re in the hill country, and the further away you park, the more uphill you have to walk. It’s not that bad, and it was nice to get a few extra uphill “steps” in to start my day. We saved $160 by parking ourselves.
- Wi-Fi – Wi-Fi is included in the resort fee and was fast enough for the boys to use the Amazon tablets. We were happy to receive complimentary Wi-Fi, as it was listed as an additional cost per day when we were booking the room. We were also able to download videos and content so they could view it offline. The speed for downloading videos and streaming wasn’t great, but it got the job done. TV is hard-wired and we had no problem streaming Netflix each night.
- Checking In – We checked in on a Sunday afternoon, and the process took nearly an hour. We arrived right at the check-in time (4pm), and it took us about 30 minutes for me to get a luggage cart while Lauren stood in line to get our room keys. They took our luggage and set it aside and gave us a ticket, but never really told us how we were supposed to get our luggage up to the room. I ended up having to come back down and wheel it up myself. Which is totally fine, the communication was just terrible. We seemed to have lucked out by arriving right on time. We spoke with several people whose rooms were not ready for several hours that day. The morning of our check-in we received an email which allowed us to check-in “early” on the Marriott Bonvoy app, and it was supposed to send us a notification when our room was ready. We never got the notification, so we just tried to show up right at 4pm. They seemed to have a similar situation again on Monday as a big conference rolled into the hotel. Early Check-In is available for a fee, along with Late Check-Out, but it’s not clear what those fees are.
Things to Do in San Antonio
One of the things I really loved about this hotel was that it felt like you were miles away from the big city. The way the hotel is oriented is such that you’re always looking out the “backdoor”. This happens to be a beautiful golf course carved into the Texas Hill Country with a nature preserve behind it. But don’t forget……you’re only minutes away from a major city steeped in rich history and loaded with fun things to do!
Family Friendly
- Sea World San Antonio – Located 40 minutes from the hotel, this theme park is world renowned. Sea creatures are the obvious stars of the show. Killer Whales, Sea Lions, Dolphins, etc. There are a number of options to enhance your visit. For families with small children, take a look at the Family Adventure Tour. For a modest price increase over general admission, you can access the park early before it opens and have some personalized animal experiences and photo opportunities with the family! We have taken Canyon in the winter time, and it was surprisingly beautiful! They have one of the most elaborate Christmas light displays in the state and a really fun Sesame Street themed parade at the end of each day.
- Six Flags Fiesta Texas – Less than 30 minutes from the hotel, this them park is chock full of roller coasters, kid-friendly rides, other entertaining shows and experiences.
- The Doseum – About 30 minutes from the hotel, the Children’s “Museum” has loads of hands-on activities for them. Lots of STEM-oriented exhibits allow children to really activate all of their senses and get the creative juices flowing. Located close to downtown, it could easily be paired with a trip to The Pearl or Riverwalk areas.
- Morgan’s Wonderland – 25 minutes from the hotel is a theme park centered around accessibility. This park was designed to be accessible by ALL people, including those with handicaps and other disabilities. Their vision is “to be a place where the common element of play creates an atmosphere of inclusion for those with and without disabilities while encouraging everyone to gain a greater understanding of one another.”
Outdoorsy
- Natural Bridge Caverns – 30 minutes from the hotel is an underground treasure that was discovered back in 1960. A massive underground show cavern offers a variety of walking tours including group tours, private tours, adventure caving/exploration tours and more. They also have a variety of above-ground activities suitable for kids of all ages. These activities include “mining” for arrowheads, gems and precious metals, a ropes course, rock climbing wall, etc.
- Float the River – A fun activity to enjoy on your way in or out of town is to float the Guadalupe River. Trips can range from 2 hour to 6 hour floats and launch out of Whitewater Sports in New Braunfels. The launch point is about 45 minutes NW of the hotel and located underneath the Canyon Lake dam. Tubes may be rented or you can bring your own!
- Take a Hike – Eisenhower Park is about 20 minutes away from the hotel and is home to the top-rated trail in San Antonio according to AllTrails.com. The Blue Loop Trail at McAllister Park comes in second, also 20 minutes away. There’s also a variety of hike/bike trails around the hotel and through the surrounding neighborhoods. The Friedrich Wilderness Park is a little further away and has some highly-rated trails.
Dining
- Meadow Restaurant – We snuck out of the hotel on the last night and took the boys with us for dinner. We easily got an early reservation at 5pm on a Wednesday. We weren’t sure how the boys would handle the restaurant (they fell asleep on the way there), but we were able to salvage a VERY nice dinner together. This was one the best meals I’ve had in recent memory. They have a great little happy hour menu. We enjoyed Cornbread w/ Honey Lard & Pimento Cheese (seriously legit cornbread), English Pea Hummus (one of the best I’ve ever had), Fried Chicken Biscuits w/ Honey Hot Sauce, Tomato Toast w/ SMOKED DUKE’S MAYONNAISE, Texas Stone Fruit Salad, and Feta Cheesecake. But the most memorable dish, which is easily in my top-10 dishes of all-time, was the Cabbage Pancake w/ Pork Belly. I would try to describe it, but my words would not do it justice. Just trust me on this one! We also tried a few cocktails. Seriously, everything we had was VERY good! If we lived in the neighborhood, we would be there regularly!
- La Panadería Bakery – Okay, we first tried this little bakery/cafe a few years ago when we were staying in the Riverwalk area. They have a few locations around town. We just went there one morning for breakfast because it said they had fresh pastries and was close to our hotels and had great reviews. I don’t think we knew exactly what we were getting into the first time around, but when we found out one of their locations was going to be on my way home from the golf course, I simply HAD to stop here and pickup lunch for the family. Two brothers started this restaurant back in 2014 as an homage to their Mexican heritage and love of baking. They have AMAZING latin-inspired pastries including Concha, Empanadas, Croncha, Oreja, and Pan du Muerto as well as croissants, monkey bread, and more! If pastries aren’t your thing, then you have to try one of their amazing Tortas (sandwiches)! Their Al Pastor Torta w/ Fideo Soup is absolutely incredible. Most of their Tortas can be converted into a brunch/breakfast sandwich. They have excellent coffee options as well. In a hurry? Order ahead for pickup and skip the line, because there will almost ALWAYS be a line here.
- Cantina del Rio (Gruene, TX) – Okay, so this is not in San Antonio, but we did stop here for lunch and margaritas on the way into town. Cantina del Rio is located in the quaint town of Gruene, TX. Located adjacent to the city of New Braunfels, Gruene is home to one of the most legendary music venues in the entire state, Gruene Hall. Some of country music’s biggest names have performed in this iconic dance hall. We were able to catch a free house band on a lazy Sunday afternoon and just standing underneath those old rafters, tin roof and propped open screen windows was enough to feel how special this place is. We will have to come back for a ticketed show sometime! But Gruene also has tons of boutique shops and quaint little restaurants. We stopped at Cantina del Rio and enjoyed their beautiful, shaded patio nestled in the tall hill-country trees. We really came in for a frozen margarita at the recommendation of a friend, but we ended up ordering an in-between meal. Everything was great including their chips and salsa, fish tacos & shrimp tacos, rice and beans. The margaritas were great and were a welcome reprieve from the heat. We also thought this was competitively priced and would happily come here again the next time we visit.
