San Antonio
- The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa (210.403.3434; www.jwsanantonio.com) will open in early 2010. Located on 600 acres 20 minutes north of downtown, it will offer 1,002 guest rooms and suites, 140,000 square feet of meeting space and a 26,000-square-foot spa. Two TPC golf courses designed by Sergio Garcia, Pete Dye and Greg Norman are among the amenities.
- Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa (210.647.1234; www.hillcountry.hyatt.com) added 10,000 square feet of meeting space in its new Rogers-Wiseman Pavilion, bringing the total to 43,000 square feet of function space. The new indoor-outdoor venue can accommodate up to 1,000 for exhibits, receptions, golf events and other gatherings.
- The San Antonio River Walk expansion was recently unveiled, almost doubling in size the city’s centerpiece attraction. It now winds north from city center, past the San Antonio Museum of Art and the restored Pearl Brewery. Coming in the $279 million improvement project are an additional nine miles on the south end that will connect four of the 18th century Spanish Colonial missions. Completion is expected in 2014.
- Pearl Brewery (210.212.7260; www.pearlbrewery.com) is the 125-year-old historic beer birthplace site on the San Antonio River Walk that’s one of the city’s latest preservation projects. This art-filled urban village is being developed with eco-friendly technology (such as a solar panel system) with an eye to the site’s historic character. Included are the Culinary Institute of America’s campus; the Aveda Institute; a new river theater and the Pearl Stable entertainment venue.
- Culinary Institute of America (210.222.1113; www.ciachef.edu/sanantonio) now offers two-day, Latin-inspired cooking classes at its newest campus at the Pearl Brewery. All that’s required is an enthusiasm for food. Classes may be arranged for small meeting groups.
- San Antonio Rose LIVE (210.212.7638; www.sanantonioroselive.com) is a new country music show that celebrates the masters of classic country music. The Grand Ole Opry-style show is housed on the River Walk’s restored Aztec Theater, built in 1926. River boats carry people to and from the location.
- San Antonio Botanical Garden (210.207.3250; www.sabot.org) finished a $2 million renovation of the Lucile Halsell Conservatory on the 33-acre site. The conservatory houses plants in glass buildings from desert regions to equatorial rainforest.