… is to be lucky enough to have a brother like mine.
Summary – we’re staying in a hotel where we’re being treated like royalty; we had first row tickets for the rodeo (and I got dirt down my shirt from the bucking broncos thundering past); and we switched between first row seats and cool Terrace level seats for the Jewel concert.
Hub and I came to San Antonio for Valentine’s weekend, to stay in a chic new hotel and pig out on good food and soak in the ambience of the Riverwalk. I grew up in San Antonio and sometimes I miss it terribly.
My brother called me up a few weeks ago and asked me if I was interested in any tickets to the rodeo. I checked out the performers, looked to see who hub might enjoy most, him not being a country and western fan, and saw that Jewel was playing on 2/13. Since it was so close to Valentine’s, we decided to make a trip out of it. I looked on a bunch of hotel reservation sites for a place on the river but everything was sold out or $450 a night except for this one new hotel, Hotel Valencia, which was brand spanking new – barely a month open. I made reservations there and mentioned it to my sis-in-law, who said that my brother was one of the investors and that I should call him and get a discount. Which I did, of course. A penny saved is a penny more that I can spend on a new laptop.
He called the hotel and put me on The List. When we got here, they fell all over themselves being nice to us. We got a tour of all the public areas, personal introductions from almost all the staff around, and a promise that anything we needed, we should call down and they’d provide.
The room is very nice and quite contemporary. The closet and bathroom doors have frosted glass inserts; the bath towels are all waffle weave rather than terrycloth; all the soap and shampoo things have different and wonderful aromas. The bedroom is completely decorated in neutrals – beige walls, grey carpet with a brown sisal area rug on top, comfy brown leather chair and footstool, a huge case of bamboo sticks on top of the long built-in desk that also houses the television, faux fur bedspreads, brown leather headboards, etc. The only touch of color is a small print of the prow of a Venetian gondola, done in electric blue. Also there are two high-speed internet access ports, and net access is free.
The effect is striking but comfortable. The only drawback that I’ve noticed is that walls are very thin. We can hear people in the next room or in the hallway like they’re in the room with us. No biggie, in that case I’ll just crank down the AC for white noise.
We left the hotel and went to the swank new SBC center for the rodeo, first stopping at the New Frontier Club for dinner – prime rib, garlic cheddar mashers, green beans, yum. My brother stopped in while we were eating to have a drink and gave us another pair of tickets on the Terrace Level to use during the concert because the acoustics were better up there.
A little late for the rodeo, we got there in time to see the calf scramble, barrel racing, Budweiser Clydesdales (we were so close, one of them drooled on me which I casually wiped on hub), and bronc and bull riding. Other than the chick in the seat next to me occupying my ribcage with her elbow, it was really cool. The seats were just your basic best seats in the house – 50 yard line, first row, close enough to get spattered with dirt and horse sweat. I’m glad we didn’t take the kids, because I surely would have had my nose broken by the three year old crawling over me trying to escape from the massive animals who looked like they were going to sit on top of us.
When the concert started we watched from the first row for a while, then decided to move to the Terrace Club when the guy behind us wouldn’t stop shouting at the top of his longs about the percussion section to his girlfriend. That’s a man who deserved to get a fork in the eye. And then during the slow songs his girlfriend sang along at the top of her lungs – off key. She drowned out Jewel on “Foolish Games”. Twit. We could hear much better up at club level, but by that time the concert was just about over.
Upon returning to the room, we found a bottle of Evian on ice and a basket of oranges with a handwritten note from the hotel manager welcoming us and telling us to call if we needed anything.
So here’s a big thanks to my brother, who made possible a very nice evening, full of good food, good entertainment, and good lodging.