Hot and Dry in Texas

The resort might leave something to be desired, but the surrounding area has enough to keep you busy for at least a week. It was over 100 degrees every day we were there and never less than 80 even in the middle of the night. Even though we weren't used to that heat, it wasn't so bad. Especially since there was never a cloud in the sky or a drop of rain. San Antonio and Austin are so close, and besides that there are plenty of things to do in the local towns and on the river or the lake. It's a great place to visit, though I might rather stay in another resort if I can't get one of the new units.

Quick Tips:

Pick up some souvenirs in Gruene! Very cute town. Do some splurging at San Marcos outlet malls. Upscale outlets but bargains can be found! Remember the Alamo and talk a walk and get some food on the RiverWalk. Go to the Tower of the Americas and get a bird's eye view of San Antonio and enjoy the 4D ride before you take the elevator up. Check out the capitol building. It's the second biggest in the U.S.! Try out Schlitterbahn especially if it's in season. Tube the Guadalupe if it's deep enough so you don't run aground. It's a relaxing and beautiful way to spend a couple of hours.

Best Way To Get Around:

You'll need a car. This resort is basically in the middle of nowhere on a 40-55 mile per hour highway. There are a few gas stations close by and there's a really cute jewelry shop Christy's only about 5 minutes away (great prices too) and a yummy dessert shop (Mrs. Bush's Pies) only a few minutes past Christy's, but besides those, you're lucky to come across a restaurant or bar! It's about 45 minutes to San Antonio or Austin and 25 minutes to San Marcos outlet malls and only about 15 minutes to Gruene which is a cute old fashioned town with a General Store and antique shops. But you'll definitely need a rental car. There's not very much to do at the resort at all!

We were very impressed with the size of our presidential unit, but it was older and not well maintained. This resort has units on both sides of highway 306 and the ones on the opposite side from the main office are brand new, some are still being built. We requested a unit on that side and though they discouraged us from choosing one of those new units (they claimed the construction equipment would be loud) they told us they would comply. However when it came time to check in they gave us an old unit on the main side of the resort. We were irritated that they claimed the construction equipment would be loud and we might be unhappy with the newer units because of that because it turned out the walls in the older units were thin and we could hear the people in the unit above us running around all night long.

We could even hear their television. The construction would not have been going on at night! The toilets rocked - the bolts weren't secure. The beds were extremely uncomfortable and the pillows were very old and lumpy. We were very happy with the jacuzzi tubs, the washer and dryer, the kitchen AND kitchenette and the fact that we had 3 televisions with lots of channels. The rooms were also spacious. But when we considered the fact that the units were not well maintained, insulated to keep out sound and over the course of the week we encountered a lot of bugs (disgusting hard shelled bugs - hopefully not roaches though we've never encountered them before and littler flying bugs), we felt the resort was not in good condition or terribly clean. Overall, we would recommend this resort for location - between San Antonio and Austin - but not for accommodations or resort amenities. Interestingly enough though they claim they have never had any complaints.

This resort is about 45 minutes from San Antonio and Austin. In San Antonio we recommend seeing the Alamo, The Riverwalk and The Tower of the Americas. In Austin, we enjoyed the O. Henry Museum, The Capitol Building and the University of Texas. The resort is also only about 25 minutes from San Marcos outlet malls. Lots and lots of shops. On the outskirts of San Antonio is also the Natural Bridge Caverns which were very nice. The resort is also close to Schlitterbahn Water Park. Unfortunately, once school starts back up they close half of Schlitterbahn, so we didn't get the full waterpark experience and it was rather expensive and crowded for the amount of slides/lazy rivers still open. We tried to tube the Guadalupe River, but TX had been experiencing a drought, so we often had to pick up our tubes and walk along the river to find a spot deep enough to stay afloat rather than running aground. It seemed like it would have been fun if the river was about 5 inches deeper. Overall there was SO much to do and we would have liked to have more than a week to do it!