Take that, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston. Reviewers on the TripAdvisor travel website have crowned a San Antonio hotel and a restaurant as being among the best in the U.S., with no other Texas properties appearing on either list.
TripAdvisor’s 2017 Travelers’ Choice awards program puts San Antonio’s Hotel Emma at No. 10 among the country’s 25 best hotels, and San Antonio’s Bliss at No. 24 among the country’s 25 best fine dining restaurants. TripAdvisor bases the rankings on input from travelers. (Hotel Emma and Bliss are not affiliated with each other.)
Hotel Emma, a 146-room luxury hotel at San Antonio’s mixed-use Pearl complex, earns a perfect rating of 5 from TripAdvisor reviewers.
This assessment of Hotel Emma aligns with almost all of the other kudos on TripAdvisor:
“Simply fantastic. A magical place. It feels so much like stepping back in time. No detail is overlooked, even down to the buttons on the elevator. They have created an old world feel with brass, wood, and leather. San Antonio has a treasure.”
Hotel Emma debuted in 2015. The developer converted the brewhouse at the shuttered Pearl Brewery into Hotel Emma, named after Emma Koehler, who became the brewery’s CEO in 1914. Most of the amenities and fixtures throughout the property are a loving nod to the structure’s history.
Overall, Bliss scores a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from TripAdvisor reviewers.
Here’s praise for Bliss from one recent diner:
“We came with the highest expectations after noticing Bliss was ranked No. 1 of 4,000 restaurants in San Antonio. It was ranked for a reason. Food was smart, accurate, and exciting, and service was brilliant.”
Bliss, an upscale 52-seat eatery, opened in 2012 in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood. With chef Mark Bliss at the helm, it serves contemporary American fare. Bliss owns the restaurant with his wife, Lisa.
Some of the Bliss menu items that draw raves from TripAdvisor reviewers are duck, oyster sliders, scallops with grits, snapper and shrimp risotto, and butter cake.
The beloved Hotel Emma was named one of the top hotels in the country.
