Inside the Gunter Hotel's Historic Renovation

Inside the Gunter Hotel's Historic Renovation

The floor near the entrance of the Gunter Hotel has been there since 1909. They couldn't touch it during the renovation, and honestly, they didn't need to. It still looks the way it did when this building was the largest structure ever built in San Antonio — the kind of detail that makes you stop and actually think about how long this place has been standing.

I had the chance to walk through the newly renovated Gunter with Lisa York, Director of Business Development, and what she showed me wasn't just a refreshed hotel. It was a building that finally looks the way it always should have.

A Hotel With Deeper Roots Than Most People Realize

Most San Antonians know the Gunter as a downtown landmark, but the history of this corner goes back further than the building itself. There has been a hotel or inn at the corner of Houston and St. Mary's since 1837 — just one year after the fall of the Alamo — when the Frontier Inn opened its doors to the settlers arriving from the East. By the time the Gunter opened on November 20, 1909, that corner had already been hosting people for over seventy years.

The eight-story, 301-room hotel built of steel, concrete, and buff brick was the largest building ever constructed in San Antonio at the time. It was named for Jot Gunter, a local rancher and real estate developer who helped finance the project. A ninth story was added in 1917, and three more floors followed in 1926. The building grew with the city around it.

What the Renovation Actually Touched — and What It Didn't

After a $57 million renovation, the Gunter reopened in September 2025 as part of Marriott's Tribute Portfolio. Walking through it with Lisa, the most striking thing wasn't what changed. It was how carefully they decided what to leave alone.

The original barber shop area near the entrance still has the chairs and the small manicurist table from the 1909 grand opening. The space that used to be a nightclub in the 1920s — apparently the place to be on a weeknight, according to Lisa, who said people would sneak away just to get down there — still carries the bones of what it was. They called it the Cave Cafeteria back then. That history is still in the walls.

Bar 414, the speakeasy tucked behind a gallery wall, is one of the most interesting spaces in the building. Lisa pointed out that during the renovation, they couldn't touch most of it. The stained glass, the ceiling, the original nooks — all of it dates to 1909. The only update was the lighting. The spiral staircase that connects it to the studio bar above is original. And the story behind why men came down those stairs is worth asking about when you visit.

The Room That Changed American Music

The detail that most people don't know, and that the new Gunter leans into completely, is what happened in Room 414 in November 1936.

Robert Johnson, a young itinerant guitarist from Mississippi, sat down in that room and made his first recordings. He recorded "Sweet Home Chicago," "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom," and later "Cross Road Blues" — the song Cream would make famous as "Crossroads" thirty years later. Those sessions are considered some of the most important recordings in American music history, and they happened right here in downtown San Antonio.

The renovation doesn't let that story fade into a footnote. Every room in the hotel now has a record player and a copy of Robert Johnson's first album. Guests can record in Room 414 itself, or use the dedicated recording studio built on the second floor. The vinyl library downstairs lets you check out records — everything from Neil Diamond to Prince to Madonna — and bring them up to your room.

The hotel's name within Marriott's collection, Tribute Portfolio, was chosen deliberately. As Lisa put it, the Gunter now plays tribute to the past, the present, and the future. That's not marketing language when you're standing in a building that has been on this corner for 116 years.

What's Open Now

The Keystone Club in the lobby features art deco chandeliers and ornate details, and all 311 guest rooms have been updated with modern bathrooms, new fixtures, and a refreshed color palette. Bar 414 hosts live music on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The hotel also offers 20,000 square feet of event and meeting space, including the Sky Walk overlooking downtown San Antonio.

If you haven't been inside since the renovation, it's worth an afternoon. Not because it's new, but because so much of it isn't.

Watch the video featuring The Gunter Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk 🎥