Shops at Rivercenter — Attraction in San Antonio

This review is not demeaning to any business in SA because I love SA and it's people. It's a beautiful city with much to do. This is about their lack of care in the adjacent parking garage of the River center Mall. So we were there in November from Austin for a short weekend trip. We went to Tower of the Americas and had a great dinner, (the views are beautiful at night) then wanted to walk around the mall for a bit. Tower was great, Riverwalk at night, always fun and beautiful. Now, let me get to the mall. I think it's a great place to just do some shopping, chilling out at the river courtyard... I love all this as it brings back memories of my childhood. I also have respect and empathy for the people working in those stores during the pandemic. The mall was not busy at all... Sadly it was almost empty and stores were closing up at 7 pm on a Friday evening. I give my respect to all those young and older employees trying to stay busy and make a living. My issue is the parking garage adjacent to the mall. We have parked here many times in the past and usually take the elevator down... Never an issue. So on this Friday, the elevators in the garage were not working. We entered the stairwell... It was so filthy as in black stains, old gum, old spit chew, trash, the smell of urine and just an overall smell of death. So we enter cautiously and make our way down we see what appears to be a dead animal all balled up in a pile... As we got closer... It hit us... It was a large pile oh human waste. We made our way out of there after holding our breath for a good while and our evening was pretty much ruined. So... If you're ever in the parking garage of the River center Mall... Stay out of the stairwells if at...

Last visited: Dec’ 23, two days after X-Mas.

The River Walk is like a waking dream, it is well architected and designed I will have to say.

Especially if you visit around Christmas time. The lights and backlighting around the overhanging trees is simply a sight to behold. Well done.

The sheer amount of choice of restaurants and venues around the Rivercenter, is simply unbelievable.

I did not walk the whole of the board walk to see all the shops as I ran out of time, but what impressed me is how many shops they have here, of so many different types of food, ice cream, and other stuff for sale.

However. There are a few points that prohibit this from being a five-star experience.

The people and rather passerby here are unkind to me and to others in general. They are too wrapped up in their world to care about anyone else.

At the time we came, around 9pm, most shops were closing and quoted a wait time of over an hour, sometimes an hour and half of wait. We had to choose one restaurant which had a reasonable wait time, but it is unfortunate that we were limited in selection of place to eat dinner at, so am rating down for the minus in experience.

All in all, there are a remarkable amount of selection in shops at the river center or rather river walk area in San Antonio (SA/TX), however oft times shops are busy and the selection will actually be severely limited. Also, the people here are unkind to others and need to loosen up.

However, I’ll give that a pass as the river walk and boat tour itself is mildly interesting and worth it...

Tao Spa, I must say that I would give the owner a zero star if I could because I went there on June 21, 2023 for 1 hour full body massage, the lady that received me showed me the price list and it was $78 but not even 5 minutes on the bed, the owner showed up trying to sell me a 2 hours massage for over $100, I said not, then he kept trying to over sale me more time while in the massage bed which ruined the whole experience. He assigned a gentleman to massage my feet and the lady my body, so overall I received 30 minutes total time since 2 persons were performing the massage on me. I don't recommend them at all, they only accept cash payment but they don't advise until it is time to pay. I was upset and disappointed, I haven't been in a place where the owner behaved like that. The worse experience ever!

We went to the virtual reality booth and enjoyed every minute of it. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My son purchased an engraved bracelet and we received great service from the guys there. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I purchased a cocktail from Fat Tuesday and the drink and the service were great. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

We went to the Sugar Grill, the food was overpriced and overcooked, courtesy but extremely slow service, I went for my birthday and I can't recommend...