Benchmark Hospitality Opens the 265 Suite Hotel Contessa in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO, TX, November 17, 2005. Over 150 of San Antonio's most prominent business and civic leaders--including representatives from the San Antonio Area Tourism Council and San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau-- gathered for the dedication and a private preview of the city's newest landmark property, Hotel Contessa, on Monday morning, November 14, 2005. A riverfront ceremony included speakers Dave Lagarce, Hotel Contessa General Manager; Jack Spector, President/Director of Hixon Properties Inc.; Roger Flores, San Antonio City Councilman; plus former two-term Mayor, Judge Nelson Wolff. Councilman Flores and Judge Wolff praised the property as a dynamic addition to the city's downtown core and a symbol of the area's continued urban renaissance.
After the ceremony, guests had the opportunity to sample light bites from the highly-anticipated Las Ramblas restaurant and adjacent Cork Bar while touring San Antonio's first Personal Luxury Hotel from Benchmark Hospitality, including a selection of the hotel's 265 luxurious guest suites with separate living/work and bedroom areas, rooftop pool and fitness center and 10,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting and event facilities.
Later that morning, Benchmark Hospitality CEO, Burt Cabanas, welcomed the property's first paying guests. The 240,000-square-foot, 12-story hotel was completed in approximately 18 months and is located on a tranquil stretch of San Antonio's famed Riverwalk at 306 W. Market. A full-service rooftop spa is scheduled to debut in Spring 2006.
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