"Hyatt Hill Country
was immediately successful," said Gino Caliendo, General Manager.
"We've averaged more than 200,000 guests every year since, bringing
millions of visitors to San Antonio from all 50
states across the U.S.
and 55 different countries across the world. In addition, the resort has
provided employment for more than 4,000 area residents over the 20 years –
currently employing 719 local residents."
The celebration coincided
with the resort's completion of a $35-million expansion and renovation,
essentially doubling the indoor function space to 70,000 square feet ,
including the addition of a 20,000-square-foot ballroom (see time lapse
construction.) Exterior function space added with the expansion includes a
7,260-square-foot landscaped courtyard, complete with a Texas-sized, stacked
limestone working fireplace and a 5,000-square-foot event lawn connected to the
new ballroom. Woodbine managed the project, with WATG and Wimberly Interiors
providing interior design services; HKS Hill Glazier Studio as architect of
record; Rialto Studio, Inc., managing landscape improvements; and Hardin
Construction Company, L.L.C., as general contractor.
In late 2013, the resort
ownership refinanced Hyatt Hill Country with loans from Morgan Stanley and
Prudential Real Estate Investors. These loans repaid the then existing loan
held by USAA and, in combination with additional ownership funding, facilitated
the resort's expansion and renovation.
A FlowRider wave machine
and a tower slide were added to the resort's onsite water park, expanding it to
5 acres .
The heated wave machine can be enjoyed year-round and provides resort guests
the options of body boarding, knee boarding or stand-up boarding – the only
location in Texas
with a stand-up boarding option.
A message from Governor
Rick Perry delivered by Texas Tourism Director Brad Smyth kicked off the event,
acknowledging San Antonio as a top leisure
destination and speaking to the major role San Antonio
plays in keeping Texas
in the forefront of national tourism.
"Having corporations
like Woodbine and Hyatt recognize San Antonio as
a location for the first luxury destination resort in Texas
was big," said Nelson W. Wolff, Bexar County Judge, who was the mayor of San Antonio when the
resort opened in 1993. "What followed were more resorts and more visitors
and, ultimately, it has had a very positive impact on our local economy."
In a re-creation of the
original opening ceremonies, participating VIPs arrived via a Wells Fargo
stagecoach for a "Hill Country Housewarming" celebration. Dr. Charles
Wiseman, Partner, Rogers-Wiseman Family Interests, cut the barbed-wire ribbon
to unveil the 20th anniversary expansion and renovation. The Rogers-Wiseman
family owned the resort site and thousands of acres of surrounding ranchland
for more than 100 years and is celebrating a 25-year relationship with Woodbine
that continues today.
Guests enjoyed a Texas
Hill Country Tastings strolling lunch as they looked over the new expansion in
an open house following the ceremonies.