The property seems very cold and "standoffish" along the Riverwalk level. I wish more could have been done to make it more inviting to pedestrians.
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[IMG]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7802/...ef43c0db_k.jpgHome 2 Suites by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]
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Cool! I really like the arches & palms on the river. The pool look like a fun place to be also!
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That's a good point. There are times the Riverwalk gets so crowded that it's a relief to walk under a bridge or some other place without a restaurant. I'm... actually touting... lack of retail.
:duh: :stunned: :babyeat: :omg: Oh yeah. I kinda like the building. Not spectacular, but it works. |
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I don't love the color of the building or the height. It should be at least 300, but it is what it is. |
I think the height is appropriate for the Riverwalk. In places where there are taller buildings, it has a bit of a canyon effect. This height gives it a little room to breathe. Put the tall buildings in the rectangular blocks that are currently parking lots.
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I still don't understand why they thought it necessary to pull away from the Riverwalk with nondescript, shapeless space and a zigzag PoMo podium behind an arcade screen with grated window security bars. Pulling back from one of the most successful pedestrian river fronts in country, and for something ultimately so banal! Yes, its nicer than the old retaining wall, but that was a low bar.
Stone arches and some pretty plantings are not enough, and this is what I though of after seeing the latest overhead: https://static1.squarespace.com/stat.../Biddle_03.JPG (Photo from Davis Kane Architects) We'll have to give the river level arcade wall and its plantings time to grow back in and see if plantings in combination with the pedestrian density of the Riverwalk can hide the architectural failings, but the danger is that it could easily end up a nice-but-scripted dead space like this: https://sanantonionace.com/images/Exterior_Day.jpg (Photo from NACE - Alamo Chapter) That is was what happens when "nice" and "okay" are the standards and we are desperate for anything new, even if it is pigeon-holed from standard design manuals of cheap suburban motels. Ironically, that dreary scene is just a few minutes walk upstream. They should have looked more downstream, where the inspirational models of the classic Riverwalk look like this: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4299/3...ccbc609d_b.jpg (Photo by Greg L. Jones on Flickr) |
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I’m cautiously optimistic that once a restaurant goes in there and they do some landscaping, it will look a little better. Hopefully not a TGIFridays or something. |
I wasn't too clear on this point, but I actually think the arcade wall is the better element, as it conforms to the path of the Riverwalk and it hides that gormless, double-height glassy stuff behind. The Riverwalk actually has a pedestrian "streetscape" that is not unlike that of the actual street level, making certain urban design techniques applicable to both. Instead of suburban-style setbacks and zigzagging broken massing, it is better have build-to lines that create façade walls. The arcade helps to rectify this, but it is obvious that the building has no relation to this arcade and was pulling back from the Riverwalk with the arcade added as an afterthought. Pigeon-holed brand architecture is like that, leaving the center view of the building when facing the arcade being a 7-story blank tan wall flanked by dull windows with no sills or lintels on a cheesy building with superficial cornices. Yes, better than what was previously there, but still...
The bleak Embassy Suites wall also tells us its not enough to conform to the path of the Riverwalk and that the wall has to be porous, humanely scaled, and lively to be interesting. Ironically, they actually have a gem of an arcade portal for someone brave enough to venture down past all the bare channel walls: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7851/4...468306c4_c.jpg (Photo be Aaron Hockley on Flickr) Too bad they couldn't bring the same treatment along the full stretch of their Riverwalk façade. Maybe the Hampton Inn & Suites will be similarly as good with their larger arcade and shifting Jenga steps, but as those were a forced compromise and not the original plan on a section of the Riverwalk rife with previous mistakes, I'm much more hesitant in my optimism. |
OK, I'm back on the "retail everywhere" bandwagon. I had temporarily stepped away for this one instance, but I have been proven wrong. Now I'm back. What a short, strange trip it's been.
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Another possible factor in design is that on the main channel, the flood plain level is several feet above the riverwalk sidewalk level. So the floor of the restaurant space needs to be higher, and then you have to have room for an ADA ramp to switchback between the riverwalk and the restaurant so that the riverwalk restaurant entrance is accessible. Just pointing it out, because from the outside it’s not always obvious all of the many code constraints that force a particular design. |
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Walked this area of the river tonight with visitors from Chicago. They loved the limestone arches and questioned what hotel it was. One visitor immediately commented that they liked it wasn't glass or stucco fronting the Riverwalk. The interaction of the hotel and Riverwalk does look nice at night.
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I've heard similar statements from people that
have seen it in person. I think the negativity twords it is because it's a Hampton Inn & suites. If it was something less chainy, it would get more love! |
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I know people use the site from a far, but pictures don’t make the interaction as seem less as it is in person. |
The River front is definitely better looking than the street front.
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