San Antonio's JW Marriott Golf Resort Review
Just north of San Antonio is one of the best golf resorts in Texas. It's a very impressive resort, loaded with amenities, and it gives you access to two of the best golf courses in Texas - the new PGA Tour TPC AT&T Oaks and AT&T Canyons Golf Courses. We were impressed and excited as we approached this magnificent resort and got a glimpse of one of the golf holes and the resort perched on a bluff on 600 picturesque acres of rolling Texas Hill Country just north of downtown San Antonio.
The JW Marriott is huge with 1002 rooms and 85 suites - making it the largest JW Marriott in the world yet it has a rare Hill Country character, a small and intimate feel, and personalized Texas friendly hospitality coupled with excellent service. It just doesn't get much better than that! And they have a variety of Stay & Play packages and options for golfers. Before you leave check out the various stay and play options on the
JW Marriott Resort Golf Courses
Head out the front door of the JW Marriott and within a couple minutes you're at the pro shop for two PGA Tour 18 hole Tournament Player's Club golf courses. And it just doesn't get much better than the TPC AT&T Oaks and TPC AT&T Canyons courses, which are only available for play by the pros, members, or resort guests. When we stayed, we played both courses - what a fantastic experience and both courses made our Favorite Texas Courses list.
The TPC AT&T Canyons Course is a very special Texas Hill Country layout that was designed by Pete Dye and Bruce Lietzke to take advantage of the beautiful rolling and heavily treed terrain. This is the easier and more player friendly of the two courses but it's no walk in the park by any means. The fairways are more open but have plenty of slope, contour, and elevation changes - bring your camera, the scenery and panoramic views are stunning and it gives you an opportunity to take a break and refocus. During your round you'll encounter elevated tee boxes and greens, forced carries over some gigantic ravines, dog legs, blind shots, and resort friendly wide fairways. But beware of the 115 bunkers and very complex greens with plenty of slope and contour. Use the Canyons Course as the warm up for your round on the Oaks course. Read our review of the to learn more.
TPC AT&T Oaks Course was designed by Greg Norman and is 7435 yards from the tips with a slope of 148 and a rating of 76.5 - making it the toughest and most challenging course in Texas! But what a blast to play! The Oaks Course is more traditional of the two courses with tree lined fairways that can be a tad tight and gently rolling to flat terrain. This 18 is defined by some very treacherous bunkers (steep, deep, long, huge, and strategically placed - and plenty of them) and very complex greens with lots of slope and undulation. And there are some fantastic, very fun, and memorable holes - you'll want to play this 18 again. Click here for our
.
Don't let the challenges of either the AT&T Canyons or the AT&T Oaks Course discourage you from playing it and don't try to be too macho, move up a set of tee boxes, keep the driver in the bag on some holes, and you'll love both of these courses.
Both courses offer near perfect conditions, first class service, and excellent practice facilities. The GPS system is one of the best and has yardages, fly overs, tips, and the commentary on the Oaks course is from Greg Norman. All of the staff from the pro shop to the starters to the cart ladies are friendly, helpful, and want to make sure you have a fun and memorable round. Both courses made our Top 25 Texas Courses List.
The pro shop is very well stocked with everything that you need. And make sure you spend a lot of time on the range, putting green, and bunkers - you'll need your "A" game to score well on either course. The deck of 18 Oaks, which is next to the pro shop, is the perfect place to end your round with a cold drink, an appetizer, or some good food.
San Antonio JW Marriott Golf Resort Stay & Play Accommodations
The seven story JW Marriott has a good mix of suites and hotel rooms half of which will have majestic views of the hill country, golf course, or water park. During our Stay & Play, we were on the ground floor in a standard room with a sliding glass door that opened to a small patio with two chairs and a table - perfect for us. We could walk out the sliding glass door and in less than a minute we could be floating down the lazy river, catching a score at the High Velocity Sports Bar, or be eating dinner on the patio of the Cibolo Moon restaurant. And the pro shop was a two minute walk from our room - after our first round, we had our clubs stored in the locker room for the next day's round - how easy is that! The patio was also great for a cup of coffee in the morning and a drink and round of dominos in the evening.
The rooms at the JW Marriott are not your standard hotel rooms. The guest rooms reflect the authentic style and hospitality of the historic region and feature custom-designed furniture and finishes that make use of hand-tooled leather, copper and ironwork. Our room was very spacious, well appointed, and included:
two very comfy double beds - a large flat screen TV with cable stations
- a huge bathroom with two sinks, a stand alone shower, and a large bathtub
- a work table with a connectivity panel with split screen technology, wireless, and wired internet service
- a docking station for you MP3 player
- coffee maker, robes, mini refrigerator, and more
I toured one of the suites and they are fantastic! The one I saw had two adjoining rooms, a huge patio with great patio furniture and a magnificent view, a well appointed large living area with upscale furniture and a murphy bed. What a perfect place to stay with your golfing buddies, friends, or family!
JW Marriott Resort & Spa Amenities
In addition to access to two fantastic golf courses, the JW Marriott has lots of outstanding amenities to keep you busy when you're not playing golf. Some of the things you can enjoy during your golf stay and play at the San Antonio JW Marriott include:
a $15 million 6 acre water park that includes an infinity adult pool over looking the first hole on the Canyons course, a 1100' lazy river, multiple slides, kids pool, a 262,000 gallon leisure pool surrounded by very comfortable lounge chairs, tables, and umbrellas plus food and beverage service - you may find it hard to leave this area - several options to keep you fat and happy during your golf outing:
- Cibolo Moon - this is the main restaurant and it serves Texas style regional cuisine infused with a Mexican, Texas barbecue, and southwestern flavor and it has an outstanding breakfast buffet
- 18 Oaks - overlooking the 18th hole of the TPC AT&T Oaks course, 18 Oaks offers fine dining at the Club House showcasing prime cuts of traditional steakhouse fare, the freshest of seafood, numerous cuts of locally sourced meats, and a la carte sides. After a fantastic round of golf, we had lunch on the veranda overlooking a hole that ate 3 of my golf balls and to get even I devoured the best chicken pot pie (with a buttermilk biscuit crust) that I've ever had. Plus I sampled a delicious Gulf Shrimp Bisque and French Onion soup, a Gulf Crab Slider on a baby brioche bun, an iron charred Meyers natural hanger steak with fries, and a pulled chicken Caesar salad! Excellent - my mouth is watering just thinking about it! And the view is majestic.
- High Velocity Sports Bar - this is one unbelievable sports bar (more later, we're focused on food now) which serves some good sports bar type food as well as some unique entries some of which include: Texas style chili with sour cream and redneck cheddar; Texas BBQ nachos with BBQ brisket, jalapeños, smoked cheddar, ranch beans and BBQ sauce; hearty bone-in rib eye with crispy onion rings; and Jack Daniels BBQ salmon;
-
Rivertop Grill - the grill is perfect for those of us who want to spend most of the day enjoying the pool and lazy river. The Rivertop Grill has light poolside fare food that is built on San Antonio regional cuisine - Wahoo fish tacos, carne asada and carnitas, chicken quesadillas, barbecue pork sliders, beef and jack chalupas, frito pie with Texas chili and salsa
-
the Lantana Spa is a perfect place to head to work out the weeks stress, loosen up the muscles for your next round of golf, burn some calories in the exercise room, or enjoy some healthy food
-
the Tequila Bar has over 100 different tequilas from blanco to reposado to anejo - an excellent place to spend some time settling your golfing bets
-
for some munchies or very good bar food, the High Velocity Sports Bar is perfect - plus it's loaded with flat screens and a 120' jumbo screen to watch the games and catch all the scores
-
plus there is another fitness center at the resort to wear off the calories, a room full of arcade games, a pool table, lobby bar with live music, hiking and biking trails, and a Kids Club for your 4 to 12 year olds to enjoy
Other Fun Things To See & Do
The JW Marriott Resort & Spa is 17 miles from downtown San Antonio which is loaded with fun things to see and do. And the San Antonio area is home to some outstanding golf courses - use this San Antonio Golf Map to quickly locate a course and read our review of the course. Use this San Antonio Map to find amusement parks (Sea World, Six Flag's Fiesta Texas, Schlitterbahn Waterpark), attractions (Riverwalk, San Antonio Museum or Zoo, Alamo, and lots more), shopping, wineries, and more.