Austin American-Statesman

Six new hotels in pipeline to bring hundreds of rooms to San Marcos

New accommodat­ions could help city host larger convention­s.

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Two hotels will open in the coming months in San Marcos, and four more are in the works, altogether adding more than 500 hotel rooms in a city that is trying to make itself more of a destinatio­n for convention­s and conference­s.

A Comfort Inn will open this month on Clovis R. Barker Road and will feature 72 rooms. The Courtyard by Marriott is scheduled to open in June, across from the Tanger and Premium Outlets on Gregson’s Bend, with 91 rooms and six suites.

Four other hotels — expected to add at least 350 rooms among them — are in the process of getting their permits and are expected to start constructi­on within the next year or so, said Rebecca Ybarra-Ramirez, executive director of the San Marcos Convention and Visitor Bureau. One is a Holiday Inn that should be breaking ground any day now, she said. Details about the other three have not been announced.

“Right now the city only has (around) 1,700 hotel rooms,” Ybarra-Ramirez said. “Fifty percent of those hotels are 20 years old or older. These new hotels will generate business that we lost.”

She said San Marcos’ lack of hotels results in more people going to cities such as Kyle and Austin for rooms during large events, such as Texas State University’s commenceme­nt.

“One weekend there’s a baseball tournament going on and a cheer event on campus, but the clients go elsewhere because there are not enough rooms,” Ybarra-Ramirez said. “So as soon as building starts, we’ll see an immediate impact.”

More hotel rooms could also help the city host larger convention­s at the San Marcos Conference Center, which typically hosts small and midsize gatherings of 100-1,000 guests. This year’s conference­s, including the National Barbecue Associatio­n’s annual convention that came to San Marcos in March, are putting the city on track for its best year yet.

More visitors staying in San Marcos means more of their money could be spent here, too.

“We also lose business because people don’t stay or eat here,” Ybarra-Ramirez said. “With more hotels, people will eat here, and they will fuel up here in the city.”

The University Star is the independen­t newspaper produced by journalism students at Texas State University.

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