Firstly I would like to say do not stay at this hotel unless you have booked and paid for in advance one of the 5 rooms at the front of the hotel with large balconies. It simply isn't worth it otherwise. We had one of these rooms and the balcony was huge (bigger than the room) but the room itself was absolutely disgusting. The first thing that hit us was a rotten gassy smell that seemed to be emanating from holes in the wall. Hotel staff were obviously aware of this as towels had been stuffed in the holes to try and block out the smell. The aircon didn't work and reception told us the engineers would be coming but they didn't in the whole time we were there (9 days). There were no cups or glasses to drink from so we had to buy plastic ones. There were a couple of knives but no forks and the plates in the cupboard were filthy and covered in food so we bought plastic ones of those too. The cover to the freezer in the fridge was missing so our ice cubes and ice creams melted. The maids came most days and will change your towels provided you leave them on the bathroom floor. They changed our sheets on our 2nd day but then strangely not again for the 9-day duration. The walls in the room had damp and the paint was peeling. We had 2 chairs but no table on the balcony and reception said they would find one for us but they didn't so we took the wooden table from inside and put it out there. We hired a safe to keep our belongings in which cost 3 euros per day plus a 10 euro deposit which they gave back to us at the end of our stay. We didn't have any problems with our shower or hot water.

When we arrived there was a couple in reception who told us that although they had booked for that night they were not able to check in until 12.00pm the next day. After reading reviews about the Catalina I had been concerned about this happening to us so I made sure the company I booked through (Flightline) told the hotel we would be arriving early in the morning and to make sure our room was ready and I would recommend others did the same.

Most of the people staying at the Catalina were totally uncivilised and rude. Expect lots of swearing, arguing, kicking of doors and general rudeness and lack of respect for anyone around them. We found the staff to be very polite and I suspect that if you are rude to them (which a lot of people were) they will be rude back; and rightly so. If you behave like scum you will be treated like scum!

To sum it up our room and the hotel was disgusting and it's only saving grace was the balcony and fab view. I wouldn't stay again and will stress again that it really isn't at all worth booking this hotel unless you have a large balcony at the front.

Go here for the young nightlife scene, the waterside location or its proximity to Cafe Savannah or the famous Cafe del Mar. Don't go here if you want a quite night in your a luxurious room. While we had a apartment room with kitchenette and personal bathroom, this place isn't much more than a youth hostel. And the air conditioning didn't work for much either. If it weren't for the party scene and the amazing sunsets, I wouldn't be as impressed.

Stayed here when on a stag party in May. Firstly there were 14 of us staying here, we checked in at 8.15pm and had showered, unpacked and dressed sitting on the sunset strip at 8.45pm watching the sun go down. The hotel is situated only a few steps from cafe savannah so literally walk out the front door and your on the sea front.
The room was spotless and had it cleaned twice in the three days we stayed there. Had no problems with the staff as they were very friendly and helpful with any of our queries.
We were really wondering what this place was going to be like and even had checked out various other hotels in the facinity as we were worried about the reviews we had read previously.
Would strongly recommend this hotel.

Firstly, one of the main reasons we booked this room was becasue it had air conditioning. However, this didnt work, and when we told the hotel staff they just said the engineers have been told but they have no idea when they are coming. On top of this, on 5 of the 7 nights i had a shower in this hotel, there was no pressure and the water just trickled out,making it impossible to shower properly. When i asked when the hotel manager was around to complain about our experience, the hotel staff said he was never there, and if he was he wouldnt offer us any kind of compensation, and this was just accepted as the way of the hotel. For the price we paid I find this to be absolutely disgusting. They clearly have no regard for their clients once they have taken your money. It has got an excellent location (near the sunset strip) but apart from that this hotel has nothing to offer. I would strongly recommend staying somewhere else, there are plenty of better hotels in san antonio than this.