Needs to be demolished. Unsafe!
On Thursday, March 29, I embarked on a 10 hour bus-trip from El Paso, TX to San Antonio, TX with 24 middle and high school state science fair students. The Travelodge Hotel Alamo/Riverwalk/Convention center was booked by our district office due to its proximity to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention center, where the state science fair was being held (March 29-April 1). After a 10 hour bus ride (with middle school students!) it is obvious that we, as chaperones, were in need of a good night's sleep....however, we were horribly surprised. Once we pulled up to the hotel, it was clear that this was not a safe place. Although it is a few short blocks from the Alamo and Riverwalk, a few blocks makes a TON of difference. First and foremost, as you can see from the pictures on this website, it is an older hotel (that doesn't always equate to "bad" though). The first area of concern for us, as chaperones, was that the rooms do not open up into a hallway, but rather directly outside. It would become clear later that this was the least of our concerns. While the students remained on the bus, we went to check in, and there we were met with our first redflag. No "hello", no "welcome to the Travelodge", no greeting whatsoever aside from a blank, annoyed stare from the receptionist. Oh well. Once we checked in and distributed room keys to the students, the chaperones proceeded to our own rooms to drop off our luggage. Before I continue, I must preface the remainder of this story with this statement: I have stayed in several BAD hotels. Some voluntarily, others not. The Travelodge Hotel Alamo/Riverwalk/Convention Center is EASILY the worst hotel I have even set my eyes upon. 
Upon opening the doors to our rooms, we were immediately faced with the strong, distinct smell of urine. Combined with the heat and humidity of a central Texas night, it was thought best to air out the room by turning on the air conditioner; however, that, much like checking into the hotel in the first place, was a mistake. The AC only worsened the condition. Other areas of concern for us were the BLACK MOLD on window sills, cracking paint combined with more black mold on the walls of the bathroom, water damage to ceilings and walls, as well as general dirtiness (the pictures I will attach should adequately provide perspective). Up to this point the four of us (chaperones) had only viewed our rooms, but once we saw our students' rooms, we were even more horrified. 
Our students' rooms smelled of smoke, which made perfect sense when confronted with the cigarette burns in certain bed comforters, a window was broken (crack covered by duct tape), black marks all over the walls, and of greater concern, the doors did not even close properly AND had signs of being previously pried open!!! Being that it was 9PM CST there was no one at our district office to contact, thus it was obvious that we would have to brave the night in this literal dump. As such, we informed our students to deadbolt and chain their doors and to not open the door for anyone (which was actually a necessary set of instructions as you will read later). As educators, it is our responsibility to keep our students safe, thus the other male chaperone and myself stayed up all night, standing outside of our rooms in order to keep an eye on the rooms of our students. We were not keeping watch out of concern that our students would be misbehaving (after all, they are state science fair participants), but rather out of concern for their safety. As such, I personally witnessed 3 drug deals in the parking lot. THREE DRUG DEALS. Later, my colleague informed me that he witnessed a few others while we were taking turns keeping watch. One drug deal is bad, but several is appalling. Moreover, the street directly behind our rooms is apparently a prostitution hotspot as vehicles arrived at all hours of the night, women got in, and after several minutes got out as the vehicle pulled away. The two female chaperones attempted to get some rest while we keep our guard, though it was futile. Due to the filthy state, the ladies were too uncomfortable to even take their shoes off, let alone sleep. While on guard, the other male chaperone witnessed another hotel "guest" (whom was part of an earlier drug transaction that I witnessed) walking around the hotel randomly turning door handles of other rooms, including our students. Once this guest had my colleague's presence known, he immediately bee-lined to his room.
In the morning, three of the four of us attempted to take showers - I didn't want to take that risk, and thankfully so, because they all three reported that the shower drains were clogged, resulting in several inches of standing water in the tub. Some of our students mentioned that the shower water was "black" or "brown". The "dining area" (the term is used extremely loosely) was indicative of the remainder of the establishment. Cockroach carcasses littered the floor (though we were able to find a living one!), three broken television sets lied on the floor, and the breakfast was nothing more than powered cake donettes and bananas, along with what I will assume was supposed to be coffee. By the time we were done with "breakfast", our district office was open for business and we were able to check out and move to a MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer location (though I have seen alleys that would be more suitable). Luckily for us, the students didn't seem to notice too much of the horror and still enjoyed the fact that they were competing in the state science fair.
Other notable pieces of information: our district office was given the name and location of this hotel by the organizers of the state science fair (can you guess who I have already contacted?). Before we were able to check out, I was standing in the parking lot, keeping an eye on our surroundings when I witnessed the cleaning staff enter my room for approximately 5 minutes then exit. Upon returning to my room to retrieve my clothing, I noticed that nothing had been done - the trash had not been emptied, the bed was unmade (I stripped it looking for bed bugs) - I still do not know what they were doing (perhaps going through my luggage???). Good thing I had nothing but clothes in my luggage and my valuables and paperwork in my backpack that I had in my possession at all times.
 Also, upon checking out, the presumed owner/manager of the property stated that he could have his staff clean better, as an offer to entice us to stay. 
In conclusion, unless you are a pimp or drug kingpin, stay away. Those that have written reviews that are better than "terrible" are delusional. In fact, I am only rating it as terrible because that is the lowest rating possible. In reality, it should be condemned and/or burned to the ground.