Many guests from Hollywood's "Golden Era" enjoyed the style and luxury offered at the St. Anthony: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Fred Astaire, Betty Hutton, and Greer Garson. Lyndon Johnson, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, and Rock Hudson dined many an evening in the prestigious St. Anthony Club, which today host weddings for San Antonio brides as the Georgian Room.

The Peraux Room hosted Hollywood current royalty such as: Arnold Schwartzenegger and Maria Shriver, Patrick Swayze, George Clooney, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and Matthew McConaughey during the opening of San Antonio's Planet Hollywood.

Only a few days into the christening of 1909, the St. Anthony Hotel opened it's doors to droves of anticipative patrons. Positioned as one of the most modern hotels ever created, visitors marveled at illuminated closets, bedroom lights that turned off when the door was locked from the outside, and the use of their very own private bath and toilet. These amenities, although small by today's standards, set the stage for a series of hotel innovations that made the St. Anthony a leader on the technology curve.

Following their grand opening, the hotel recorded a blistering year in revenue, allowing the financial backbone to create another tower before the year was through. Doubling capacity to a monstrous 430 beautifully furnished rooms, the St. Anthony was now being mentioned by the elite classes in the same breath as the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. By 1915, rates began at $1.50 and the history of the St. Anthony had only begun.

Building a 9th and 10th floor on to the hotel with a renovation project that would combine the two towers into one infamous structure proved fruitful, as again, people flocked to the revived St. Anthony to bask in it's high-class style and social meeting grounds. Adding to innovation was the ingenious plan of creating the very first central air-conditioning unit by utilizing the antique elevator shafts that were left over post-renovations. Air was cooled and then distributed throughout the building, which boded more visitors who desperately required a break from the Texas summer sun.

In 1941 a third 10-story building was completed, begging the question, "Will the hotel ever stop expanding?" Then on December 7th of that same year, this question was answered when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and America was thrust into World War II. The St. Anthony would grow no larger; in size that is.

With such action and energy the St. Anthony Club was born. Playing host to such luminaries as Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson and John Wayne, the club would be the spot where things got done. Partnerships formed, oil tycoons merged, aviation companies began and many of Texas's lucrative deals signed. The who's who of anything belonged to the St. Anthony Club.

Maybe one day our grand children will call us from their room one night. Boasting of their first magical moonlit experience at a small café, over candlelight on the RiverWalk.