At first sight, it is hard to believe that San Antonio’s Pearl Brewery building could originally have served such a utilitarian purpose. Completed in 1894, it is an imposing brick structure — built in the Second Empire style, with a central tower and huge arched windows — that looks as though it might have been designed as an upscale apartment complex. Today, as well as housing the 146-room Hotel Emma — which opened in November 2015 — the former brewery has given its name to the surrounding (and buzzing) gastronomic and retail neighborhood, which boasts an array of restaurants and cafés, boutiques, bars, a bakery, a micro-brew pub, a Culinary Institute of America outpost, a farmers market and even an open-air amphitheater.

In 1921, a catastrophic flood killed more than 50 people in San Antonio. The city’s responding flood-control scheme eventually led to the creation of one of its most iconic visitor attractions, the River Walk, a colorful thoroughfare that meanders through San Antonio for several miles. Hotel Emma is located at its northern end, close to the San Antonio Museum of Art; the Alamo lies approximately two miles to the south.

The Pearl Brewery prospered for 25 years, but with the onset of Prohibition, the company escaped oblivion thanks only to its redoubtable owner, Emma Koehler, who diversified into dry cleaning and auto repair, as well as the manufacturing of soda and ice cream. The formidable Koehler remained at the brewery until her death, in 1943.