In 1858 the Mengers hired an architect, John M. Fries, along with a contractor, J. H. Kampmann, to complete the two-story, 50-room hotel in San Antonio, Texas,[2] which became a stopping point on the Chisholm Trail where cattle drovers could replenish their supplies while cattlemen sold and bought their livestock.

The Menger family put the building in use to aid the Confederate war effort, and shut down the hotel's guestrooms.

She quickly ran an announcement in the local newspaper that she would carry on the business and her husband's death "would cause no change in affairs" within the hotel or brewery.

This allowed for a higher volume of travelers through the city and promoted the growth of the Alamo Plaza, which became the location of San Antonio's first federal post office, opened in 1877.

Mary Menger was aware that the building was lacking in modern bathrooms, proper water closets, or room service bells, and made these improvements.

Major Kampmann, much like William Menger, had wanted to provide an establishment that allowed travelers to stay in a hotel that delivered premium service.

As documented in an 1885 survey, guests had access to a well-appointed bar room, billiard hall, and barbershop which were connected to the hotel.

Kampmann, Hermann was a shrewd businessman whose business practices made him one of the wealthiest people in San Antonio.

He reportedly arranged for an architect to study the House of Lords club bar in England to create a facsimile in the hotel, and in 1887, a new saloon was added.

The Menger Bar, as it is called, had "ornate mahogany tables and chairs... large mirrors... fine crystal and sterling silver.

Besides the creation of the bar and an additional story added to the building, Hermann also brought the latest technology to the hotel, including a steam elevator and laundries, electric lights and an artesian well.

[8] Also around this time, a reading area was also added, where a number of early writers and chroniclers of life in the Southwestern United States who stayed at the Menger wrote and worked.

Times were difficult for the hotel as well during World War II, so much so that plans to tear it down and replace it with a parking lot were discussed.

In all of his plans to renovate the hotel Moody had decided to leave the original portion that William Menger had built.

The upcoming World's Fair of 1968, dubbed the Hemisfair by local San Antonians, motivated Mary Moody Northen to spend $1.5 million on a five-story addition with 110 guestrooms to accommodate the expected tourists.

She had long prepared meals for her guests at her boarding house and felt that doing so at the Menger Hotel as well would strengthen its appeal.

Menger devised a menu for the guests that included a selection of soups, beef, pasta, veal, and a variety of desserts, all served at a single sitting.

The Mengers purchased the highest-quality beef, chicken, country butter and eggs they could find at local markets, and sent out a wagon with benches that would drive around town picking up businessmen to take them to the hotel to dine.

Many of her recipes are still offered today in the hotel's Colonial Dining Room, and the mango ice cream is still popular with guests.