Renovations, reopenings and grand openings continue to offer new options for events planners and attendees around Arkansas.
On the heels of the venerable Robinson Center’s grand reopening in fall of 2016 came more projects in 2017 to create more space, creature comforts and entertainment options that will carry over into this year and into the foreseeable future.
The multi-day, grand opening of the Murphy Arts District in El Dorado in September continues the city’s renaissance and transformation into a destination location in southwest Arkansas. The historic oil boom town christened the district with performances by Brad Paisley, Ludacris, ZZ Top and Smokey Robinson, dovetailing with the city’s 30th Music Fest and drawing media attention from around the country.
The Murphy Arts District covers close to eight city blocks and features a new, 8,000-seat amphitheater, the 2,000-seat Griffin Music Hall, restaurant and 2-acre, interactive, outdoor playscape for kids. The second phase of the district will include an art gallery and renovated, 1920s vaudeville theater.
Elsewhere in southwest Arkansas, downtown Hot Springs welcomed the 62-room Waters Hotel situated on Central Avenue directly across from the city’s historic Bathhouse Row. The George Mann-designed Thompson Building has been transformed into a boutique hotel with The Avenue restaurant, workout room, meeting spaces, a spa shop and a rooftop bar.
Hot Springs also saw longtime illusionist Maxwell Blade move his popular Maxwell Blade Theater of Magic to the renovated Malco Theater on Central Avenue.
In Little Rock, ranked among the top 10 “Best Value Destinations of 2017” by Trivago (for the third consecutive year) more hotel space and a flourishing food scene came on the heels of the Robinson Center’s grand reopening in the fall of 2016.
The music venue and adjoining Doubletree Hotel created a self-contained, 40,000-SF nexus of meeting, banquet and pre-function space.
Elsewhere in the city, the Hilton Garden Inn-Downtown opened in September as a 140-room facility with 4,000 SF of meeting space. Plans included a full-service restaurant and bar on the ground floor and a separate, rooftop venue and restaurant on the top floor. The property was developed by the Pinnacle Hotel Group which is also working on a mid-price hotel project in Gateway Town Center called Tru by Hilton. It is a new Hilton concept geared to more price-conscious travelers looking for value and simplicity.
With 80 rooms, its opening makes it Arkansas’ First Tru by Hilton project.
Staybridge Suites Little Rock-Medical Center, located in Midtown, also opened last summer. It is an extended stay property with 117 rooms with fully equipped kitchens, free laundry facility and 24-hour fitness center with 900 SF of meeting space.
The former Legacy Hotel renovation, completed in late 2017, transformed the Little Rock landmark into an upscale boutique property. The 102-year-old hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and has reclaimed its former name The Hotel Frederica.
Convention goers, meeting attendees and visitors can enjoy a culinary scene that has earned the city a profile in Food & Wine and Southern Living (“15 Southern Cities All Food Lovers Should Visit Now”) or sample libations from the growing number of microbreweries and brew pubs dotting downtown Little Rock and neighboring North Little Rock across the Arkansas River.
By the end of 2017 Little Rock could boast more than 10,000 hotel rooms accommodating a variety of groups, including an Arkansas-based international association’s annual convention drawing 7,000 domestic and international visitors.
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