Bill Fontes
Downtown’s Little Rock Marriott is undergoing a $16 million renovation, hotel officials announced last week.
The renovation will include all 418 guest rooms and all public meeting and dining spaces and is scheduled for completion in late summer.
The hotel will remain open throughout the process with progress updates available at Facebook.com/LittleRockMarriott.
“Although we’ve already made some significant progress in converting to the Marriott Hotels flag, the real transformation won’t be realized until this last and final phase of renovation occurs,” said Bill Fontes, the hotel’s general manager. “We believe it will better position our hotel to meet the needs and demands of both business and leisure travelers seeking upscale accommodations in the area.”
The hotel previously was the Peabody Little Rock and was rebranded the Little Rock Marriott in May after Fairwood Capital LLC of Memphis bought the lease from the Peabody Hotel Group.
The Little Rock Marriott, which has 40,000 SF of its own meeting and ballroom space and is run by Davidson Hotels & Resorts, is linked to the 200,000-SF Statehouse Convention Center, which is operated by the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The hotel recently added 42-inch flat screen televisions and coffee makers in all guest rooms and has finished a complete renovation of its fitness center. It also opened The Café, which serves Starbucks products.
As part of the renovation, the hotel will add a lounge that will be located on the lobby level in the former Velvet Humidor Cigar Lounge. The lounge will be open to guests reserving Marriott’s Club Level rooms along with Platinum and Gold Marriott Rewards guests.
The hotel will also remodel the guest registration and lobby seating area. The lobby bar will become the Marriott Greatroom, which will feature a media wall with four 80-inch televisions.
The hotel also is implementing a new energy-savings program with energy-efficient CFL light bulbs and digital thermostats containing sensors that can detect when the room is occupied, helping control temperatures and energy use.
Sign up for Daily E-news
