Arkansas’ Only Michelin-Rated Hotel Sells for $1.55M

The Empress of Little Rock, the only Michelin-rated hotel in Arkansas (Michael Baxley)

Ben Bledsoe and James Lucas spent more than a year assessing The Empress of Little Rock before buying the historic bed-and-breakfast last month, but they instantly got a surprise: Guests were checking in on the day of closing and would expect breakfast the next morning.

The business partners are experienced operators of short-term rental properties in California and Illinois, but the Empress is their first B&B. They sought out a property that was “up and running,” Bledsoe said, but they expected to have a few guest-free days of transition.

Instead, they got up the next day and served their first guests French toast, omelets and fruit.

Through a new limited liability company, 2120 S. Louisiana Street LLC, the partners paid $1.55 million for the 7,000-SF mansion completed in 1888 by saloon proprietor James H. Hornibrook. It had been a private home, a women’s college, a nursing home and apartments before being restored as The Empress of Little Rock by Sharon Welch-Blair and Bob Blair in the 1990s.

The Blairs sold The Empress in 2019 to Fig Tree Investments LLC, led by Antonio Figueroa and Keith Sandridge, who continued to operate the B&B right up until the sale to Bledsoe and Lucas, who do business as Revivalist Hotels.

“We felt we were the right owners,” Bledsoe said earlier this week, pointing out that The Empress is the only hotel in Arkansas with a Michelin rating — two keys.

Currently The Empress has four guest suites in the main house and four in the adjacent carriage house. Lucas and his dog, Bernard, are living in the house, and some of the rooms used by the most recent owners will be returned to service as two additional guest suites.

“The entity is Revivalist. Whatever reviving is necessary is what we do,” Bledsoe said.

The purchase price included most of the furnishings, including antiques and artwork. 

The new owners will continue to market The Empress as a venue for events, and they are already reaching out to neighbors in the Quapaw Quarter. An open house is in the works.

“You have to invite people in,” said Lucas, who said he had been surprised to learn that many Little Rock residents are unfamiliar with The Empress.

“We have a phrase: History loves company,” said Bledsoe, who lives near Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s too nice a space not to be enjoyed.”

Evolving Business

Bledsoe and Lucas began their partnership in the Los Angeles area in 2019, originally in the business of “rental arbitrage” — taking long-term leases on residential properties they then sublet, primarily as short-term medical housing. 

They were just getting started near Disneyland and a children’s hospital when COVID arrived. “You want to be in short-term rental when no one is traveling,” Bledsoe joked. “But medical housing did well during that time.”

Their next step was to buy a historic mansion in Springfield, Illinois. The Bressmer is divided into three three-bedroom apartments, which are available for short-term rental — or longer term for lawmakers during legislative sessions at the state Capitol less than a mile away. They acquired a second historic mansion a couple of blocks away, The Audrey, which is configured as three two‑bedroom apartments. They also manage Pasfield House, a five-suite boutique hotel even closer to the Illinois Capitol, for its owner.

Hiring local staff to take care of residents and guests allows them to manage the Springfield properties remotely. Live-in proprietors are traditional in the bed-and-breakfast industry, and Lucas said he is already enjoying the role. 

“I get so much pleasure just sitting here and taking it in,” he said. Every day he discovers new features and objects in the ornate structure, and going from room to room to turn out lights has become a bedtime ritual.

However, he is looking to contract with someone else to handle breakfast duty.