Hot Springs
Convention Facilities, Staff At The Top Of Their Game
By Michelle Martin Meeting planners considering Hot Springs, Ark., for future events can be assured they’ll be working with a knowledgeable, reputable local event staff, as the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has received accreditation under the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP), which is issued by the Destination Marketing Association International.
Hot Springs is the only CVB in Arkansas—and one of only 27 CVBs worldwide—to earn the accreditation. “Earning the accreditation tells the community, as well as current and future customers, that we have attained a measure of excellence, assuring their trust is well-placed and their business is in good hands,” said Cindy DeWitt, Hot Springs CVB convention sales director. “We have always strived to provide excellent customer service and to provide a complete and credible operation for our clients and the citizens of Hot Springs.”
For meeting planners with a history of bringing events to Hot Springs, the accreditation supports the service they’ve come to expect from the CVB. As executive director of Arkansas Home-furnishings Association (AHA), Randy Lann has brought the annual AHA furniture market to Hot Springs for four years. “The secret to any successful convention is the convention coordinator,” he said. “Cindy DeWitt and the entire CVB staff handle everything. They’re the best in the business.”
The AHA market features approximately 80 furniture vendors and draws approximately 300 furniture buyers from Arkansas and neighboring states—using the entire 103,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Hot Springs Convention Center’s halls and Summit Arena. Lann said the facility’s multiple docking stations make it possible to unload several 18-wheelers of furniture at one time, and the CVB provides a crew to help crush and collect the cardboard packing. “That’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Lann said the CVB also helps him secure room blocks, recommends local restaurants, and provides a list of events and attractions that families could see or do while in Hot Springs for the furniture market. “There is a lot to do in Hot Springs—from water sports to hiking and shopping—so the vendors and buyers can bring their families.”
The addition of Summit Arena in 2003 increased the Hot Springs Convention Center’s combined meeting and exhibit space to 360,000 square feet. |
Lann uses the adjoining 246-suite Embassy Suites Hot Springs Hotel and Spa for the majority of the market’s room blocks. He said he likes the convenience and award-winning service of the Embassy Suites, which has been recognized as one of the top five Embassy Suites worldwide for customer service for the past four years. “There’s no doubt why Embassy Suites has received that award,” Lann said. “The staff is always accommodating and friendly, greeting our board members on arrival and shuttling us to local restaurants for dinner.” And while Lann doesn’t use the Embassy Suites’ own 3,878 square feet of meeting space, he said the sales staff provides a complimentary presidential suite for small gatherings.
“The Embassy Suites is a perfect place,” said Stacey Ellis, director of sales. “For meetings taking place at the convention center, we are attached via a third-floor walkway, so the transition from hotel to convention center is an easy one.” In addition, guests of the Embassy Suites can enjoy a complimentary, full, cooked-to-order breakfast, an evening manager’s reception in the atrium, an indoor pool, a fitness room, the Bistro 400 restaurant and the Spa Botanica, according to Ellis.
Throughout Hot Springs and Garland County, there are more than 4,000 hotel rooms and 200 restaurants—providing a “good infrastructure for a good and growing convention business for a city of our size (36,757 in Hot Springs and 70,000 in Garland County),” said Steve Arrison, the CVB’s executive director.
The Hot Springs Convention Center and Summit Arena feature a combined 360,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, making it the largest convention facility in the state. Arrison said new carpet was added to more than 260,000 square feet of the center in December and a “green” initiative is under way that includes converting to more efficient, earth-friendly practices. “It’s important to the community, our customers and the environment, so we want to start doing the right thing,” Arrison said.
The tradition of the bathhouse, where people can bathe in the natural springs of the area continues, Arrison said, adding that several of the historic bathhouses have completed or are undergoing renovations, including the $2 million renovation project at Quapaw Bathhouse that is set for completion in May. “Our slogan used to be ‘We bathe the world,’” Arrison said. “That tradition continues, and we can put together a bathhouse/spa package for meeting planners.”
At least three hotels are under construction, which will add almost 300 more guest rooms in the area—and more are in the planning stages, according to Arrison. Of them, the Comfort Suites of Hot Springs is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009, according to Larry DeWitt, general manager of the existing 83-room Comfort Inn and Suites, Hot Springs’ only 100 percent smoke-free hotel. The new property is set to have 100 guest rooms, including “spacious suites and balconies,” an indoor pool, a bar and a complimentary breakfast bar, DeWitt said.
Changes are taking place among the area’s existing hotels as well. The historic, full-service 475-room Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa added a Starbucks in the lobby in November, according to Director of Sales Michael Schuttrow. Renovations to the public areas were completed a couple of years ago, with the focus now on replastering, repainting and repapering the walls and replacing the mattresses in all guest rooms and renovating the hotel’s bathhouse and twin cascading, heated pools and hot tub featuring thermal waters pumped in from a nearby spring. Schuttrow said these renovations should be completed by early 2008.
The Arlington, which opened in 1924, is the largest hotel in the state and features 45,000 square feet of meeting space in 17 meeting rooms. “Because we’ve been here so long, people know us and know where we are,” Schuttrow said, adding that the Arlington is “appealing for meetings from six people to 1,000.” The Crystal Ballroom can seat up to 450, banquet style, and up to 500, theater style.
Clarion Resort on the Lake completed renovations to its 9,000 square feet of meeting space two years ago, according to Director of Sales Missy Sparks, and renovations to all 153 guest rooms are expected to be complete by the end of January. Upgrades include all furnishings, bedding, bathrooms and artwork. The full-service hotel features an outdoor pool, Tiki bar, sports bar, restaurant and seasonal boat rentals.
Other hotels in Hot Springs include the Austin Hotel and Convention Center, a 196-room property that connects to the Hot Springs Convention Center. The hotel also has 6,500 square feet of meeting space, which “is great for all types of groups that want the option of meeting in the hotel and convention center,” according to General Manager Michelle Samuels.
Key Info · Sales Tax: 8 percent
· Hotel Tax: 3 percent
· Climate: Hot Springs has four distinct seasons, with temperatures ranging from a high of 40 degrees in January to a high of 88 degrees in August. Average rainfall is 54 inches a year (heaviest rainfall usually is in April and May), and the average relative humidity is 75 percent. |
Another lakefront property, Lake Hamilton Resort, has 10,000 square feet of meeting space that includes five meeting rooms and an outdoor pool deck. The 104 all-suite resort features rooms with a living area, microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker. Sharon Teague, convention services director, said the rooms are “good sized for longer conferences, and the resort allows groups to have their meetings and to relax.”
Of the area’s smaller hotels, the historic Park Hotel of Hot Springs is a 50-room facility with 1,700 square feet of meeting space in two meeting rooms that can seat up to 150, theater style. The Park Hotel is the only hotel located in the Hot Springs National Park, according to General Manager John Privitello, and recently added the Angels in the Park restaurant and new paint to all guest rooms.
The 85-room Travelodge has three meeting rooms that can seat up to 100, theater style.
