Let’s preserve a grand hotel

EDITOR’S NOTE: Retired local attorney Clay Farrar writes a monthly column about Hot Springs history for the hometown newspaper. Farrar has written many articles for the Garland County Historical Society’s yearly publication, The Record.

In the summer of 2017, the historic Arlington Hotel was sold to Al Rajabi, a San Antonio developer. Most citizens of Hot Springs are certainly hoping for the success of Mr. Rajabi in the critical renovation of this once grand hotel.

Ninety-three years ago this month, the newly rebuilt Arlington Hotel opened, in December 1924. This followed the catastrophic fire in April 1923 that destroyed the previous

Arlington Hotel that had been located right across Fountain

Street on what is now known as Arlington Lawn.

Almost immediately after the fire, the hotel owners joined together with local investors to raise $3 million to rebuild the Arlington. Adjusted for inflation, that would be the equivalent of over $42 million in today’s dollars! Recognizing the critical importance of the Arlington to the Hot Springs economy, over 200 local citizens personally invested a total of $700,000 in the stock of the new hotel.

The decision was made to rebuild the Arlington as a grand resort hotel and spare no expense. Amazingly, the new building was completed in less than one year. Up to 500 workers at one time were employed in the construction of the Arlington. The speedy construction was achieved by use of three shifts of workers a day.

The distinctive architecture of the hotel was based on the “Romantic Mediterranean” style. Dramatic architectural effects were obtained by two tall brick towers that still stand on top of the hotel. The new hotel had over 500 guest rooms, spacious meetings and dining rooms, and an elegant lobby. Additional features included a large thermal bath house, full-service gas station, and a broad range of retail shopping services located in the lower level. The Arlington was truly a small city within a city. The construction of the new Arlington Hotel in 1924 was a huge event for our town and our state.

When completed in 1924, the Arlington was by far the largest hotel in Arkansas. The Arlington today has 478 rooms and suites making it still the largest hotel in Arkansas (by way of comparison, the second-largest hotel in Arkansas is currently the downtown Little Rock Marriot Hotel with 396 rooms).

Over the years, the Arlington has had as hotel guests dozens of national leaders, celebrities, and even gangsters. U.S. presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and native son Bill Clinton have been guests at the Arlington. In the 1920s, Chicago mobster Al Capone would travel down from Chicago by railroad accompanied by his staff and bodyguards and would rent the entire fourth floor of the hotel for his entourage.

From the 1880s to the 1920s, dozens of grand hotels were built around America. In recent years, many of these grand hotels have been restored to their original elegance. This includes the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and the Capital Hotel in Little Rock. In years past, the Arlington Hotel was certainly considered to be a grand hotel. But unfortunately, its condition has been allowed to deteriorate. An internet search no longer shows the Arlington in the list of grand hotels around the country, or even in Arkansas. Also, many internet travel search sites do not rank the Arlington in the top tier of local hotels and many savvy travelers do indeed pay attention to these internet ratings.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Rex Nelson, a man truly knowledgeable and passionate about Arkansas, summarized in one of his recent newspaper columns that “The Arlington is not just another hotel, for those of us and raised in the state. … It is the most iconic structure in the state of Arkansas.” Imagining downtown Hot Springs without the Arlington Hotel would be like imagining New York City without the Empire State Building or Paris without the Eiffel Tower. The beautiful and historic Arlington hotel must be preserved and made grand once again. It would be a nightmare to contemplate the hotel deteriorating further or even shutting down, and then possibly resulting in its demolition as was recently required at the Majestic Hotel.

Just as the Hot Springs community joined together to support the rebuilding of the Arlington in 1924, let’s all join together to do what ever is necessary to make sure that the Arlington Hotel becomes once again a wonderful and grand hotel in its second century.

If you would like to learn more about the history of the Arlington Hotel, you might want to read the comprehensive article about the hotel written by Ann L. Greene in the 1996 edition of The Record, the annual publication of the Garland County Historical Society. The Record is available to read in both in the reading room of the Garland County Historical Society and also at the Garland County Public Library.

If you wish to share your questions or comments with Farrar, email him at clayfarrar@gmail.com.