The Chancellor Less Than Two Months From Grand Opening

Mary Snyder is a conduit between the past and future of Fayetteville’s most notable hotel property.

Snyder was director of sales at the Hilton Hotel at the corner of Meadow Street and East Avenue for seven years before leaving in 1998 to begin a career in pharmaceutical sales. The Hilton is the same 15-story, high-rise property that was most recently The Cosmopolitan, and is currently undergoing a $16 million renovation to The Chancellor Hotel.

The hotel, opened in 1981, was sold in October to Southwind Hospitality Holdings LLC, a group led by Mississippian Ike Thrash and Sam Alley of Little Rock, for $3.8 million.

The building was closed and the project started after the last guests checked out Nov. 13. Snyder was hired in May as the hotel’s director of sales, a position — and a hotel — she is energized to revisit.

“I didn’t come back to the hotel business,” she said. “I came back to this hotel. I am thrilled to be selling Fayetteville again. This [hotel] will fill such a void.”

With the grand opening less than two months away, Snyder said about 100 workers are busy each day keeping the top-to-bottom redesign and renovation process on schedule. A ribbon cutting and grand opening event are scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, with business operations beginning the following day, the eve of the Arkansas-Alabama football game.

“We really have no choice [but to be ready],” Snyder said. “That first weekend we’re awfully close to being full.”

The refurbished property will include 191 rooms and 16 luxury suites. At 207 rooms, The Chancellor is the second-largest property in the area, behind only the 400-room Embassy Suites Northwest Arkansas in Rogers.

Occupancy for the first month is at about 80 percent, according to a news release.

General manager Alex Jerde said the hotel will host a job fair in mid-August. There will be about 100 full-time employees, which includes all housekeeping, restaurant and catering staff.

Union is the name of the property’s restaurant and bar/lounge. Unlike its second-floor restaurant predecessor in The Cosmopolitan, Union is on the first floor and accessible from Meadow Street.

Scott Bowman, owner of Theo’s in Fayetteville and Rogers, is the proprietor. Seating will be available for up to 120 guests.

Shellie Morrison, owner of The Event Group in Fayetteville, will head the hotel’s catering efforts.

The hotel’s valet service will be supported with 200 spaces leased from the city at an adjacent parking deck.