Check-Out Time at Chancellor

The Chancellor Hotel in downtown Fayetteville has done a little housekeeping lately.

The owners recently let go of longtime general manager Alex Jerde, who had been employed on the property since the early 1990s, when it was the Hilton.

Before Southwinds Hospitality Holdings LLC purchased the hotel in 2011, the 15-story property saw three decades of ups and downs, evidenced by a revolving door of ownership and two foreclosures. After the Hilton, it was the Radisson and then the Cosmopolitan.

Southwinds owners Sam Alley, chairman and CEO of VCC Construction of Little Rock, and Ike Thrash, principal of Dawn Properties in Mississippi, hoped to overcome the financial failings of previous owners and restore the city’s only full-service hotel to its original luster.

They paid $3.8 million to purchase the hotel and about $16 million on renovations, which were completed last fall.

Given their investment in the property, the owners had high ambitions for the success of the hotel, which apparently were not being met.

In January, Southwinds brought on HP Hotels, a hotel management company out of Birmingham, Ala., presumably to whip the staff into shape. In February, hospitality and service industry veteran Amanda Khanga was brought on as sales director, and Lea Ann Van Winkle-Gisler, former director of the Fayetteville Senior Center, was recently hired as sales manager.

Jay Johnson, an HP employee and formerly the general manager at an Embassy Suites in Birmingham according to his LinkedIn page, is the new GM at the Chancellor.

An insider said there was no specific incident that ended Jerde’s 20-year tenure at the hotel. He just wasn’t meeting expectations and it was probably the best decision.

If it’s more news about The Chancellor you want, we’ve got it. The property’s on-site restaurant also underwent a change in mid-October when Union Kitchen+Drinks ceased operations.

A bar and restaurant is still there, it’s just being run by hotel management.

Restaurateur Scott Bowman, owner of the defunct restaurant, said it was a completely amicable split. The exit allows him to go full-speed ahead with his latest concept.

Bowman, who owns thriving Theo’s locations in Fayetteville and Rogers, said his new restaurant called Deluxe Burger will open in Fayetteville around Thanksgiving. It’s at the space previously occupied by the Rowdy Beaver just off Dickson Street.

Another location will open in the Pinnacle Hills area of Rogers “soon,” Bowman said, and three more will likely open in 2014.

“We’re going to do some pretty rapid expansion,” he said, describing Deluxe Burger as a modern version of an old-school hamburger joint. In addition to burgers, salads, sandwiches and shakes, Deluxe Burger will have a progressive beer, wine and cocktail offering.

“This gets us in the market of being able to serve more people at affordable price points, but still put our twist on it,” he said.