Embassy Suites Still Measures Up as Top Hotel in Northwest Arkansas
by July 16, 2016 1:58 pm 279 views
Though the metric has changed, the Embassy Suites Northwest Arkansas, at 3303 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers, remains Northwest Arkansas’ No. 1 hotel.
The 400-room hotel, owned by John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. of Springfield, Missouri, tops the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of the Largest Hotels. To see the list, click here.
For the first time since the Business Journal began tracking hotel information in 1997, the list is ranked by number of rooms. Previous lists were ranked by annual room revenue.
The change was prompted by a change in state law that went into effect in mid-July 2015 that exempted hospitality tax records — public information that details how much hotels, motels and restaurants pay in taxes each month — from disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
The law, Act 1102, was sponsored by Rep. Micah Neal (R-Springdale), who owns Neal’s Café in Springdale.
Embassy Suites topped the past 10 lists that were ranked in terms of room revenue. The hotel, which opened in May 2003, expanded to 400 rooms in July 2007 with the addition of a 152-room spa tower, built to accommodate the adjacent John Q. Hammons Center.
The top five hotels on last year’s list, ranked by 2014 room revenue, were: Embassy Suites ($12.8 million), 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville ($5.17 million), The Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville ($4.57 million), DoubleTree Suites by Hilton in Bentonville ($4.50 million) and Holiday Inn Northwest Arkansas in Springdale ($4.45 million).
With an inventory of 400 rooms, Embassy Suites is easily tops on this year’s list. Rounding out the top five are: The Chancellor Hotel (207), Holiday Inn Northwest Arkansas (206), DoubleTree Suites by Hilton (140) and Hilton Garden Inn in Bentonville (133).
The Chancellor is currently operating with a temporary general manager. Schulte Hospitality Group, the hotel’s management company, is in the process of hiring a permanent replacement for Al Stento, who took a job in June with Pinnacle Hotel Group in Little Rock as regional director of operations.
SHG’s Ashley Kellam is filling the role on an interim basis.