Hilton Garden Inn in Bentonville installs bike garages

A Bentonville hotel has added an amenity that is thought to be unique among the region’s hospitality offerings.

The Hilton Garden Inn at 2204 S.E. Walton Blvd. has responded to the area’s growing interest in cycling by adding bike garages for the property’s guests.

“We have two, and they hold three bikes each,” said Jeananne Hawking, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “Each guest has one key to get into the garage and then another key for their own bike compartment.”

Each bike garage is 6 feet wide, 3 feet deep and about 4 feet tall. They are built on concrete pads and are completely weatherproof.

“We’ve had a great response from our weekend hotel guests, and if the demand arises, we will add more,” Hawking said.

Cecile Cotner is the general manager of the 133-room Hilton Garden Inn. It is owned and managed by Beechwood Hospitality, a family-owned hotel management firm in Little Rock. Beechwood acquired the property in April 2016 for $11.8 million, part of a deal that acquired ownership of four hotels in the region for $48 million.

Hawking said the investment in bike garages made sense considering Hilton Garden Inn’s close proximity to the Razorback Regional Greenway, a 36-mile, primarily off-road, shared-use trail that extends from the Bella Vista Trail in north Bentonville to south Fayetteville. The years-long project linking dozens of popular community destinations and downtowns was completed in 2015.