Hotel inventory rising in Northwest Arkansas’ largest cities

The lodging industry in Northwest Arkansas’ four largest cities includes 90 properties, and more options are coming.

According to area tourism bureaus, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale have 90 hotels and 8,158 rooms.

By city, the numbers look like this:

• Bentonville: 24 hotels with 2,214 rooms.
• Fayetteville: 25 hotels with 2,130 rooms.
• Rogers: 21 hotels with 2,101 rooms.
• Springdale: 20 hotels with 1,713 rooms.

The newest hotel is in Springdale. The 65,274-square-foot Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 4401 W. Sunset Ave. is a three-story property that opened in the spring of 2023. The hotel is affiliated with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and has 12 suites and 75 guest rooms. Texas-based Sunset Galaxy Hotel LLC, managed by Kusha Rae Pokharel, bought the hotel late last year.

Multiple hotel projects are under construction. Three are on track to open later this year in downtown Bentonville, adding 470 rooms to the city’s inventory.

Real estate development firm Blue Crane of Bentonville is leading a six-story, 142-room project at the southeast corner of the downtown square at 200 E. Central Ave. Blue Crane is Runway Group’s real estate acquisition and development arm. Runway Group is a diversified holding company based in Bentonville and led by Tom and Steuart Walton.

Walmart Inc. is building a five-story, 153-room hotel on its new corporate campus at the corner of Southeast J and Eighth streets. Walmart will own the hotel and has signed a franchise agreement with Marriott International to operate the property as AC Hotel by Marriott.

Windsor Aughtry, a South Carolina developer, has a six-story, 175-room hotel scheduled to open at 223 S. Main St. across from the Ledger office building. It’s called Motto by Hilton.

There’s also construction along Interstate 49 that will add 63 rooms for My Place Hotels, a franchise company based in South Dakota with locations in 28 states. The hotel is expected to open before the end of the year.

In Rogers, Windsor Aughtry also has a project in the city’s Pinnacle Hills area west of Interstate 49. Construction started in October on the 168-room Tapestry by Hilton at 4100 S. Pinnacle Hills Parkway. A company spokesman said the hotel is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2025.

There’s also new hotel construction happening in south Fayetteville’s South Yard mixed-use development at the corner of U.S. Highway 71B and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the state’s first three-star Fitwell development. Marriott International’s Millennial-focused Moxy brand will make its Arkansas debut there. The seven-story hotel will include 131 rooms.

Specialized Real Estate Group (SREG) of Fayetteville and family-owned Beechwood Pinnacle Hotels of Little Rock are partnering on that project. The completion date is in the summer of 2025.

SREG is also partnering with Hay Creek Hotels and Restaurants of New Hampshire for a complete restoration of the 200-acre Pratt Place Inn & Barn property in Fayetteville. The Stonebreaker project includes an “upper upscale” 78-room hotel. A construction timeline is unknown.