Newer Hotels Garnered Most Revenue Per Room

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Combined revenue at the major hotels in Benton and Washington counties for 2007 was up 6.8 compared to 2006.

The 73 hotels on the Business Journal’s annual list of largest hotels (p. 13) brought in $92.65 million last year. That’s up $5.91 million from 2006.

Some hotels, mostly newer ones, were up significantly year over year.

Embassy Suites – the top hotel in the market in terms of both room revenue and number of rooms – saw a 26 percent increase. Of course, the hotel also opened a new tower in June 2007.

“We added 152 rooms and a new spa, so we made the hotel more of a destination with the amenities we’ve added,” said David Lang, general manager of the hotel.

Along with the new rooms, the Embassy Suites also hired more staff. Before the tower and spa opened, Embassy employed about 200. That’s now up 50 percent to 300 employees, Lang said.

In terms of revenue per room, Embassy was bumped down a notch. Bentonville’s Hilton Garden Inn edged into the No. 1 spot, bringing in $29,323 for each of its 133 rooms.

Embassy was second with $29,000 earned on each of its 400 rooms.

Hotels that opened in 2006 saw a huge increase year over year, of course. Homewood Suites by Hilton in Rogers was up 2,081.8 percent, with total room revenue of $2.4 million.

Next door, Country Inn & Suites saw a 900 percent increase, with room revenue of $1.5 million.

Those hotels opened in the last two months and three months of 2006, respectively.

Comfort Suites in Bentonville was also way up – 720 percent – with 2007 revenue of $1.23 million.

Other hotels were also up, albeit without the astronomical figures of the recent additions.

Holiday Inn Northwest Arkansas in Springdale grew 11.3 percent, with revenue of $4.25 million. Clarion Inn in Fayetteville increased 9.2 percent, with revenue of $3.2 million. Holiday Inn Express in Fayetteville was also up significantly, with a 17.3 percent increase and room revenue of $2.3 million.

These three hotels, which were built in 1989, 1986 and 1991, respectively, bucked the trend for older facilities, many of which were down year over year.

Revenue at the Cosmopolitan – formerly the Radisson and before that, the Hilton – was down 11.2 percent because of renovations that caused many of the hotel’s rooms to be closed after football season.

As of July 9, only 98 of the Cosmopolitan’s 217 rooms were available for lodging. The hotel was built in 1981.

Five hotels opened in 2007, their first year to be eligible for the list. Three of the hotels are suite-style businesses.

Best Western Castlerock Inn & Suites in Bentonville, owned by Tom Bhakta, opened in April, and brought in about $670,000 in room revenue. Simmons Suites, also in Bentonville, opened in March and made $490,000 on its rooms.

Courtyard by Marriott, in Fayetteville, opened in October and earned $200,000 in room revenue.

Hampton Inn in Siloam Springs, owned by developer Marion Driscoll, opened in November and made $100,000 by year’s end, while Staybridge Suites in Rogers, which was only open for December, made $17,000.