The Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa

The Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa is a large 1924 resort hotel with twin towers on Central Avenue, just north of Arlington Lawn and a short walk from Bathhouse Row. It’s worth a look for the architecture and the story of why this famous hotel stands across Fountain Street from the park; stay or book a service if you want the thermal-bath experience. The easiest sure view is from Arlington Lawn, where you can see the full front without going inside. For a photo, frame both towers from the lawn, with a little of the green open space in front.

The Venetian Dining Room is part of the original 1924 hotel and has veranda seating. The hotel also lists a lobby bar and Coffee & Gifts, which serves coffee and lighter breakfast and lunch fare. If you’re planning a meal or spa visit, check ahead; menus and service schedules can change.

This is the third Arlington Hotel. The first opened on what is now Arlington Lawn in 1875, a 150-room wooden hotel. A larger brick, stone and iron building replaced it on the same site in 1893, then burned in 1923. The current Arlington was built across Fountain Street, moving the hotel off federal reservation land. Designed by George R. Mann, it was completed in 1924.

In 1928, Arkansas senator Joe T. Robinson announced his vice-presidential nomination from the hotel’s front steps. Hot Springs’ first radio station, KTHS, operated from the hotel and carried the announcement over the air. The building was a political and media address as well as a resort.

Al Capone regularly booked the fourth floor for his associates and favored room 443. Babe Ruth stayed while visiting Hot Springs for Red Sox spring training and on later trips. Those stories are part of the hotel’s history, but don’t assume a famous room is open to visitors; the hotel doesn’t establish general room-tour access.