Four NW cities see robust hotel growth

LITTLE ROCK — Benton and Washington counties have added nearly 900 hotel rooms since Jan. 1, including a large block when the 114-room Courtyard by Marriott opened Oct. 15 at 600 E. Van Ashe Drive in Fayetteville.

At the end of 2006, the four major cities in Benton and Washington counties - Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale - had 75 hotels with 6,155 rooms, according to a survey by Jordan Barron, a junior broker with Colliers Dickson Flake Partners in Bentonville. The survey was created so the commercial real estate consulting firm could better advise its customers, Barron said in February.

At the end of October, the same four cities will have 7,017 rooms available in 80 hotels - a growth of 14 percent for the ninemonth period - and at least 1,000 more rooms are expected to be added by April, which means the double-digit growth will continue in 2008.

Three hotels are set to open in the next six months, said Johnna Duncan, information and collections coordinator for the Bentonville Advertising and Promotion Commission. The Microtel Inn & Suites will add 78 rooms in December, Doubletree Guest Suites will add 140 rooms in January or February, and Suburban Extended Stay Hotel will add 100 rooms in February.

Two new hotels will open in the next six months in Fayetteville, said Shelly Stewman, a marketing manager at the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Those hotels are Value Place hotel and Candlewood Suites. Stewman did not have a room count on either hotel, but the Value Place hotel in Springdale has about 75 rooms and the Candlewood Suitesin Rogers has 130 rooms.

Tom Galyon, executive director of the Rogers Convention and Visitors Bureau, expects Rogers to have 2,500 hotel rooms by the end of 2008. Galyon said the city will gain 130 rooms when Starwood Hotels and Resorts completes an "aloft Hotel" this spring, and the Microtel Inn & Suites' 51 rooms should also be ready for occupancy about the same time. A third hotel - Galyon did not yet know the name or number of rooms - is supposed to go up next to the Homewood Suites at 4302 W. Walnut St.

The Holiday Inn under construction by the Intercontinental Hotel Group will add 120 rooms and a Staybridge Suites will add 80 rooms, Galyon said.

In its 2006 report on the lodging industry, the American Hotel & Lodging Association found that the average national occupancy rate was 63.1 percent, based on 2005 numbers.

The hotel occupancy rate for Little Rock declined from 64.6 percent in November 2005 to 62.3 percent in November 2006, according to Smith Travel Research in a January Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story. The city has about 64 hotels, with about 6,350 available rooms, said Gretchen Hall, director of merchandising and communications for the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Montine McNulty, executive director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, said there's no standard for judging the "right" number of hotel rooms for a given area.

She said the only way to tell if an area is overbuilt is after too many hotels have already gone up and rooms are sitting empty night after night. A region's occupancy rate generally determineswhether developers will invest in more rooms.

Bentonville reported a 95 percent occupancy rate Monday through Thursday in 2006, according to the Advertising and Promotions Commission. The occupancy rate drops to about 70 percent on weekends. The commission collects a tax on hotel room rentals that is used to promote tourism.

Fayetteville's occupancy rate averaged 53.6 percent in 2006, according to a Visitors Bureau report. That figure combines busy weekends, such as when the University of Arkansas holds sporting events, with traditionally lower occupancy on weekdays.

Bentonville has 2,100 hotels rooms and 21 hotels, Duncan said.

In 2006, Bentonville reported 1,590 rooms in 19 hotels, according to the Colliers Dickson FlakePartners hotel survey.

Fayetteville has 1,713 rooms available in 23 hotels, Stewman said. A newly opened Staybridge Suites is included in those counts, but the Courtyard by Marriott is not.

In 2006, Fayetteville reported 1,693 rooms in 19 hotels, according to the Colliers Dickson Flake Partners hotel survey.

Rogers counts about 1,600 rooms right now in 15 hotels, Galyon said.

In 2006, Rogers reported 1,387 rooms in 17 hotels in the Colliers Dickson Flake Partners survey.

Springdale has 1,490 rooms among the 21 hotels now open, said Rhonda Hughes, Chamber of Commerce vice president of operations. The only hotel not included in her count is the Value Place extended-stay hotel that opened in September. It has about 75 rooms, she said.

At the end of 2006, Springdale reported 1,485 rooms in 20 hotels, according to the Colliers Dickson Flake Partners survey.