The Colonial Pancake and Waffle House, which has been a fixture for six decades in Hot Springs, is packed on this Friday morning. It's spring break for most Texas schools, and Texans fill the sidewalks on both sides of Central Avenue.
When I ask if there's anywhere one person can sit, the lady at the cash register says: "If you don't mind sitting at our staff table, you can have a seat there."
I don't mind, especially since I can listen to employees discuss the many varieties of homemade hot sauce that are sold at the Colonial. Across the street at The Pancake Shop, the other venerable breakfast spot downtown, the line of those waiting for a seat extends down the sidewalk.
After breakfast, I walk along Central Avenue. Almost daily, it seems, I read about downtown buildings being sold for redevelopment. I watched this stretch of the avenue deteriorate for 50 years--from 1967, when Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller got serious after shutting down illegal gambling, until at least 2017.
Now there are plans for new hotels (such as a Hampton Inn on the site that once housed the Goddard Hotel) and restaurants (such as chef Joshua Garland's DONS Southern Social at 901 Central Ave.). Deluca's, which makes what many believe to be the region's best pizzas, has moved into an expanded space. Scott and Katie Hamby have purchased properties at 829, 831 and 833 Central Ave. and hope to redevelop them.
I make my way to the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, long the cornerstone of downtown. Owner Al Rajabi of San Antonio shows off two recently renovated towers and the hotel's new front steps. Dozens of workers are meticulously chipping the old stucco back to the original bricks. New stucco will be applied, returning the outside to its original colors.
Tiles are being removed one at a time to be cleaned by hand. It's the kind of care this 1924 building has needed for years. Windows are being installed. There are 956 of them in all.
When Rajabi's Sky Capital Group bought the hotel in 2017, most people expected him to quickly flip it for a profit. He has flipped numerous hotels through the years. Rajabi told me then that the Arlington wasn't for sale.
Six years later, he says: "It's still not for sale. If I were flipping it, I wouldn't be doing this kind of work. But if I ever do sell it, it will be in far better shape than I found it. The best days for the Arlington are still ahead."
Rajabi says the step replacement cost $450,000. An improved heating and air system for the hotel's ballroom cost another $400,000. Millions of dollars have been spent, and millions more will be invested as 50 rooms at a time are renovated in the state's largest hotel.
When Rajabi purchased the Arlington from Southwest Hotels Inc. (founded by Grady Manning in 1929), 250 of 478 rooms had been taken out of service. Now, 435 rooms can be rented.
Modern curtains have gone up in more than 400 rooms. About 200 rooms have been repainted as the massive project moves forward.
"It took us three months just to do the towers," Rajabi says. "I'd rather do it right than do it fast."
He hopes to have much of the work completed in time for the hotel's 100th anniversary celebration next year. Rajabi is quick to note that he's excited to see other developments take place downtown. He says he doesn't see it as competition, instead viewing it as adding to the critical mass that will draw more visitors.
"I've always said that I don't want to be the shining star in what's otherwise a ghost town," Rajabi says.
Across the street, the Patel family is converting the Medical Arts Building into an Aloft Hotel. Meanwhile, Denver-based hotel company 5 Senses Hospitality announced a substantial investment in The Waters, a 62-room boutique hotel; 5 Senses manages 13 hotels.
The Waters is in the 1913 Thompson Building, which housed doctors' offices for decades before being transformed into apartments. Architects Bob Kempkes and Anthony Taylor entered into a partnership with investment banker Robert Zunick to purchase the building in 2014. The $7 million renovation was completed in October 2015. Original marble and tile were saved.
The hotel now includes a full-service restaurant, lounge and popular rooftop bar.
"We're thrilled to have 5 Senses join in the recapitalization of The Waters as we remain a meaningful investor," Zunick says. "We look forward to continuing to see the hotel and the community we call home flourish."
With its interest in downtown Hot Springs, perhaps 5 Senses will now invest in the adjacent Dugan-Stuart Building, which was built in 1904 to house medical offices and later converted to apartments. It has been largely empty since the 1980s and would make a great boutique hotel.
Another piece of good news downtown is the decision by the Hot Springs Metro Partnership to market the site at the north end of Central that long housed the Majestic Hotel. Some of the top bankers and other business leaders in the Spa City are now involved in that project. It has been nine years since a fire swept through the abandoned Majestic, resulting in demolition of the property.
Last summer, a developer named Rick Wilson abandoned plans to construct a 5,000-seat amphitheater on the site. The best use of the property would be a mixed-use project that would include hotel rooms, apartments, condominiums, upscale retailers, a spa and fine dining. It would be the kind of place that would attract Texas visitors with refined tastes and deep pockets. Jerry Jones should take it on as his gift back to his home state.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.