My mother and I meet at the Arlington for a girls get away. I had a gift certificate and decided it would be perfect for our girls weekend!
BIG MISTAKE!
I agree with all the reviews, the rooms left a lot to be desired. But that was not the most shocking part. We did the thermal baths....
After our encounter with one of the most unfriendliest staff I have ever been around (please remeber I live in DC, our mean people are hard to beat) we proceeded to the "Bath House." The Bath House reminded me of a 1910's Insane Asylum. I was put in a dirty tub and told to just sit there. After a few minutes, I reached down and found a huge ball of hair. OMG I almost threw up. I quickly got out of the bath.
The whole weekend will make my mother and I laugh for years!!!
But I would not suggest ever returning!

In June of 2007 my husband and I spent a weekend in Hot Springs Ar for a Veterans Of Foreign Wars Convention. Everyone stayed at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs Arkansas. When you walk into the Arlington the lobby is beautiful, but the actual rooms were so outdated and dirty it was a shock! Our room had mold and mildew growing in the shower. There was no tub (although I would have hated to see what the tub would have looked like). There were places in the room that had at least an inch maybe an inch and a half of dust. Not just ordinary looking dust but I kid you not, this had nasty hair and god knows what else was in it! Some of the others were complaining that the air conditioning in their room was not working. The elevators were very slow and would get over the weight limit and break down. Of course there were no refunds. The rest of Hot Springs was really fun and interesting. In February of 2008 my husband and I wanted to go to Hot Springs so we booked a room at the Park Hotel. Same story. Really nice downstairs, but when you get to the rooms OMG.
This weekend we are going for this VFW convention and we are staying at the Holiday Inn Express.

Me and my husband thought this would be a great get away from home. We had also brought our 2 year old son, which Im sure he woke a couple of people up LOL. The rooms were nice I loved the feel of earlier times! You have to take in consideration this is a very old hotel so the walls are a little thin but no big deal.You have to have the breakfast buffett Oh! it was so good! We had a wonderful time ALL the staff was very helpful about the hotel ,town and history. There is so much history to take in at Hot Springs. Our son really enjoyed all the sights and sounds. We had a room overlooking the pool, which was very cute it had an tiki type bar beside it. Also there is a small little mall downstairs in the hotel. The elevators are really neat to.All together it was wonderful, we are going to come for a visit soon again!

There were a lot of negative reviews that scared me. When we got there, I fell in love with the place. It is true this is an old hotel with many out of dated ameneties(curtains, bedding, old paint, etc), yet it did not cause me to want to leave. In fact, I was glad my family had chosen to stay there. I believe the "oldness" only added to feeling a part of the history from many decades that have passed. This was a family trip with our 9 and 13 yr. olds and they loved the place too. This hotel is located in a perfect spot. We paid $119 each night for 2 double beds but this included a full buffet each morning. We were able to get discounted tickets to Magic Springs and they offered to call us in reservations. I enjoyed "the works" package in the spa and it was wonderful. The pool area was a bit weathered but we had fun in both pools. I think it's neat that they still offer a pool as it obviously has been there a long time. The parking garage was a block or two away, and it is for small cars. I could see this being a problem on a packed weekend. It did not cause any trouble for us, but I could see that being one drawback. This is not the Ritz Carlton, but I wasn't looking for that. It is easy to pick apart with small problems here and there, but overall, I really am happy we chose this hotel. It is very nostalgic. I would not stay anywhere else when goign back to Hot Springs. I did love the hotel, the city, and the service.