BTGuy's Business Travels

I just got back from a business trip to Arkansas. Soooeeeeeee. I was supposed to fly into Little Rock, then drive to Hot Springs, but weather fouled that plan, and my flight got cancelled; no other flights available that day, and I got booked out the next day at 11:20 am! I didn't have much choice, and they said I couldn't get my bags - they were going to Little Rock. So, I asked if they could get me anywhere into Arkansas yet that night, and there were seats on the last flight into Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA). I took it, we finally left around 10:30 and got in close to midnight. Got to the rental car counter, and no one was there, so waited another 15 - 20 minutes to finally get a car. I called Hilton to see what properties were close to the airport, and they gave me two options:

Embassy Suites, and

Hilton Garden Inn (review)

It turns out the HGI was pretty nice, and it was only $99 per night. They were asking $189 for the ES, which as it turns out was only about 2 - 3 miles away. It is a nice looking hotel (tall and diamond-shaped roof), but the HGI was in a nice area with plenty close by. There was the 24-hour Walgreen's and WalMart just a few blocks away - glad they were there. Also plenty of restaurants, and it is just a block off of I-540 which again made it very convenient.

The drive from Bentonville to Hot Springs took about 3.5 hours - it doesn't look that long, but it is. Traffic was fine - all interstate - for about 2/3 of the way. Then it is highway 7 (2-lane winding) all the way into Hot Springs from there. That's what took so long.

If you ever go back to XNA, stay at the HGI.

posted by Business Travel Guy @ 7:58 PM