Capital Hotel
The Capital Hotel is an historic Victorian lodging facility in downtown Little Rock. The hotel offers 126 rooms to guests.
The Capital Hotel first opened in 1876 as an office and retail building at the corner of Markham & Louisiana streets. A fourth floor was added to the building to provide lodging. The building was originally owned by W. J. Denckla of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.
At the hotel's dedication ceremony an unknown local Little Rock woman noted, "I can think of no name more appropriate than The Capital Hotel, as it is a capital enterprise located in a capital building, which will do honor to the capital of the state." The hotel has the largest elevator in the state. It has been said that Ulysses S. Grant once rode his horse into the hotel's massive main elevator during an 1880 visit to Little Rock.
The hotel was sold to Elizabeth L. Cassinelli in the 1920s, and again to local architect Ed Cromwell who secured a $10 million grant for its first major restoration. The hotel is today owned by Warren A. Stephens.
The luxury hotel often lodged the national press corps during the Clinton administration.
The Capital Hotel houses two restaurants, Ashley's (formerly the Chester Ashley Restaurant) and the Capital Bar and Grill. Lee Richardson, executive chef at Ashley's, subscribes to the philosophy of the slow food movement and serves locally produced fruits, vegetables, and meats whenever available. He buys Gloucester Old Spot hogs from Ragan Sutterfield's Adama Farms, for instance, because lean varieties of pork "doesn't taste like pigs anymore."
The Capital Hotel underwent a two-year, $24 million restoration effort in 2005, and reopened on November 19, 2007. The hotel is owned by prominent Little Rock investment banker Warren Stephens and its chief operating officer is Michael Chaffin.
References
- Jennifer Barnett Reed, "Take It Slow: Socially Conscious Eating in the Post-Organic World Means Ditching the Paper Plates and Getting to Know Who Grows Your Greens," Arkansas Times, December 9, 2007.
