Stay A While in Hot Springs
Legend has it that Hot Springs, Ark., has been a popular meeting spot for more than 400 years, sparked by Hernando De Soto’s visit in the early 1500s.
Since then, a diverse array of SMERF groups have found the hotels and meeting facilities, including the cutting-edge Hot Springs Convention Center, to be the perfect fit for their meetings. In fact, the city recently won a bid to host the 2010 convention of the Associated Country Women of the World, the largest organization of rural women and homemakers in the world. The event will bring more than 900 women to Hot Springs in April 2010.
The big draw in Hot Springs has been the springs. The natural thermal water flows from 47 springs right into the downtown district. In 1832, Congress made Hot Springs National Park the first federally protected area in the national park system.
In addition to the springs, Hot Springs offers a wealth of attractions, from historic sites to amusement parks. The city is the hometown of former President Bill Clinton and visitors can take in several sites from his formative years, including his boyhood home and the historic Hot Springs High School.
For meeting groups, the city’s history is complimented by some 4,000 hotel rooms and Arkansas’ largest convention center, the 360,000-square-foot Hot Springs Convention Center. The center, with 15 meeting rooms, a full banquet venue, exhibition space, trade show facilities and the new, 6,000-seat Summit Arena, can accommodate anything from the most intimate gathering to conventions or trade shows that require seating for thousands.
For More Information
Contact the Hot Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau by phone at 800-922-6478 or 501-321-2835, or by e-mail at hscvbsales@hotsprings.org.
