Capital Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas

Updated May 2020.

It’s Motivation Monday! Our world today is incredibly negative. It’s so hard to get away from the bad language, degrading comments, and condescension–especially online it seems. So that’s why I love to highlight the positives in the world. The Capital Hotel in Little Rock, AR, is this Monday’s motivation to look for the good and say thank you often.

My parents recently took a trip to visit P. Allen Smith’s gorgeous home and gardens in Little Rock, AR, for my mom’s birthday, and they stayed at the historic Capital Hotel. Their stay at the hotel was such a positive experience, my dad was compelled to write to them to say thank you. And I was so impressed when he told me about it, I’ve decided to share it here on the blog!

The Circumstances

My mom’s birthday is May 9, which often coincides with Mother’s Day. This year, those dates were a few days apart, but this trip to Little Rock to stay at a fancy hotel and visit P. Allen Smith’s Garden would serve as a celebration for both! The drive from my parents’ home in Middle Tennessee to Little Rock is about 6 hours… but the day of their road trip was plagued with delays on I-40.

All of their time cushion had evaporated enroute, so my dad called to cancel their dinner reservation, thinking there was no way they could make it in time. I wouldn’t say my dad is “Mr. Romance” by any stretch, but sometimes he does a really good job. And that dinner was supposed to be one of those really great moments. To say the least, the change in plans put a damper on his day.

The Letter

Dinner and their stay at the hotel ended up being an all-around success, thanks to the accommodating people at the Capital Hotel and the One Eleven Restaurant! Here is the letter my dad wrote:

May 18, 2018

Dear Management,

My wife and I planned to visit P. Allen Smith’s gardens on May 13, 2018, and we decided to stay at your hotel on the night of May 12, 2018. On May 10, I called and asked the concierge to arrange to have a small birthday cake and a bottle of chardonnay available for us upon our arrival on Saturday, and she was more than willing to accommodate our small celebration. Unfortunately our trip to Little Rock was hampered on I-40 by 4 hours of delays, coming from middle Tennessee. We had canceled our reservations for dinner at 8:00 pm because of the massive traffic issues. Upon our arrival at 7:50 pm the concierge on duty quickly restored our reservations and my wife and I enjoyed a lovely meal at One Eleven at the Capital Hotel Restaurant. My pork chops with mushrooms were delicious, as was my wife’s crab cake. The crab cake was something completely different than what we expected. When we got to our hotel room, the small birthday cake and the chilled wine were waiting for us, and we had very relaxing music playing which helped both of us to unwind after our stressful trip. The concierge on duty Sunday morning was very accommodating in arranging for us to get some ice for our trip back home to take care of my wife’s temperature-sensitive medicine and what was left of our cake. You have a lovely hotel and very fine staff (the doorman, the concierge & the restaurant).

Thank you for helping make this a lovely trip for us.

Sincerely,

Mike Hassell, O.D.

About the Capital Hotel

Little Rock’s historic Capital Hotel has been showing Southern hospitality since 1876. Their attention to detail and personal service, as evidenced in my parents’ experience, are very important to them, and it shows. I love that one of their core values is “Be Huggable.” That is the essence of Southern hospitality, and it thrills my little Southern heart to know people still live by that!

If you’re interested learning more or staying at the Capital Hotel, please visit their website!

All photos by my mom, Melanie Hassell! For more all-American adventures, check out my United States Page!

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