Monday, March 15, 2010

Unusual Arkansas: Eureka Springs' Basin Park Hotel and its Claim to Fame.

Eureka Springs is full of oddities.  It has haunted properties, strange shops, eclectic restaurants and extraordinary geography.  One oddity worth a visit is the Basin Park Hotel.  Find out what sets this strange but beautiful hotel apart from all the others.



I visited this unusual property during our trip last week, to see if the claim was true.

See, the property, opened in 1905, has a rare claim to fame. The eight story hotel has a ground floor entrance on every single floor.

Now, that may sound weird, but it’s absolutely true.  I went myself to check it out.  Floor after floor, I climbed and looked out the door to see a ramp or connection directly with the mountain behind the Basin Park Hotel.  Indeed, it lives up to the claim.





Yet that’s not the only reason you should check out the Basin Park Hotel.  First off, it’s located on Spring Street right in the middle of all the action of downtown Eureka Springs.  It’s across the street from the famed Flat Iron Building, next door to all the happenings at Basin Park and within a few blocks of more than a dozen great restaurants.  There’s a trolley stop at the front door, too.

Atop the hotel, you’ll find the Balcony Restaurant… so if you don’t feel like leaving the hotel, you don’t have to!  The Balcony Restaurant is also about the only place in Arkansas I know of that serves huckleberry pie.

The Basin Park Hotel is also home to Serenity Spa, a full-service spa facility specializing in all sorts of amazing treatments.  There’s this cool rainbar treatment I am just dying to try.  You can actually rent out a secret spa deck as part of your experience.  This is a rather cool place to lounge.

So if you want to stay somewhere truly unique in Eureka Springs and be able to brag that you stayed in a hotel where there’s a ground-level entrance on every floor, check out the Basin Park Hotel.  You’ll find more information at this website.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Be kind.