21c Museum Hotel Bentonville — Hotel in Bentonville

I don't want to imply that we had a bad experience, but as there are only two ends of the scale, I have to go with dissatisfied. This was a deeply over-priced, average hotel. I will say first that the place and the room were clean and safe which is the bare minimum requirement for any hotel in my opinion. If I were traveling for business and the cost of lodging were not coming out of my pocket, I wouldn't have had any opinion at all. However, on this occasion I was traveling with my family (husband and toddler-age son) and our aim was to achieve two things with our trip. The first was hiking in beautiful and accessible scenery. This was impeded by the recent devastating storms that came through the Bentonville area and closed many streets and all hiking trails across the region. Completely understandable and no judgement here whatsoever. Coming from Oklahoma, we well understand tornadic events and what they can do to devastate communities. We adjusted our expectations and had a wonderful time in this burgeoning city anyway. But the second goal of our trip was to stay in a fun and funky out-of-the-norm locale. Our choices were either a local VRBO / AirBNB or 21C. We had once stayed in the former 21C in Oklahoma City (now closed unfortunately) and it was an unmatched experience. The room was incredible, the environment was vast and interesting, the service was Four Seasons level. The price, of course, matched. So we set our expectations for a similar experience at the 21C, Bentonville and were prepared to pay a comparative cost. Flash forward to our arrival at this location and the service was indeed wonderful and friendly. No complaints. But to our eye, the hotel was only masquerading as the 21C experience we had in OKC. Yes, there were some beautiful pieces on display in the lobby and a cool car parked out front. But it didn't take long to see past that. The placed reeked of Ecolab multipurpose cleaner upon entry and throughout. The parking garage accessibility could use improvement (we were traveling with a stroller and struggled to find an elevator from the third level). The room lacked modern amenities that are now common in even 3-star lodging, such as streaming options and charging ports for current and common tech. Not to mention that the bathroom ran a loud and constant ventilation system that could not be turned off (staff claimed this was necessary for overall property ventilation, but that an "engineer could be sent to cover it"??). And the rest of the property was a standard white-boxed hotel, albeit with a sprinkling of whimsy from a magically mobile penguin. Again, there's nothing that inherently wrong with any of this when considering my family's specific needs and expectations, but presumably you're aiming to service a lot of different types of travelers and varying expectations and needs. The accessibility thing is a problem, but I acknowledge that we may have just overlooked the accessible options on the property because we are not bound by them like other travelers might be. My personal dissatisfaction comes from the knowledge that we could have had a nearly identical experience at a Hampton Inn, with the exception of the penguin, for a third of the price. And had our stay been longer, we likely would have found other accommodations mid-trip. I suppose I just don't really know what I paid for. If forced to stay here again, I would not protest because I did feel safe and secure. But if given a choice, I would spend my money at whatever competing luxury hotel might be found in Bentonville if such a thing exists. Or at a nice VRBO / AirBNB. And if these options aren't an option in the Bentonville area, I'd save my money altogether and stay in an average 3-star. I know times have been tough, Bentonville, but I think there needs to be a perspective shift in what you're claiming to offer the public at this price point. It's not in any way better, it's just got some art in the lobby and an idea of what it...

I love the concept of the hotel; a combined modern-feeling hotel that’s also an art gallery. However, the night we stayed there, it happened to be extremely high-priced, even given what the prices seem to typically be. (Perhaps it was prom night?) The room was small but clean. There were not many extras-no fridge, no mini-bar, nor very many high-end bath products. There was only limited room service and the hotel store had almost nothing available (all at ridiculously overpriced amounts). Even though it was a weekend night, everything closed early. The staff was very courteous and I liked the style of the lobby and room very much. The hotel has a nice comfortable fitness room, accesible 24-7, but no pool. I think the hotel’s strength is its art combined with its location. It is within easy walking distance to Compton Gardens and Crystal Bridges art museum and hiking trails, as well as downtown Bentonville/Bentonville Square. Having all these things so easily accessible strengthens the art gallery theme of the hotel. One can continue to the museum as part of a unified experience and the hotel is close to many good restaurants that are more reasonably priced than The Hive.

It’s dog friendly and the rooms are stylish, but we got a Luxury King and though the space was used well, it felt very small. It didn’t have any appealing view. Nor did it have many features (other than the art work,) one couldn’t find at a standard motel. I think if the features in the room could be improved, it would make the price more justifiable. I would like to see higher bed and bath products and more bath products in general, more electronic plugs and features, amenities both in the room and in the hotel itself. Perhaps some complimentary snacks in the room, a better TV/streaming/cable/movie system, a few extra features to help one sleep, like eye masks or special music, all those little extra things that most hotels in this price range include.

The restaurant in the hotel, the Hive, was very overpriced, even with the comp that the hotel provided, $18 off for each guest. I was very disappointed given the reputation of the chef. The food was heavy and not very good. The wait service in the restaurant wasn’t excellent either. There were limited options to choose from both in terms of food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Also, check in wasn’t until 4 pm, and check out was 11 am, so I just didn’t feel I got my money’s worth. That said, it was an overall positive experience, especially due to the art work, location and courtesy of the staff. I think a few minor improvements on the hotel’s end would help justify the price. (We paid almost $400 for a Luxury King, for two people, on a weekend night. It is possible the prices may have been due to another event going on or that we booked relatively late, but the standard prices seem a bit too steep for what the hotel is currently offering.) And while Bentonville is definitely developing, it’s no metropolitan international city, at least not yet. For a hotel to justify charging that much, it had to offer just a bit more.

(Primary artwork was by Wim Botha when we...

I was very excited to visit 21C and couldn't have been more disappointed. Upon checking into my room, I couldn't believe the flickering and ultra-bright fluorescent lights. Aside from the mattress, everything else reflected a Walmart-like town and "Made in China" type of finishings. Little details like dripping faucets and terrible-stale snacks being delivered to my room constantly reminded me of mediocre consistency. The accommodations I am accustomed to in comparison to 21C were polarizing when you evaluate the prices being collected. Before coming here, I stayed at the Conrad in Tokyo, and after leaving here, I stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in Atlanta, which are two very nice Hilton franchised hotel brand. The 21C is over $400.00 USD a night, and inside the room, I would have had greater satisfaction staying in a modern La Quinta; I would even believe the care put into a middle-grade Flag hotel would have been more careful and attentive. I was so dissatisfied I asked to check out early and was told by management they would charge me for half a day since I did not provide 24-hour notice, even though my discontent was apparent. My concerns were dismissed with arrogance, and the 21C staff proceeded to the staff revering to the hotel as some sort of exclusive Ritz-Carlton-like, St. Regis, or Four Seasons-type hotel. In my opinion, the 21C could be the furniture aisle number in Walmart. From check-in, the ultra-impersonal masked woman set the tone for the staff. The door and valet guys couldn't be any more unhappy to open a door and didn't know how to give a proper greeting of the day that you would expect with any customs and courtesies or "manners." It didn't end at check-out, the front desk agent and manager patronized me about being "sorry" about my stay, leaving a day early, and insisting on charging me when I explicitly made it clear I was leaving "extremely" unhappy with my stay. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels, and traveled to over 70 countries, putting this hotel in my top 10 worst favorites. Topping the cake at check-out, the manager on duty practically antagonized me to write a bad review, and then implied she would resell my room after I left. If I said this hotel was a flop, it would be extending the politeness I was never offered at 21C. I give 1 star for the perfect location. You can deduct 1 star for the room finishing, deduct another star 1 for the service, and 1 more star for the cost. I would probably give this place a 2.5/5 rating and will be courteous enough to round up. If I had a time machine I would regret less flushing the money spent here down the toilet. If you are uncertain about staying here, book a room for 1 night, and then extend later if you are content. I would hate for anyone to relive my experience at the 21C and hope that never...