Arka Motel — Hotel in Rogers

The Arka Motel is a jewel. A rare find. One of those places that is better than you had expected. From the exterior it is clear how it began life. A roadside motor hotel. Mid Century Modern America. The motels from the family vacations of my childhood. But here, someone has done a great job of updating the concept to 21st century standards, both functionally and visually. They had good stock to work with. The construction standards of the original structure show pride in workmanship. Doors and windows absolutely square and true. Walls that block all noise from the room next door. Solidly built. The present owners have done nothing to take away from that. They have burnished it with new floors ceilings and walls. New doors and windows. Perfectly modern bathrooms. Kitchenette rooms have a fridge, microwave, Keurig, and a little bar area with sink. Plenty of sitting all over a large room. Beds befitting a luxury hotel. TV. Wifi. This room is freaking great to paraphrase Family Guy. And I haven't even gotten to the best part. The service. The dedication to seeing that your stay is a good one. True, they follow the current trend in accommodation of the contactless check in, but do it as best as one will find. For example. We've come as a weekend getaway for my wife's 60th birthday. Two nights ago she told me that to celebrate, she would like to make the trip here and see the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Sounded great. We haven't traveled lately. Online bookings are unfamiliar. As I was making my arrangement for a two night stay, the dollar amount looked right but it said "one night". I voice called. A pleasant and professional member of staff assured me "Come ahead, no worries". Before I was out the door she called back, telling me my reservation had come in and she saw right away I had booked TWO rooms for ONE night, but knew I wanted ONE for TWO. She chuckled and assured me she'd fix it. We wound up having to call twice more plus a text or two before our less-than-tech-savvy selves were comfortably inside - but that's not a complaint, it's my entire point. Our questions were answered patiently, professionally, and with attention to our needs that exceeded any front desk. Finally, and I've saved this bit for last so it can be accompanied by a photo of our room... Whoever designed the updated look is a talented designer. Kudos. My compliments. Thank you for a memorable stay. To you reading this review, I trust you will be as pleased as we have been. C'mon you won't be disappointed, and isn't that great...

We had a last-minute business trip in the midst of the Thanksgiving Holiday, and we needed a spot to stay that was pet-friendly and a good value on the way to our destination. There were very few options available in the NW Arkansas area that gave me much confidence that we would be well taken care of. Then we found The Arka Motel. Score!

This wonderful lodging exceeded every expectation. The owners have made checking in incredibly easy (although due to our long journey, we were arriving late.) We loved checking in on our own without going to a front desk.

The rooms were marked well and easy to find. We managed to figure out the keypad entry and successfully entered the room. We had a weird rental SUV that made our life a little difficult, so apologies to anyone staying near us. We did the best we could! 😂

The room was perfect and incredibly quiet. We didn't hear a thing from any neighbors. The beds were so comfortable. The shower was amazing. The snacks and drinks were extremely thoughtful. We had plenty of spots to walk our pup. The area was well lit and once we figured out our ridiculous rental vehicle, things went great.

We loved the fridge and microwave. Thank you so much for offering that! We have special dietary needs so this was so apprediated.

Loved the makeup remover! Thanks for helping us keep your linens a little cleaner, And speaking of clean linens ... Normally we bring an extra sheet to put over the bed to make sure we keep potentially dirty puppy feet off the linens. We forgot, but we had a blanket so that worked in case our little guy jumped up. We also brought a crate. The linens were pristine, so offering a colored top sheet to help pet owners keep your beautiful linens extra clean might be useful.

One other tiny suggestion is to put a doorstop on the bathroom door to keep the door from accidentally touching the beautiful glass shower, which we LOVED.

The view is so pretty. The owners clearly put an awful lot of effort into this gorgeous Art Deco-esque property. (Come to find out we have a cousin who knows them!) We wish them all the luck in the world. We'll...

The motel is obviously recently updated: new paint, new fixtures, new furnishings - all nice. There was an abundance of towels in the bathroom - always a plus. ;-)||The issue that we had was that it was soooooo COLD!! Yes, it was December, yes there was a bit of "Old Man Winter" in the air; however, we could not get the room heater to stay on! We could get it to run/cycle, and then it would turn off. It was bad enough that both my husband and I had to wear sweats and an additional sweater to bed! The next morning I called the office number, and the nice woman stated that we should have used the control differently, and it would have remained on, BUT there were NO written instructions, for the heater, the TV, or actually anything else. ||It seems as though they present themselves as a boutique/quasi-vacation rental motel; however, there were no dishes (disposable or other), no paper towels, no extra garbage liners, no kitchen towel or sponge, no dish soap, no silverware or glasses. I don't believe that there was any wrongdoing on their part. I think that they way that things are worded on their site, and when I spoke with someone in their office to make the reservation, I got a different impression of what it would be like.||The woman that we spoke with on that next morning did give us a refund of the second night. She was polite and responsive, so no issues there!||Now, having said all of that, I would recommend the motel. I would just suggest that if you're going to stay for more than one night, you are prepared to deal with dining needs. And......