Little Rock’s front porch
Locals think of the Capital as Little Rock’s front porch, and although there is no wooden swing, there are wicker settees, not to mention complimentary glasses of lemonade.
Its personality equals its physical beauty. From Trip Advisor to scores of meeting planners, the hotel’s service earns superlatives.
Sherrise Stephens recalls a meeting planner who was thrilled to be at the Capital following a rocky stay in another city. “The other hotel kept telling me ‘no, no, no,’ but the Capital kept saying, “yes, yes, yes,” she told Stephens.
Lucille DiDomenico, executive director of the Conference of Southwest Foundations in Dallas, brought her organization’s spring meeting to the hotel last year and will return with the same meeting next year.
“From the doorman to the hotel manager to the salespeople, everyone was equally helpful,” she said. The hotel’s reasonable room rates make the service level even more noteworthy, she added
“It is unusual for a hotel that offers rooms at a price that is so reasonable. The price is not extravagant at all, but the service is.”
Hiring for hospitality
Management takes a nontraditional approach to hiring.
“We put most of our time into selecting the right people,” Magill said. The hotel seeks employees with “an incurable sense of hospitality.”
“It can drive you crazy in some ways,” said Magill, “because we hire a lot of people with a limited background, so most of the training is to jumpstart them in the nuts and bolts of hotel operation.”
After training, staff are given freedom. “We give people complete latitude to do whatever it takes,” said Magill.
The Capital has not been afraid to break with hotel traditions. Front-desk check-in was abandoned after management realized, that in all but about 5 percent of cases, guests billed their stay to the same credit card they used to make their reservation.
Guests are greeted curbside and accompanied to their room by bellstaff. If a credit card must be changed, the staff handle it.
The conversation on the way to the room is not a scripted litany of the hotel’s amenities and features. Staff allow the conversation to stem from guests’ questions.
Everything from scratch
Any conversation about the Capital also includes cuisine. Chef Lee Richardson, who left the hotel this summer, was among a number of staff, including Magill, who came to the Capital from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Richardson emphasized local products and adding twists to traditional Southern food.
Chefs work in a kitchen that Magill describes as “Star Wars”-like. Top-line equipment and specialized tools are a necessity at a hotel that prides itself on making everything — even its crackers.
DiDomenico was so impressed with the Capital’s food that she had the hotel cater her group’s off-site event. Even with other restaurants a few blocks away, she wasn’t inclined to dine elsewhere.
“When I’m there, I don’t want to eat anywhere else,” she said.
Like many Little Rock residents, Sherrise Stephens considers Ashley’s the go-to restaurant for special occasions. And although she is careful about calories, she breaks her own rule when she dines at the Capital. “I don’t do dessert,” she said. “I do dessert there. It is butt-worthy.”
