Stories of the Crescent Hotel

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The Crescent Hotel, built in 1886, continues to be an escape for travelers around the nation. With 95 percent of weekends sold out, the historic hotel thrives in the remote Ozark mountains of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  So how does an old-limestone hotel find business in a modern world dominated by iPhones and Netflix? Does the history of the Crescent drive the consumers away, or entice them to be a part of the narrative? Bill Ott, director of marketing and communications, leans toward the latter.

“There are so many people who come to see us who are generational,” Ott explained. “Their parents brought them here. Their grandparents brought them here. We make lifetime memories for the new guests just like they heard about, or for the older guests as they remember it. It’s easy to be traveling down the highway and see a sign for a king double for $59. Our rooms don’t rent for that, but they get a whole lot more than just a cinder block room with a bed, shower and clean towels. They get to stay in a historic monument.”

Those lifetime memories come at the cost of preservation. In 1997, two bids battled for the vacant pile of limestone after the hotel faced foreclosure in 1992. One bid had hopes of renovating the hotel and restoring its former glory, and the other had hopes of turning it into a chicken coop. Fortunately, the hotel went to Marty and Elise Roenigk, who were preservationists first and hotel owners second. They laid down about $7 million for refurbishment and sought out a staff who shared a common goal: to protect the irreplaceable. Marty Roenigk, who passed away in 2009 in an automobile accident, set a goal that within five years of beginning renovations, the Crescent would be returned to its glory days. He accomplished this with time to spare. 

“Unfortunately, many historic hotel owners will take the money they make and put it in their pockets,” Ott said. “ But Mrs. Roenigk puts that money back into the hotel. The first thing she did was put together a team of like-minded people who appreciate the historic aspect of the property and are willing to live up to its creed.”

The dedication not only to preservation, but also to excellent service, propelled the Crescent to the reputation it has today. The hotel was recently chosen as Southern Living’s Best Hotel in Arkansas. Ott attributes this honor to the Crescent’s commitment to making sure the hotel guests have an enjoyable and pleasant experience with the hotel. 

With any business, it is critical to always be innovating to better the product. For a historic hotel, innovation may not be the best way to do business. The Crescent continues to draw in travelers not because it creates something new, but rather dusts off and shines the things that are old. 

“Before the Roenigks bought the hotel, the previous owners had heard stories of possible paranormal activity,” Ott explained. They were scared to tell those stories, but when the Roenigks bought it, their attitude was if it was a story about our history, let’s tell people those stories. So they started conducting ghost tours.”

If you were to walk into the Crescent Hotel today and ask a staff member if the hotel is haunted, they won’t give you the answer you're looking for, whether that’s yes or no. The will simply say  that they have enough reports from guests who say they have had a paranormal experience  which might lead one to believe that the hotel is haunted. 

“We never want to say ‘yes it is’ or ‘no it isn’t’ because that is up to the individual,” Ott said. 

As the Crescent continued to dive into the history within its walls, they decided to uncover history deep beneath itself: the morgue. In 2013, the morgue that brought the hotel infamy for the paranormal was re-opened to the public.

“Yes, our hotel has a morgue,” laughed Ott. “Doesn’t everyone?”

For a small period of time between 1937 and 1939, the Crescent was referred to as “The Baker Cancer Curing Hospital, ‘Where Sick Folks Get Well.’” Tragically, the sick would be far from well at the hospital. Norman Baker, the founder of the hospital, had previously had attempts in theatre, education and radio businesses. It is safe to say he had no medical experience. Baker’s emphasis on business and neglect of ethical medicinal practices lead to the deaths of many patients. Fortunately, it also lead to Baker’s arrest in 1939.

In the meantime, the morgue was used to study cancer in the patients who had passed. A large walk-in cooler acted as a place to store cadavers and body parts to be studied. Years later, the morgue would host what The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) called “the holy grail of ghost hunting.” The moment was caught for a Syfy Network “Ghost Hunters” feature episode when the thermal imaging camera picked up a full-body apparition in front of a locker labeled “2”.

While the morgue was always included in the ghost tour at the Crescent, until 2013 it had doubled as maintenance storage. Now it serves to entertain guests curious about the paranormal world within the Crescent Hotel.

“One of the neat things about the paranormal aspect of our hotel is that we don’t market it that way,” explained Ott. “I know we have a ghost tour and we have americasmosthauntedhotel.com, but we market our hotel as a mountain top spa resort.”

Though the Crescent does draw in paranormal enthusiasts, it also draws in those just looking for a resort get away. In fact, the Crescent’s number one market is weddings. The hotel hosts about 300 weddings per year with many brides following in the steps of their mothers who also married at the Crescent. The second biggest market is romantic weekends for couples, followed by families, groups, and meetings. While the paranormal may not be for everyone, the ghosts don’t seem to scare away any of the other patrons. 

The message is clear: the Crescent Hotel is for everyone. Advertising that message, however, is a little more complicated.

“I started working here just after the Roenigks bought the hotel,” explained Ott,“so we’ve gone from print, TV, radio and other old advertising and marketing techniques to forming an online presence. We have somewhere between 36 to 39 websites all leading to the front doors of our hotel. We still do some traditional advertising, but our emphasis is electronic media. We have stayed in front of the trends so we don't have to catch up. We embrace new technology and new ways to market online. Its a modern way to market a historic hotel.”

Ott partners with a director of digital marketing to form the whole hotel marketing department. They collaborate to not only tell the story of the Crescent, but entice travelers to find their escape in the hotel. Staying ahead of the constantly changing trends keeps both the small marketing department and the check-in desk busy. Associating with Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Historic Hotels of America has also helped direct the Crescent to target markets.

While it may be a challenge to expand an old hotel, the Crescent has battled stagnation through obtaining more properties to increase occupancy such as the Crescent Cottages and the Lookout Cottages. The Roenigks also transformed a beer joint into the New Moon Spa to improve guests’ experiences. Like any good business, the Crescent continues to push for quality for the guests and quantity for the hotel. 

“In five to ten years,” mused Ott, “our goal is to consistently have full occupancy seven days a week. When that happens, we will smile and we keep working to keep that up.”