A Wichita developer on Tuesday shared his vision for what a 90-room hotel focused on business travelers could include at Northwest Arkansas National Airport.
After XNA officials invited hotel developers to share information about what a project could look like at the airport, Hospitality Development of America was the only company to respond.
On Tuesday, Steven Martens, Hospitality Development’s president, told the airport board what he envisioned an upscale hotel, one that would connect well with “the mindset of the modern executive.” Later, Martens said the hotel should deliver “approachable luxury.”
Martens told board members he has not determined exactly which brand would fit best at XNA and there remain many details to work out. He said Marriott International, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts each have brands that would make sense.
“We’re not coming to the table with a brand signed up,” Martens said. “We want an upscale executive experience, but we want to be flexible in how we design the hotel.”
The hotel’s location would be just to the southwest of the airport’s parking deck, putting it within walking distance of the terminal. Previous discussions involving a hotel had the project further to the east near the cell phone parking lot.
Shayan Dehbozogri, a partner with the Rogers architectural firm Hight Jackson Associates that’s working on the project, said hotel concepts he’s creating show the building with four or five stories. There would be lush green landscaping, meeting rooms, a restaurant and bar, and a fitness center that’s better than an average hotel. No swimming pool is planned.
The purpose of sharing information about the hotel with the board was to ensure that board members expectations aligned with those of airport staff and the developer, said Aaron Burkes, the airport’s president and CEO.
“We didn’t want to get too far down the road and find out the board has a different view of how it should look or the concept,” Burkes said.
Burkes said a market study estimated the cost of a 120-room hotel at near $18 million, and an expense such as that would be the company’s responsibility. One possibility would be company to pay for consttruction and then for the airport to provide a 30-year lease, but no financial details have been decided.
XNA’s pursuit of an on-site hotel isn’t new. Burkes talked about building one in late 2022. A story published in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in mid-2019 described a hotel as being one of the projects on XNA’s “wish list.”
