21c hotel opens in Bentonville

Attendees of the 21c Museum Hotel walk past "A Sudden Gust of Wind" by Serkan Ozkaya on Monday.

Attendees of the 21c Museum Hotel walk past "A Sudden Gust of Wind" by Serkan Ozkaya on Monday.

Monday, February 11, 2013

— The 21c Museum Hotel opened Monday morning to streams of residents curious about the museum’s contemporary art and the hotel’s individually decorated rooms.

City officials and hotel staff were on hand to cut a ribbon strewn alongside the hotel’s signature green penguin.

“Bentonville has its own 21c Museum Hotel,” said Mayor Bob McCaslin before cutting the ribbon.

The museum offers 104 rooms each displaying unique art pieces, museum galleries and The Hive restaurant. The museum is free and open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Bentonville location is one of three 21 Museum hotels in the country. The building is the first that wasn’t a redesign of an existing structure for the hotel group.

Architect Deborah Berke said she hopes the architecture provides “grace and delight” to Bentonville residents.

“We hope you enjoy the building,” she said.