Photos copied from https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+the+Arlington+Hotel&rlz
This is my post for #freewriters 2500 prompt the best suite hosted by@ mariannewest
I remember climbing the stairs to the Arlington Hotel in Hot Spring Arkansas, the handrail was shiny gold maybe it was made of brass. I do not remember it going up the middle like it is in the photo, I thought it went down both sides, but that was 58 years ago so my memory might be wrong.
I found a photo with the handrails on both sides, it is from the same site as the other photo.
We had to take an elevator to our room, it was my first time in one and it had a man that pushed the buttons for you. He became the kid's friend, we rode the elevator a lot.
The reason we were here was our Dad traveled to meetings. These are some of the people he met with, I used to know them but now all I can remember is Judge Roy Bean, he is the man sitting. He is a great grandson of the hanging judge Roy Bean. Dad is on the left end and my stepmother is sitting in white.
I remember our rooms, for a hotel it was large, it must have been the best suite in the hotel. You walked into a large living room, it had a small kitchen, and two bedrooms, one with 2 full size beds and the other with one big bed, an outside sitting area, a meeting room, and two bathrooms. I do not remember what floor it was on but it was near the top of the hotel. Outside it had hiking trails and a huge swimming pool with a waterfall. It was a beautiful place to stay.
When my parents were in a meeting we kids had the run of the entire hotel, (other people had their kids with them, too) we got to know the cleaning people and kitchen staff and we got to sample the food they were making, mostly the desserts. Our favorite person was the elevator operator, he had told us that his teeth were fake, and we had never known anyone with fake teeth. When it came time for us to leave I asked Dad for some money to buy the elevator man a goodbye gift. I bought him Polygrip, I thought it was a nice gift for someone with fake teeth, the box said it helps hold them in place. To a child, this sounded like what he might need and when I gave it to him, he seemed to like it. Now the older me knows this might have embarrassed him but he did not let it show, he thanked us for our nice gift. Jerry, his name was Jerry, this just came to me.
I did not know this but some famous people have stayed there.
In the 1930s, the Arlington Hotel was a favorite vacation spot for Al Capone at room 443. The whole floor was even rented out for his staff and bodyguards. Many famous people including the U.S. presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, George H.W. Bush, and native son Bill Clinton have stayed.
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photo with my Dad is mine