HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 2 further entries on record
Al Capone's favorite Arkansas retreat — Suite 443 still smells of his cigars.
239 Central Ave, Hot Springs, AR 71901
Research updated October 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Hotel rooms vary by season. See website for current nightly rates. Restaurant and spa services additional.
Access
Wheelchair OK
ADA-compliant guest rooms available upon request, with accessible room entrances and pathways, roll-in showers, and accessible beds.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1924 · Hot Springs Open City Organized Crime Era · Al Capone Arkansas Residence 1927-1931 · Mediterranean Revival Architecture · National Register of Historic Places · Prohibition-Era Gangster History
The Arlington Hotel has dominated the Hot Springs skyline since 1875, when the city was already attracting visitors to its documented natural thermal springs. A fire destroyed the original structure, and the current 500-room Mediterranean Revival building — with its twin towers and ornate Central Avenue facade — opened in 1924 under management that understood the resort's clientele included people who preferred discretion.
Hot Springs during Prohibition operated as an 'open city' — a term that meant local and state authorities, by documented arrangement, permitted gambling, prostitution, and organized crime figures to operate freely in exchange for a cut of the proceeds. Federal authorities largely looked the other way. The result was that figures including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Owney Madden used Hot Springs as a neutral retreat where the normal rules of underworld competition were suspended.
Al Capone is documented to have stayed at the Arlington repeatedly between 1927 and 1931, booking Suite 443 as his standard accommodation. Local historical accounts confirm his presence and record that the hotel arranged for his security and privacy needs. The suite's location and number are preserved in hotel institutional memory and are referenced in multiple historical accounts of Hot Springs' organized crime era.
In 2015, hotel management authorized staff to discuss paranormal encounters with guests — an unusual policy shift that acknowledged years of unreported incidents. The Arlington continues as a full-service resort and has been on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
The Arlington's paranormal reputation predates the 2015 policy shift that allowed staff to discuss it openly, but the accounts became more consistent once management stopped requiring employees to dismiss guest inquiries.
Suite 443 — Capone's room — generates the most consistent reports: guests describe the smell of cigars in a non-smoking hotel room, a doorknob that moves without apparent cause in the middle of the night, and lights switching on after being confirmed off. None of these phenomena have been reproduced under controlled conditions, but the reports are distributed across many guests over many years, suggesting something other than a single misremembered incident.
Room 824 has a separate set of accounts unconnected to Capone: guests report objects falling from surfaces where they were set stably, and a described 'evil presence' that does not match the lighter, almost nostalgic quality of the Suite 443 reports. The difference in character between the two rooms' phenomena is noted by paranormal travelers who have stayed in both.
The grand ballroom has generated reports of shadow figures and unexplained sounds during events, attributed variously to former staff or guests from the hotel's operating peak in the 1920s-1940s. A 'woman in white' apparition reported on upper floors appears in multiple independent accounts.
Notable Entities
Suite 443 is the room Capone booked repeatedly during his stays in Hot Springs between 1927 and 1931. Guests report cigar smells with no apparent source, a jiggling doorknob late at night, and lights switching on without cause. The hotel has allowed staff to discuss documented encounters since 2015.
The 1924 Mediterranean Revival lobby, grand ballroom, and common areas carry documented connections to the Prohibition-era organized crime figures who used Hot Springs as a neutral retreat. The hotel's concierge can provide historical context on notable guests.
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