Spa Hotels in Hot Springs, AR

Nestled in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, Hot Springs is known for its gorgeous, and naturally heated springs— most of which belong to Hot Springs National Park. Named “America's Spa” in the early 1900s, Hot Springs was also a hot spot for Prohibition-era speakeasies. To this day, you can still find incredible speakeasy bars littered across town, hosting live music and serving cocktails well into the night. And as a town completely surrounded by the national park, this mountainous escape is one of the most unique locations in the U.S., and a fantastic setting for your next getaway to the best spa resorts in Hot Springs.

Leaving your top Hot Springs spa resort for the evening, head over to Central Ave downtown, where you’ll find delicious restaurants up and down the street. As one of the town's culinary claims, barbeque is not only a favored local eat, but a lifestyle. You can’t get too far in this town without stumbling upon the unmistakable scent of mouth-watering barbeque, typically served with fries and coleslaw. You’ll also find southern comfort food like shrimp and grits, pancakes, bacon & eggs, and regal steaks populating the menus of local eateries in town. After all that heavy dining, it may be time for some outdoor adventuring to get the blood pumping.

While staying in Hot Springs spa resorts, it's not hard to find ways to enjoy nature. As a town surrounded by the Hot Springs National Park, you’ll find your way to a wooded trail or nature path around every corner you turn. And though it’s one of the country's smallest national parks (5,500 acres), it offers a completely unique experience, one you won’t want to miss. The hot spring water running through this region is highly regarded among several Native American tribes and has been popularly believed for centuries as possessing medicinal properties! Spend a lazy afternoon from the calming waters of one of the park's hot springs or visit one of the area’s bathhouses where you can actually take a bath and enjoy spa treatments. Bathhouse Row has 8 bathhouses from the 19th and 20th centuries, including Buckstaff Baths, with thermal baths, and the Fordyce Bathhouse with its elaborate, stained-glass-and-marble baths and a lobby fountain. The Fordyce is also home to the park’s visitors center and museum if you’d like to learn a bit more about the history of the hot springs.

For a unique touring experience, pay a visit to the Gangster Museum of America, a regional history of crime and gangsters that offers a riveting guided video tour on the relationship between the local area and its notorious American gangsters from the past century.

Then, head to The Mid-America Science Museum to tour its more than 100 hands-on exhibits, including one of the museum's permanent exhibits— the most powerful conical Tesla coil, which can produce 1.5 million volts of electricity! Also available to view are several of Rowland Emett's possessions, including The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine, as well as several items that appear in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as inventions of the character Caractacus Potts.

Bring a bathing suit and a pair of good hiking boots for your trip to Hot Springs, and don’t forget to check out our top spa resorts in Atlanta, Houston, and Indianapolis.