NWAOnline: Cosmopolitan Hotel to be renamed ‘The Chancellor’ following renovations

Workers remove stucco from the
exterior of the Cosmopolitan Hotel
Thursday morning in Fayetteville.
(Photo: Todd Gill / Enlarge)

When renovations are complete on the 14-story Cosmopolitan Hotel in downtown Fayetteville, the hotel will reopen with a new look and a new name.

The hotel will be called The Chancellor in an effort to promote the hotel’s proximity to the University of Arkansas and the school’s importance to Fayetteville.

The $7 million facelift will include a new exterior, a new lobby, and a total of about 200 completely refurbished rooms.

It’ll be the fourth name for the hotel which first opened in 1981 under the Hilton brand.

In 2001, the named changed from Hilton to Radisson. In 2006, the hotel was renamed The Cosmopolitan after partners John Nock and Richard Alexander purchased the business for a reported cost of about $16 million.

The hotel’s new owner, Southwind Hospitality Holdings, is a partnership between Ike Thrash of Dawn Properties in Hattiesburg, Miss. and Sam Alley of VCC Construction in Little Rock.

Renovation is expected to be complete by late 2012.