fordyce bathhouse (vistor center)

The visitor center was a wealth of knowledge. We spent a couple hours here exploring the bathhouse and reading all the information available about the baths and the general area. I recommend this be your first stop in town because learning the history really seemed to make other landmarks and attractions mean more for us! We understood which hotels and baths were built, when they may have burned and/or been rebuilt and remodeled. The employees here are very nice and informative but let you take the self guided tour at your own pace. There is a short movie that gives a good run down of the history of the area and runs every 30 minutes starting at 9:30am, if you don't want to stay long at least see the video!

This is a great little museum. All of the tile work and finishings are beautiful and it is really worth a walk-thru (we were unguided and it was great) especially if you are participating in any bath house activities yourself. It will help to give you a sense of what it was once like and help put your mind in a cool place for your experience.

I am a history buff, and I very much enjoyed taking the tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse. It is a trip into the splendor of the Victorian Age, as well as a glimpse into past extravagance. The exhibit gives one a good idea of how people in the past vacationed, and spent downtime relaxing!

Do not leave Hot Springs without this step back in history. They hold guided tours frequently every day. Do not attempt the self guided tour unless you are extremely pressed for time. When done, mosey across the street to the Ohio Club (licensed) for another step back in time...lunch and a beer with the historical pics of celebrities and gangsters all over the walls.

The bath house is the Visitor's Center, and is staffed by helpful staff. The restored building gives an amazing window into another time and culture. A great attractions, and it's free!

Nothing to dislike plus there was no fee to enter the Hot Springs even though it is a national park, most of the time visitors have to pay minimum $10.

We had a great time learning about the history of hot springs. We joined a group that was doing a tour with a tour guide,who was very nice. We would definitely visit again.

What a great historical site! Displays are amazing with artifacts from back in the day. Neat informational introduction video. Unguided tour allows time to look without being rushed.

Friendly knowledgeable staff. clean rest rooms Gives a great look into life in the early 1900's lots of pictures and a movie.

It was our 1st time to Hot Springs. The bathhouses were very pretty and a lot of history. We learned a lot.

Interesting. Educational. Beautiful. Historic. We learned how the bathhouses operated. What we learned at the visitor center made the spa experiences at the other bathhouses all the more interactive and engaging.

Great place to visit. Free. Take your time, read all there is to get benefit of what has been saved from the past. Be sure and go to the basement. We visited this in 2010, but was good to walk through again, I think there are more displays now.

The visitors center was an amazing experience with staff who were interested and helpful. They have tours at various times or you can do it yourself, which was our choice.Three floors of the most unique experience and one can only imagine what it must have been like in the early years. It has been nicely maintained, good displays and a person leaves feeling a real sense of history. We do recommend a tour when in Hot Springs.

So helpful and knowlegable. Knew everything about area and answered all of our questions - and more. Told us about the history of the area and the individual bath houses in particular.

Loved to wander a nice clean version of the old bathhouses. We decided (unfortunately) not to climb up to the third floor; but then found a photo of the skylight room up there. i wish we'd gone one more flight up. We will go back.