It's a day to go down in Arklatex history. The long awaited Hilton Hotel, now open to the public. Construction started about a year and a half ago and $52 million later the hotel is ready to serve their guests. The traditional "H" flag was raised Wednesday afternoon to signal the grand opening and now one hundred and twenty employees are now ready to serve you. The full service 12 story, 313 room facility is non-smoking and non-gaming. This hotel is the second half of the city's $152 million strategy to draw more conventions and visitors to Shreveport. “They are going to feed off of each other; they are both going to be positive for each other. The hotel is going to do better because of the convention center, and the convention center is going to do a lot better because the hotel is here. It's time and it's a great thing to see them working together now,” admitted Tom Dark, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Shreveport. Hotel officials say bookings are going well. In fact, they have guests staying in the hotel tonight.
