Didn't know what to expect. The surroundings were a little dingy, which overall added to the charm. Immersion into the Hot Springs culture of the past. Very fun and interesting. Good guide.
We had a great time - our guide was informative & lots of artifacts to look at - we actually needed a little more time, but we had a lot of fun!
Ugh. This town needs a good bulldozing. Not that they haven't tried. The signs of arson, burnt out old hotels and casinos and brothels left in piles of collapsed timber everywhere, except in the most horrid tourist attractions EVER, this Gangster Museum, a horrific dusty wax museum,a rot-gut wine tasting dive and a reallly reallly horrific go-cart track are all run by a family of what would probably have been called gangsters back when gangsters certainly did run this town.
My son loves history of any kind, but has a thing for the mafia/gangsters of the old days. He was enthralled with our guide with his stories of various gangsters over the years who often visited Hot Springs. Lots of cool things to look at to go along with the stories. I think it lasted about an hour and was worth it. Both the kids enjoyed themselves as did us adults.
This was a great intro to the history of Hot Springs with facts about all the gangsters sprinkled throughout. A small location but worth the time.
I learned so much about the area. The videos made so it much clearer about the MOB. Cleared up a lot of myths.
My brother and his family toured this last year and said it was a don't-miss experience. There were a lot of things I'd have liked to spent more time with, but our tour guide rushed us through.
The place was fun and very informative. Hot Springs back in the days of the 20s, 30s, 40s and 1950s you could have seen any of the gangsters that you see in the movies.
While not on a par with The Mob Casino in Las Vegas, this museum is fine for it is designed for. The tour showed many interesting facts, however, we were too rushed for all of the artifacts to be appreciated.One other note, the entry fee is more then the tour is worth
The Gangster Museum was included in our spa package at the Arlington Hotel. It was fun, very nicely done and very interesting. It is not a large museum but is very nicely presented in a series of rooms. The history of Hot Springs and its ties to illegal gambling and the big time organized crime is very interesting. Perhaps equally interesting is the tie-in between Hot Springs and major league baseball and many teams' spring training.