Aug. 7--FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.--After operating for 20 years under the Hilton name, the 15-story hotel in downtown Fayetteville is converting to a Radisson. 

The change will be effective Sept. 11, said the hotel's general manager, David McGeady. 

The 235-room hotel was built in 1981 and is owned by Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Regency Hotel Management. The hotel opened under a 20-year franchise contract with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Hilton Hotels Corp. 

Regency Hotel Management bought the property from Square One Association Inc. in 1992 and inherited the contract. 

With its expiration this year, the parties re-evaluated the arrangement, and Regency Hotel Management and Radisson -- a brand under the umbrella of Minneapolis-based Carlson Cos. Inc. -- reached an agreement last week to fly the Radisson flag over the hotel. 

Regency Hotel Management, which has 65 properties, operates six other Radissons but doesn't own any other Hiltons, said company President Greg Schjodt. His company's working relationship with Radisson was a big factor in the decision to switch flags, Schjodt said. 

The brand change coincides with a previously planned $2 million-plus renovation that will begin this fall, he said. 

Schjodt declined to disclose the length of the Radisson contract, but said it was more "user friendly." "This is all coming extremely fast and extremely furious," McGeady said Monday of the changes the brand switch will entail. 

Changes at the hotel will include redesigns to rooms, furnishing changes and, eventually, remodeling of the lobby, McGeady said. Because the deal is so new, he didn't have more details, he said. 

For instance, he didn't know whether the switch to Radisson would mean rate changes at the hotel. Traditionally, the two brands' rates have been roughly comparable. 

He did not anticipate any staff or management changes. 

Competitors greeted the change with mixed reactions. 

Bill Clodfelter, manager of the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville, which is second only to the Hilton in revenues in the city, said Radisson consulted him about the market when deciding whether to put the company's brand on the Fayetteville hotel. 

He said he cautioned the company that occupancy rates in Northwest Arkansas aren't growing. Clodfelter also manages the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in Bentonville and the Sleep Inn. 

"I think Radisson is a good chain, and it will take the place of the Hilton fine. ... I don't think there will a dramatic difference, I really don't," he said. 

Hilton's soon-to-be closest competitor was more critical. 

"I view this as very good for me -- very, very good," said Westlake, Ohio, developer Stella Moga, who last summer bought the Mountain Inn building a few blocks away and plans to renovate it into a 125-room hotel under the Crowne Plaza brand. She said the Radisson brand isn't quite as formidable as the Hilton brand. 

"The Radisson is not going to cater to the same quality clientele as mine," Moga said. 

Others that seek to draw visitors to downtown Fayetteville don't see the raising of the Radisson flag as a pivotal change in the market. 

Marilyn Johnson, director of convention and visitor development for the city of Fayetteville, said the Radisson name is a welcome addition to the market mix in the area, where Radisson doesn't have a presence. 

She helps oversee the Fayetteville Town Center convention hall that opened this summer just blocks from the Hilton. 

Bootsie Ackerman, executive director of the Downtown/Dickson Enhancement Project, an organization formed to refurbish public facilities in the Dickson Street area, said that the name on the hotel won't matter as much as its service. 

"What's going to count is that it's a good, clean, full-service hotel that serves the needs of a visitor to our community," she said. 

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