Reviews of Gangster Museum of America (Tourist Attraction)

Tamra Watts

My boyfriend and I loved this place! They really explain the history of Hot Springs and how the gangsters came here for a fun and relaxing time. So cool to think this was THE place to go back in the day for some illegal gambling and alcohol! Haha! There isn't as much to look at as you'd think. It's mostly videos and information about history.

Drew Svoboda

Almost everyone in our tour would have preferred it to be unguided, although the gentleman leading the tour was very nice and knowledgeable. The videos are a little old, and not edited very well (it’s US Marshal, not Marshall). We were pushed to keep moving past some of the more interesting exhibits, and overall the museum would be cooler if the videos played on a loop, and the guides were stationed about to answer questions and call attention towards artifacts, with the museum patrons being able to move about the building freely.

Kim Cheek-Yannayon

It's a guided tour located in a Historic Hot Springs building. For the most part the information is available online and through older newspaper articles. They tell you that you can look around while they talk. However, it leaves you feeling either rushed to look around or rude if you do look while they talk. You cannot look at your own pace unguided. The building appears small, but is much larger. The staff is friendly. The building is clean.

Sheri Ramirez

This was a fun and interesting tour. If you go to Hot Springs, don't pass it up. My husband and I were visiting relatives in Arkansas, and they suggested we drive to Hot Springs. The decision to visit the Gangster Museum was made spontaneously when we happened to walk by. Even my relatives had not been there before. It was very interesting and entertaining. A young actor gave an oral presentation of Hot Springs' history as a welcoming haven for some of the most notorious gangsters of the 1930s. Rival gangs could peacefully engage in gambling and enjoying the healing springs and services. Our docent then stepped aside to give us an opportunity to view the displays for several minutes before continuing the tour. I had my small dog with me and was welcome to carry her throughout the tour.

Larry Crenshaw

The tour guide was knowable about the history of hot springs. But didn't get time to read the article's in each room. Would be better if you could go back and see the things you missed. Over all it was great.

Toni Wright

Fun and informative tour.

Ujwal Velagapudi

It was OK, nothing special. You could finish it in 20+ minutes if there weren’t all the videos. Some interesting things.

Barb Ross

Really enjoyed the history. Guide was awesome

David Sluder

The tour had some great information. The tour itself lacked any real appeal though. You spend a good portion of the time watching videos of a documentary you can find on the history channel. The portions where your guide gives information is very entertaining and they have very interesting items that are from the time period when the gangsters where in hot springs. I would consider it a decent deal for the money. 15 dollars a person would be a better deal if your guide gave all the information though and answered questions during the tour.

Kim Risinger

Mainly short narrated videos. Little time to look at the few relics they have. Moved from room to room quickly with little time to speak to tour guide or ask questions. Guide was nice enough but got several important facts wrong. Lastly they need to make a suggested age limit. Almost impossible to hear guide or videos over unruly toddlers. Not worth the high admission price. This was in Hot Springs, Ark. Biggest dissappointment of entire trip

Adina Grimm

It's a one hour guided tour and the guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and happy to answer questions. After the guided tour we chose to go back through to read the information and more closely look at the exhibits. Completely enjoyed it and would definitely recommend visiting. It was clean, well maintained, and nice and cool once you leave the store front.

Christi

It has alot of memorabilia. You don't get any time to look at it. They move you through quick and put a video on. After the video move on.

Monique Robinson

The gentleman giving the tours is very sweet. He's passionate about his museum and sharing local knowledge with visitors. It took about an hour, maybe a little longer to go through. It is a guided tour through about 7 rooms that each have a different theme. For example, there was a baseball room and an Al Capone room.

Craig B

I'm sure a lot of people might like this sort of things, and a lot of effort was put in. However, It just wasn't for me. If you want to watch a video and see some news paper clippings you might like it.

Chelsea Berger

The man running the show was older and boring. You only watched videos the whole time which is really not my cup of tea.. BUT. There were some really neat things to look at and read.

Matthew Raborn

Always a great stop as I always learn something new!

Mrs Hartsfield

Learned a lot! The Host did a great job!!! Definitely a must see!!

Evangelia Kent

Enjoyed every minute of it

Tom Harden

Hot Springs has an interesting story. The Gangster Museum tries to tell that, but they miss some details.

Jerald Dike

Great tour guide.

Frank Roggio

Good history lesson

thomas watkins

Very cute and cool

Roger Sharp

Very informative.

Amanda Hayes

Loved this museum! We went on a tour of the place and the tour guide had very high energy and knew exactly what she was talking about and more. It was very educational and fun. Highly recommend this museum if you are in Hot Springs!

Tar-Easha Hood

I love this place. It was fun unplanned Date Night!

Vikki Stubbs

Lots of information on the gangsters who frequented Hot Springs in the early 1900s through the 60s. Enjoyable hour+. Great guide.

SkunkBud62

4th time we have visited. A must if you're in Hot Springs. The tours are very informative. Learned something new every time I go here. If you like gangsters this is the place to go.

Kelly Gonzalez

Save your money!!! It is over priced!!!! It is a guided tour and there is NOT much to see AT ALL!!! Worse museum ever!!! They have no clue what a real gangster or mon museum is. They have mile 6 -7 rooms you go into and the guide talks then you watch videos that are made by the owner for 5 minutes in each room and the lady talks, boring. Nothing to see everyone just glances around the room. 20 people per tour and it was so boring half weren't even paying attention. Went on Saturday July 6, 2019. The tour guide said she was a teacher and then gets to a fake mold of Dillanger and talks about how he was shot from behind and proceeds to say some things never change because the police still do it today. IF YOU ARE AIN'T LAW ENFORCEMENT KEEP IT TO YOURSELF LADY!!!!!!!. I DID NOT OVER PAY TO COME HERE TO HERE YOUR SMART REMARK. The other reviews must be from friends of this place cause it cost over $16 for one adult. Sooooo over priced. Should be $5.00

Tracy Hoover

My husband and I recently took a tour at the GMoA and Bobby J and his wife were fantastic! We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learned SO MUCH about Hot Springs and the gangsters! Fun tour that I will recommend to anyone heading to Hot Springs!

Juan Martinez

Learned a lot from this place nice place to visit

Benjamin Thompson

A great place to go and learn about the history of Hot Springs.

Randy Mingo

Some of the more unknown Hot Springs history.

Edward Gersh

Was a lot of fun and very informative

Rosalyn Cox

Pretty cool slice of history.

John Lerma

Great tour for Hot Springs history!

Bev

Nice place to learn history. LeRoy did well.

Lash Askew

Interesting stories but needed more time to see the pictures.

L Akers

Any artifacts in this museum are just from the area, there are very few, if any, from any gangster. There are mostly just pictures on the wall. A "tour guide" leads you into a room, talks for about a minute, starts a video, then leaves the room. After the video, you have a minute to look around the room. The "tour guide" comes in and repeats this about 5 or 6 times. Not worth the money or time.

Julie Miller

$15 and I would say not worth it. The tour guide would say a few minutes worth of stuff then put on a video. He would then leave until the video was over. The videos reminded me of videos you would have to watch in school. Not very entertaining. The museum did not offer a self guided tour and you had to go with them from room to room. You couldn't just leave. It felt like it was a push to promote Hot Springs with a little gangster info too.

Braden Scott

Fun! Definitely worth a visit. Lots of neat history and artifacts on display and explained buy a very knowledgeable tour guide. Be sure to use the restroom before the tour because there is no going back until after it's finished.

Darlene Wolfe

So much history in a nice town.

Rachel Torrence

Absolutely loved it!

Gloria Klomsten

It was interesting to learn about the area and the different people.

Carson Rutledge

We enjoyed the interactive guided tour. It was fun to learn the history of Hot Springs. Our tour guide was very good and you could tell he enjoyed doing the tours.

Elizabeth Wilkinson

This place was a very neat place to visit. It gave a little bit of interesting history of Hot Springs. The young man doing the tour seems to really enjoy what he does. His family has history in the area. If you get him as your guide you will find out the significant role his family played in the area. Very neat tour. There are videos but I rather enjoyed them. I'm eager to bring my husband.

Shelby Bearden

Loved our tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and lots of fun to talk to! The museum was very interesting! One of my favorite parts of visiting Hot Springs.

Josue Mendez

You pay money, and are led into a room with a TV which plays a DVD which looks like it's from 1991. You are then lead into another room, which plays a different section of the DVD, and then another room, which repeats the same process, and so on and so forth. The items in the exhibit are more related to the period than to the subject matter. The guide, didn't even stay in the room with us most of the time to explain anything. You get a better experience from just watching a documentary.

Shutterbug. dean

Interesting history and the tour is well done. Lots of pictures, artifacts and video to tell the stories of the gangsters in Arkansas.

Gary Moxley

Worth the price. Guide was great very interesting.

Jenna Walton

Take this museum tour! So worth it!!

Renee Tingle

Guide was very informative, and the tour was very good, enjoyed learning about a part of history I hadn’t heard before, well worth the price

Dalton Barron

Nice tour. Very informative.

Yolanda Gailes

This was a Hot Springs Museum my Mom recommended from her research. The Gangster Museum tour lasted about an hour and has some interesting artifacts. History that linked Hot Springs AR and Los Vegas NV to one another. They will even allow you to take pictures. The older gentleman that gave us the tour was extremely knowledgeable that it makes you wonder, hmmm. L

Robert Fries

People were nice however, the tour is a series of DVDs that you sit and watch in different rooms In my opinion not worth the price.

jennifer pugh

Loved this! The tour guide was a little strange though

Becki Smith

Loved it, learned alot. No reservations are needed. Everyone was pleasant and wonderful.

Emperor Ozzy

Interesting tour and history of gangster life in hot springs Arkansas

Kelly Kirkland

Loved it! The tour guide was awesome, too.

Mary Rankin

Our tour guide Mark was awesome!

Jae

A friend recommended it and we saw many billboards. My immediate reaction was it looked like it was going to be hoaky but when we finished we had learned so much about Hot Springs ( and I've been there many times over the last 40 years) Ran into friends who also had went and they also lived it. VERY information lal in an interesting format. Reccomend!

Kevin Jenkins

Unique museum tracing the history of Hot Springs and Underworld figures like Al Capone. Guided tour mix of videos/anecdotes. Takes about an hour, with opportunity to shop afterwards. Felt it was expensive at $15 per adult plus tax. Will certainly open your eyes to the Hot Springs of the past. Located opposite Bath House Row.

Steven Colter

Excellent place to visit. We were surprised. Locals referred us to see this.

Vicky Clevenger

Very good gangsta history in Hot Springs. Highly recommend.

Quintin Johnson

I loved it was very great to find about the old gangster and how they made there money

ivy jones

The Gangster Museum was great. We really enjoyed it. Learning the history and things you did know was exciting.

E-liz Mendoza

Very interesting! Our guide was a gentleman and he was absolutely GREAT! Lots of good information, played his part well and was very polite.

Mrs Perry

My husband enjoyed it. I had no interest in it.

Angie Quiles

The guys who work there, "Baby Face Cody" and "Saint Patrick" are the friendliest and funniest guys I met during my entire trip. They are knowledgeable and smart and have a comical way of teaching facts. The hats are amazing too. I definitely recommend visiting this place to everyone.

E J

Very detailed information about the history of Hot springs and our tour guide was so awesome and knowledgeable

Robin Smith

This was very interesting. I grew up in the north part of the state and didn't realize that this was going on in hot springs!

Heather Moon

I was pleasantly surprised by what we found when we entered the Gangster Museum. It was not planned, but we thought, "Why not?" Turns out, we made a great decision! Located in the heart of downtown Hot Springs, this building is jam-packed with artifacts showcasing the rich gangster history of Hot Springs. I learned so much and left with a new appreciation of Hot Springs. The guide was obviously passionate about gangster history.

Justin Daniel

A must if you are going to Hot Springs!

Rice Robert

Amazing can't wait to go back.

Mohan Balagopal

Too much of videos, could have been made better.

Linda Harry

It was exciting to learn all the rich history of all the gangsters that made HOT SPRINGS either their hide a way of their home. The tour guide brought to life eaxh story. Enjoyed this tour the most.

edward09603

Very informative and fun museum.

Daniel Cook

Neat history of hot springs. Not child friendly. They will be bored.

Harris Dail

Great to place to visit and learn the history of gangsters in hot springs AR

Tammy Chadwick

Tour was awesome! Very informative! Tour guide was great, wish I could remember his name!!

Angie Beckwith

Loved this. Learned a lot I didn't know. Presentation was really good

Claudia Briseno

Not what we expected...... I must agree with everyone that the workers at this location were very nice and it made it more fun to have a tour with someone dressed in gangster getup. That being said, this tour was not for us. It was 1 hour long with about 30-40 min of videos some of which were not very well made. The collection they had was quite small and most of it was pictures and newspaper articles which, as was stated before, you did not have enough time to read as you went from room to room. My favorite part honestly was when our tour guide talked about the history of certain pieces. It would have been nice to maybe tour some of the buildings and get the history of gangsters from each stop. A good stop to get out of the heat and to some cold AC.

brian snider

Cool place for the history. Learn quite a few things about Hot Springs and I enjoy anything about gangsters from the earliest 20th century. had some cool artifacts and stuff to look at all though it was pretty much just walking from room to room checking out a video. I'd still recommend it though it was a little pricey for what it offered

Neil Brown

The gangster museum was a cool experience the workers even dressed like the old time gangsters... it had some cool memorabilia from the old days and its crazy that this small town in the backwoods of Arkansas was the hotspot for gangsters to go vacation lol if you have the chance to go I recommend it highly

Christina deckard

A guided tour not much to see your guided will tell ya things about what's going on for about 3 minutes and then watch a short film for about 6 min in each room only has some pics and news stories hanging on the wall don't waste your time or money definitely not what I expected

Doug Clauson

Lots of cool info

Stacey Morgan

Great history of Hot Springs inside this relatively small space. 1 hour guided tour with a fun and knowledgeable guide. Places to sit throughout the tour were welcome for my tired feet and back.

Anne Dickerson

We we're only able to go into the gift shop area. But we talked to the lady working there and it sounded really interesting we just did not have the time to go into the museum itself. However the gift shop had some stuff that was pretty interesting.

Candy Mckee

Very nice learned alot about the history of the area

Paula Scales

The tour guide gave an informative and entertaining tour of how gambling and gangsters helped build up Hot Springs. Well worth the time.

Tiffany Lester

My hubby wanted to tour the museum and it was interesting. Im not much for museums but it was neat to learn the history of the town. You could prolly look it up online and save $15.00 a person but it was an experience and we were on vacation.

Daniel Hagerich

Great place and amazing history.

Joan Neumann

Very cool experience definitely worth the visit! There is an incredible history here!

Sherry Bondy

Definitely 1.5 hours I won't get back. Information and history is there, the tour guide attempts to do a good job, however, overall it is an unprofessional operation. Rushed with tacky displays and videos that give snippets of what the focus of the room you are in. Keep your money folks.

danny williams

the gangster museum in hot springs is a very unique experience at least for my friend and I it was we thoroughly enjoyed it it is a guided tour that takes over an hour and you learn all about the town the history how it came to be where the money came from get built that town you get to see movies you get to see memorabilia left by the gangsters that ran it it's just really cool it's a lot of fun and they have a store in there or you can buy memorabilia so it's a really cool experience if you're going to visit hot springs you really need to check out the gangster museum it's well worth the visit and the price I believe it was around $11 per person.

James Reynolds

Awesome I would do it again.

Taylor Flowers

Interesting information, but you essentially spend $15 for videos. It’s also you either take the tour or nothing, which I would have rather wondered through the rooms myself.

Kaye Daugherty

It has an excellent hat selection in the souvenir store. It tells an interesting story about the gangsters of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

BOY TOY Reviews

Amazing history, although I wish the tour guide said more cause he was really just there to play the videos

Shalah Ann

Great value for the money. Our host took us on a trip through time in this quaint museum. My son and I learned a lot about the history of Hot Springs, the early years of baseball, and other local oddities that we would have otherwise missed. I would highly recommend swinging in and taking the tour. AAA+++++++++++++++

Patrick Miles

Very informative and well-organized. A lot of interesting history. The only thing that I would like to see improved is to have more available seating during the tour and also be able to walk back through on my own without having to worry about disturbing a another tour group.

Emma Grevan

Cody was a fantastic tour guide! Very informative and very charismatic! Only reason for the four star review was that, while the interviews in the videos were cool, I would have liked to hear more of the info from the tour guide.

Rodney Dollison

Very informative

Matt Robinson

Walking tour was a lot of fun. Lots of great history on the town.

Jay

The host had a ton of knowledge, and local references.

Crystal Thomas

Really cool! Found out some interesting things there.

Blake Eden

So much fun definitely recommend

Donald Coulson

Really interesting but a little expensive

Jessica Smith

Definitely not worth the price. It's just one room after another with an extremely old DVD in each room. Tour guide was boring and seemed uninformed at times. The whole thing was not worth the price and it took way too long.

Melanie Walton

So cooooool!

forrest walsh

Very interesting and fun.

Oscar Aldape

Love history

Linda Hart

The tour guide was great. Very informative . She just didn't give us time to see all news clippings or stories on the wall.

Rudy Lopez

Nice experience

Culver Carrington

Very very good great for a family vacation

Amanda Mahoney

Some neat facts regarding the gangsters who frequented Hot Springs. Pretty much enter a room and watch a video, enter another room watch another video. A little pricey for the experience at $15 per adult. If I went back to Hot Springs I wouldn't need to take the tour again.

Suzy Blodgett

Nice place but expensive.

Mike Langley

Very informative tour. Really learned a lot about the history of Hot Springs and the hands off attitude of that era.

Scott Zuege

1hr40mins of history and surprises.

Greg Young

Interesting and very cool

Joseph Cullipher

Love it! Love it! Love it! If your in Hot Springs this is a must go attraction of you have ever been interested in the gangsters of America. Almost every gangster, from Capone to Dillenger, spent time in Hot Springs. Learn the story and see actual artifacts and enjoy a great time. It is well with your time and money. And it doesn't really cost that much.

M S

Never knew Hot Springs was the place to be for gangsters.

sandra butler

There is a lot to see in this neat little museum. We joined a guided tour that was already in progress. The guide, a sweet older gentleman, caught us up and offered to take us through the first few rooms that we missed once the tour concluded (an offer we regrettably had to decline due to time constraints). The staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable; the museum is unique and intriguing. If I had to give it any type of "negative" feedback it would be that the tour does not allow for any type of self guided exploration. I would have loved the chance to explore on my own if given the chance, and if time had allowed it. I've already talked to my dad about taking him down to tour it soon!!

Tracy Kirk

Mostly videos and a lecture by a hardworking tour guide in gangster garb. They had some artifacts. Personally I would've liked hearing more about the role of the railroad in transporting gangsters. I liked that the guide gave his full effort even for the last tour of the day. Books and memorabilia were available.

J C

Not much of a museum but the tour guide has lots of interesting history about Hot Springs.

Shaun Johnson

Really cool place. Would have liked more time in each room, but the video tour was great. Tour guide really knew his stuff

Bobby Huckabay

Very good history on Hotspring

Karen

The tour takes you on a journey through history. The atmosphere is fun and the tour is enjoyable even if you don't I know a lot about gangsters.

Leigh Klawetter

It was a bit warm and there were A LOT of movies shown, but it was very informational. I wish there was a self guided tour as well. There was so much to read you could spend quite a bit of time in there!!

Nobody Famous

Awesome place to visit. Interesting exhibit's that cover a good amount of mob history in Hot Springs. I would recommend visiting this attraction 100%

David Rogers

Our guide was awesome and we never knew about all the gangster activity Hot Springs was involved in years ago. Very neat.

GILBERT ATILANO

Interesting, very informative glad I went

Che Collier

This was TERRIBLE. I paid $15 for a tour, not to watch videos. I walked out of the tour promptly into the fourth video. The owners should should be ashamed of themselves. The "museum" had images that could be found in your favorite search engine and the alleged "tour guide" would say five words then put on a video. Google and YouTube are free. If you want to learn about gangsters in that time period, please use those sources. This is not worth the money or time. I regret not demanding my money back.

Patrick King

Good exhibits and an awesome guide. A bit pricey, perhaps, but so are all the tourist stops in Hot Springs.

Brandon Harrell

It was interesting to learn about the history of Hot Springs and some of the key players! The tour guide did a great job!

Kayla Brock

It was cool. It was mostly watching informational videos. The tour guide only guided from room to room really. The customer service was great and there were some cool pictures throughout.

Robin Young

Me an son went to Arkansas to visit my other son an this is one of the places we visited an it was interesting.

Honk E Kong

I enjoyed the tour very much, and the guide was knowledgeable about everything. Yes, you do watch some videos, but it tells about the different gangsters. If people would actually ask questions, you might find it more interactive. My 8 year old loved the tour and was always asking questions about the different rooms. I highly recommend the tour.

Jonathan Sutton

LOVED this place. They had a sit down educational movie on the gangsters of hot springs and everything. The Hattery is also a good addition. Much better than the Wax Museum

Patty Nichols

You need to go to the Gangster museum to understand what Hot Springs is all about. We went and I bought a book to read up on the history. Very informative.

Ally Whobrey

Interesting tour. Small rooms for a large group of people. No sitting aside from a handful of chairs that are hot commodity as each person enters the room.

Jeanne Bowman

Had an older gent br docent for the tour and he really added to our experience. It's a simple tour where you move from room to room but full of lots of interesting information. I recommend it.

Debra Williams

Great museum & alot of very interesting history

Casandra Lewis

My husband and I love historic crime history, we made a stop here; the woman at the desk was very kind and knowledgeable and also gave a little history about the town as we waited. The tour guide "Bobby J" was very funny and even gave more insight on how "death mask" came about. If you like history and are from out of town; such as Rhode Island; this is a must. The whole area is a breath of fresh air, it's like taking a time machine to the past during prohibition time. So much history, thank you so much to the tour guide and the woman at the desk, you made our long journey well worth it.

shawn maile

The guide is amazing and the building is full of history. If you're visiting from out of town you definitely want to check it out.

Sherry Bradley

Loved this place. It talked about the 20's when Hot Springs was really booming...

Susan Aper

I love this place! Excellent service and friendly staff. Went to late to do anything but shop and look around We will definitely return

Jimmy Hylton

Very insightful, but kind of boring. You do learn a lot on the tour through the museum, and maybe the tour is just a little long.

Kevin Rasberry

Great tour. Very informative. Good history lesson.