Downtown Louisville does not have a great variety of attractions, but there are a few that should not be missed.
First and foremost is the Actor's Theater of Louisville which is probably the pre-eminent regional theater company in the country. Its complex is at Third and Main, a few blocks from the Hyatt and toward the end of February and the beginning of March, it will feature the Humana Festival of New American Plays. I have had projects in Louisville for more than twenty years and always manage to arrange a trip out there for this festival.
The restaurant on the roof of the Hyatt is OK, not great, but OK, although there are some very interesting views of the city and of the big river as you spin around. Although most of the best restaurants are out on Bardstown Road, Frankfort Avenue, or St. Mathews and require a car or taxicab ride, one of the two best in town is Vincenzo's, a Northern Italian at Fifth and Market. The service is polished and elegant and the food is extremely well prepared. Be warned that Vincenzo's will present you with a NY type tab. You can also get a pretty good meal with an excellent wine selection at the Bristol Bar & Grill, one of a local chain, that can be found adjacent to the Kentucky Center for the Arts, not far from the hotel.
The only other restaurant that I can recommend near downtown is Timothy's, at Ninth and East Broadway, a very short cab ride from the hotels. Timothy's specialty (invented here) is a "white chili" made with chicken and which is pretty good. The main dish that I think it does the best is a macadamia crusted sea bass, which I am sure to order at least a few times every year.
The other of the two best restaurants in Louisville is Lilly's, close in on Bardstown Road. This house specializes in the use of local ingredients and has never disappointed us.
You will find the best directory and reviews of restaurants on the Courier-Journal website by clicking on Louisville Scene, which will also have a listing of all cultural (and also not so cultural) events that week. The best club listing is in the alternative weekly LEO (Louisville Eccentric Observer), which is published on Thursdays and which you can get for free at the airport coming into town. Look for it in a dispenser at the end of the escalators coming down to the rental car and baggage claim area. It is one of the best of its kind in the country.
I have never stayed at the Doubletree, but my lawyer's office is at the Kentucky Home Life Building right across from the Hyatt, where I have stayed many times, most recently mid-December. The hotel is pretty much a standard Hyatt, good but without a Concierge Lounge. If you have the flexibility, investigate the Seelbach, which is now a Hilton and is a restored turn-of-the-century building. The rooms are unique and elegant, the public areas are impressive, and the Concierge Lounge is even open on the weekend.
The only other hotel that I have found with a Lounge is the Marriott about eight or ten miles out east, where I usually stay when I don't have any business downtown.
As you may have guessed from this post, Louisville is a city with a weak downtown, mostly closed after dark, and almost all of the action is a good ride away. If you don't have a car, you will not have the ability to take advantage of much of the nightlife.
If you have any questions about any particular attraction or restaurant, don't hesitate to e-mail me with it, for I have been working that town (with a liberal expense account) for the aforementioned twenty years and know many of the answers.