Originally Posted by
ORDSteve
Stumbled across this thread and had to chime in. I spent a week here as it was the hotel I kept winning via Priceline express deals.
Good- Lobby is beautiful, front desk people are great (Erin in particular) and the rooms are nice. Try to get a -01 thru -09 odd numbers as they have cool views back toward downtown. Beware the -01 corner suite in summer tho, the giant a/c unit cooling the whole building at ground level was insanely loud.
Bad- the location is several blocks out of the best part of downtown (close to the river is best) and as a result it's the least desirable of the 4 star Priceline options. There's a cool bagel place next door on 4th street but otherwise the best food/ beverage options are a long walk or cab ride away.
Downtown Louisville in general is ok, the vibe is quite different during the week vs weekends. It's close to some great areas tho, NuLu, Bardstown Rd, etc. The people and bourbon are great, lots of fun bars downtown including the aforementioned Proof on Main at 21c.
Hope this helps!
In case an update would be helpful: we were at the Brown last week and agree with OrdSteve above on the points he has made. I suspect in the intervening two years, the condition of the hotel has deteriorated further. We would not recommend this place to anyone unless they are 1) at an event on premises (lots of weddings during our stay);2) willing to drive to most places or 3)are taken with historical hotels and willing to trade atmosphere for pristine conditions.
The area surrounding the hotel has seen better days and is quite desolate. While we felt safe walking to the downtown area on 4th St., it was a sea of empty storefronts for much of the way. The one mile walk was fine once or twice, but it would get old after too many days. We ended up using our car to drive to Bardstown Rd. and Nulu for most meals.
The public spaces have a nice sense of grandeur and I'd recommend a visit for a Hot Brown for any visitor. The staff was uniformly lovely and helpful. But the rooms felt old and borderline in need of a good scrub. The pillows were smaller than standard and super lumpy. Our mattress pad was crinkly and waterproof, making for an uncomfortable set up. Soundproofing to halls wasn't great and I can confirm the comment above that the A/C equipment was ridiculously loud.