The Brown Hotel

The Brown Hotel is perfect for a weekend getaway. The rooms are spacious and clean. The drinks are delicious and the bar staff is friendly and efficient. The pianist is an added touch to a very nice evening!

Stayed at The Brown this week for a work trip. Rooms are not the cleanest and had a roach on the baseboard this morning. Surprise little friend I guess. It’s also not in the greatest area. The staff were very nice.

My first stay at this well known, historic hotel was marred by a bed one would expect to find in a much lower end hotel or motel; dingy carpeting, webs and bugs (?) on windowsills, trim that was obviously in need a fresh coat of paint and furniture that looked like Goodwill rejects. AND we were in a corner suite! C'mon management, invest some money here. On the upside, the staff could not have been friendlier; the food in the restaurant is good. Hence the "good" vs. "Poor" rating. I am just perplexed as to why they cannot provide a decent mattress and bedding; replace dingy, old, stained carpeting, and furniture, paint the trim and for heaven's sake, clean off the webs, etc. from the windowsills.

I have stayed at The Brown many time over many many years and still love this hotel. There is one disappointment that lead to 4 stars instead of 5. But first the good - service and food. The Brown has the best customer service I have experienced in any luxury hotel. Everyone I encountered was genuinely friendly and interested in making the stay perfect. Nothing fake or insincere - these folks genuinely are friendly and genuinely do care. The food at hotel restaurants is superb. We had dinner in the English Grill and it was outstanding; the Saturday breakfast/brunch was perhaps the best I have every had. If I lived in Louisville, I would go to The Brown for Saturday breakfast. The location is also very convenient. Its not right in the 4th Street Live nightlife and noise, but it is only a 5 minute walk away. I did find the furnishing in the rooms to be disappointing - all the furnishing are old and worn. It's not dirty, the rooms are very clean. Its that the furnishing are old and worn. the rooms are in serious need of updating. That's a big undertaking for a hotel, but for The Brown, I think its time.

Don’t get me wrong, the location and lobby of this hotel is phenomenal. It’s a classic and relic of Louisville, however, the rooms have a little to impress. The room was faceted with gorgeous relics but it could use a little TLC. The windows were double paned with new windows however on the in between, there were dead bugs and cobwebs everywhere. Inside the bathroom, the wall behind the toilet looked like some water damage was occurring causing the wall to be puffed out and the wallpaper to be falling off. The ceiling in the bathroom also suffered from water damage as you can see in the pictures. Finally, the cord hiders were present all over in the room and damaged in multiple places and a knob missing from the bathroom vanity. Again, was lack luster considering the rates for this hotel plus having to pay for parking. I guess I was expecting a little more for Louisville’s #1 hotel…