LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY...Anyone familiar?

[HeatherC]

Hi There!

Once again turning to the Disboards for help.. We are heading to Louisville, KY in July for my son's basketball team. They are playing in the Nationals tournament and we will be there almost a full week.

I was wondering if anyone is familiar with Louisville or the suburbs and could recommend a hotel or area to stay in. We will have a car and it looks like we will need to drive to different tournament sites so we don't HAVE to stay in the city center. Is there a nearby suburb that might be good or a particular part of the city we should look at?

The tournament is listed as being at the Expo Center, but we believe there are other sites they will be playing as well so we don't have to be right next to the Expo Ctr.

Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[joannamet]

Louisville is a pretty easy city to navigate. The KY Expo Center is near Churchill Downs and has some hotels and restaurants but it isn't in the nicest part of town. Downtown has plenty of hotels and things to do but dining will be more expensive and there will be traffic. You definitely want to be East of I65 and not too far from I264. The Hurstbourne Lane area is suburban, has hotels and restaurants and its easy to get to and from. There are a couple of malls not too far from there for more shopping and dining.

The most interesting restaurants are on Bardstown Rd and Shelbyville Rd or Frankfort Ave North of I264. Churchill Downs doesn't have racing in July but the museum is beautiful and worth a trip. Likewise, the Slugger Museum downtown is fun. If you have time, take a drive out of town along the Bourbon Trail and visit a distillery or two. Its horse country and very pretty. The Maker's Mark distillery is in a particularly pretty area. http://kybourbontrail.com/

 

[sam_gordon]

There are a bunch of hotels near the expo center (almost walking distance), some nice, some not so much. However, there's not a lot to do in that area (although Kentucky Kingdom should be open). Personally, I would look in that area simply in case there are early games (I'd rather have a short drive if I have to be somewhere early). You can also look around the intersection of 264 and 64 (on the east side of town)... the St. Mathews area has malls, restaurants, and hotels.

I would avoid any hotel that requires you to get on I64/65 near downtown. They're doing construction on the I65 bridge causing extra slow down (like 8 mile backups on I64 depending on time of day).

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks so much! Exactly what I was looking for.

We are having a meeting tonight and this will be very helpful

 

[DisneyBill]

When you get to the point in your selection process where you have narrowed your choice of hotels down, feel free to sight those here or PM me. I'm in Louisville and will be glad to give you an honest opinion of where you are considering and what restaurants, etc may be near the hotel.

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks everyone!!!