My husband, six-year-old and I will be stopping in Louisville overnight to visit friends. Any suggestions as to a nice hotel? I saw the Seelbach mentioned in another post. Is this a good option when travelling with a child? Our friends live on the near east side of Louisville, not too far from downtown if mapquest is correct. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Try The Brown Hotel.

The Seelbach (mentioned in the Great Gatsby) and the Brown Hotel are the two beautiful, historic hotels in downtown Louisville. Both welcome children. There's also a Hyatt and a Marriott Courtyard conveniently located in downtown.

Enjoy Louisville! Don't miss Wakefield-Scearce in nearby Shelbyville, Kentucky, particularly if you're going before Christmas.

Hi from Louisvlle! We live on the east side as well. Could you be more specific (street name)and I can help you more. Both of the historic hotels are lovely, but have very small rooms and few amenites.Great restaurants, but not for children. I think if you want to stay downtown, the Galt House might be more fun.Decor is not great, but it's on the river(great views!) and you can access the river front easily. You will have to drive out either Interstate 71 or 64 to the east end. You might not want to negotiate downtown at night, although it's not too tough. There are hotels in the east end- some off Hurstbourne Lane-which have indoor pools and are more child-friendly.

We stayed in the Embassy Suites off Hurstborne this past summer and it was a great hotel. All rooms are suites with a separate bedroom. You get a wonderful cooked to order breakfast included with the room charge and a managers reception in the late afternoon. The staff was terrific. There is an indoor pool and hot tub and a workout room. It was a short drive to downtown or anywhere else we wanted to go. We really enjoyed Louisville.

I want to add to Linda's suggestion of the Galt House. They have just finished a complete renovation of the Galt House East, which is their all suite building. I have stayed at the Galt House many times over the years for conventions and always laughed at the rather tacky decor. Well, my jaw hit the floor when I walked in my room on my last trip. The newly redone suites are beautiful, done in soft greens, creams, and corals. The bathrooms have been completely redone and the whole place is just gorgeous now. The suites are fairly large and would be great for a family.

LLindaC: Our friends live on Westwind, if that helps.
I really appreciate all of the suggestions. An indoor pool might be nice. Our friends have a new baby so I don't know how much actual time we'll be spending with them and some activity for our son would be a good thing.

I agree with GloriaE about the Embassy Suites on Hurstbourne. We just stayed there over Thanksgiving while visiting relatives who live on the east side. Would definitely stay there again.

If your friends live on Westwind Road in Indian Hills, do NOT stay in Hurstbourne. It's too far to travel and the traffic is horrible. (I lived on Westwind for 20 years, coincidentally.)

The closest hotels to Westwind Road are on Zorn Avenue near River Road and on Brownsboro Road (US 42) at Rudy Lane. Ask your friends the names of the hotels -- they're chain hotels and fine for your visit.

Enjoy!

I have a few friends who live on Westwind! I'm about 3 minutes away. No, don't do Hurstbourne. If you stay downtown, say at the Galt House, then you are just a 5 min drive away.You go from the Galt House to River Rd, get on 64, merge to 71. It's not too tough. However, about a mile away from Westwind is the Ramada Inn on Zorn. It's not luxury, but it's very nice. I am a pianist and I've played there many times. It was originally a Holiday Inn, and it was their premier property in the early 80's, with lovely marble lobby and attractive meeting areas. It is across the street from the river. You can drive River Rd to downtown, or to some nice places up the road. Captain's Quarters is a family friendly and fun restaurant which is probably only a mile from the hotel.I think you would be happy staying there or at the Galt House. Have a great trip!

Captain's Quarters is a few miles up River Road from Zorn Avenue, actually, past Indian Hills Trail, Blankenbaker Lane, and Lime Kiln Lane.

Another good thing about the Zorn location is you can take scenic River Road to Westwind (via Indian Hills Trail).

I've enjoyed reading this thread - I grew up on Indian Hills Trail, just a couple of blocks from Westwind, and one of my best friends lived on Westwind! Her house is no longer there, though, as it was destroyed in the big tornado in 1974 that devastated so much of Louisville (our house was damaged but survived, although we lost all of our beautiful trees, and many of the surrounding houses were destroyed as well). It's amazing how much the trees have grown back in the 30 years since - you'd never know such a disaster happened to that neighborhood now.

Although it's been a few years, we stayed at the Ramada Inn on Zorn the last time we went back to Louisville - I think it may still have been a Holiday Inn then. I remember it as being quite nice, although I don't remember whether it had an indoor pool. I think staying there would probably be your best bet. There is also a motel on Brownsboro Road quite near Westwind, which used to be a Holiday Inn, but I think may be a Best Western now. It's not fancy, but fine - when we last stayed there about eight years ago it only had an outdoor pool.

Is your six year old a baseball fan? If you will be there long enough, a fun thing to do is to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum and factory tour. It's downtown at 800 West Main Street, and hours are Monday - Saturday 9:00 to 5:00 pm, with tours leaving every 20 minutes, and the last tour leaves at 4:00. Saturday bat production only takes place from April - November, but if you're there on a Saturday from December - March you can still walk through the factory and see a videotape of each step of the production process. It really is an interesting tour, and you get a free miniature bat at the end of it. There are also some interactive exhibits geared toward kids. Apparently there's no bat production between Christmas and New Year's, and they have reduced hours that week. See their website at www.sluggermuseum.org if you want more info.

Thank you all who helped us out with this. It looks like the Zorn area is indeed best for us. I knew Fodorites would send me in the right direction!

Once I heard Westwind Road, I figured Zorn Avenue would be best for you. Right now I'm snowed in on Westwind Road (at the far end away from River Road). Wow!

Good luck & Enjoy!