Historic Inns

Louisville, Kentucky

Historic Hotels & Inns in Louisville

Historic stays in buildings from 1853 to 1923: grand hotels and a department store turned hotel on Fourth Street, Victorian mansion B&Bs in Old Louisville and a Gothic Revival house in St. Matthews.

8 historic places to stay · verified October 2026 · by Historic Inns editors

The short answer

Stay on Fourth Street downtown for the grand hotels: The Seelbach, Otto and Louis Seelbach’s 1905 hotel and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s model for Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s wedding in The Great Gatsby, or The Brown Hotel, built in 1923 to rival it, where the Hot Brown was created in 1926. For a B&B, book a Victorian mansion in Old Louisville: the Louisville Bourbon Inn, which Tripadvisor named the No. 1 B&B and inn in the U.S. in 2025 and 2026, or DuPont Mansion or Central Park Bed & Breakfast, both with free parking. For the oldest building, the Inn at Woodhaven in St. Matthews is an 1853 Gothic Revival house on the National Register. Downtown, valet at The Seelbach and Embassy Suites runs about $40 to $45 a night. For Derby week, expect multi-night, prepaid packages instead of single nights.

Our top picks

Best overall

The Brown Hotel

Built 1923

James Graham Brown's 1923 hotel at Fourth and Broadway, built to rival the Seelbach; chef Fred K. Schmidt created the Hot Brown…

Check ratesBook direct

Compare them side by side

InnAreaBuiltRoomsTypePriceHaunted
Inn at WoodhavenSt. Matthews18538B&B–Rates
DuPont MansionOld Louisvillec. 1879–B&B–Rates
Louisville Bourbon InnOld Louisville1880s8B&B–Rates
Central Park Bed & BreakfastOld Louisville18846B&B–Rates
Bourbon Barrel InnOld Louisvillec. 1890–964B&B–Rates
The Seelbach HiltonDowntown – Fourth Street1905–Grand hotel–YesRates
Embassy Suites Louisville DowntownDowntown – Fourth Street1907–Boutique hotel–Rates
The Brown HotelDowntown – Fourth Street1923–Grand hotel–Rates

Price is a typical nightly rate: $ under $200, $$ $200–349, $$$ $350–549, $$$$ $550+. Rates vary by season; check the inn for exact prices.

Where they are

The neighborhoods

Where to stay, by area

Downtown – Fourth Street

Fourth Street was the city’s main shopping and entertainment street for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, and its 500 and 600 blocks, including the Fourth Street Live! entertainment district, are still the center of downtown dining and nightlife. Three historic hotels stand here, near the Louisville Palace Theatre and the Kentucky International Convention Center: The Seelbach (1905) and Embassy Suites Louisville Downtown, in the 1907 Stewart’s Dry Goods store, both at Fourth and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, and The Brown Hotel (1923) at Fourth and Broadway.

Downtown – Main Street

Louisville Tourism says Main Street has one of the country’s largest collections of cast-iron facades, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Whiskey Row housed the bourbon trade from the mid-to-late 1800s, and Museum Row’s museums, including the Muhammad Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory and the Frazier History Museum, sit within a few walkable blocks, along with the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience and Waterfront Park. West Main Street, the site of the first settlement on shore, has been a National Register and city preservation district since 1974. None of the historic inns we list is on Main Street, so treat it as a place to tour from a downtown hotel.

Old Louisville

Built as a suburb from the 1870s and home to the 1883 Southern Exposition, Old Louisville covers more than 40 blocks of Victorian homes and Louisville Tourism calls it the country’s largest collection of restored Victorian houses. It has been a city preservation district and a National Register district since 1975. Four of the B&Bs we list are here: on South Fourth Street, DuPont Mansion (about 1879) and, facing Central Park, the Louisville Bourbon Inn (1880s) and Central Park Bed & Breakfast (1884); and on the stretch of Third Street known as ‘Millionaire’s Row’, the Bourbon Barrel Inn. All four include breakfast.

NuLu

NuLu, the East Market District, is known for murals, galleries, local boutiques and restaurants, and USA Today 10Best readers ranked it No. 7 among the country’s arts districts in 2026. Quill’s Coffee fills a 19th-century firehouse. No verified historic inn is in NuLu, so treat it as a place to eat and shop.

The Highlands

The Highlands is home to Louisville’s original ‘Restaurant Row’, with bars, boutiques and galleries among Victorian and turn-of-the-century homes. Cherokee Triangle, a post-Civil War streetcar suburb in the same part of town, became a city preservation district in 1976. No verified historic inn is in the Highlands.

The inns

c. 1879DuPont Mansion

Built c. 1879 · Italianate–Renaissance Revival · Old Louisville · B&B

DuPont Mansion

Why stay A mansion the DuPont brothers built around 1879, the inn says, with carved Italian marble fireplaces, formal gardens and free parking.

Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free

Check ratesFull storyBook direct
1880sLouisville Bourbon Inn

Built 1880s · Richardsonian Romanesque · Old Louisville · B&B

Louisville Bourbon Inn

Why stay An 1880s mansion built for the Houston family, facing Central Park; Tripadvisor named it the No. 1 B&B and inn in the U.S. in 2025 and 2026.

Good to know Breakfast: included

Check ratesFull storyBook direct
1884Central Park Bed & Breakfast

Built 1884 · Victorian · Old Louisville · B&B

Central Park Bed & Breakfast

Why stay Vinegar maker Vernon D. Price's 1884 house across from Olmsted's Central Park, with six suites, stained glass and free parking.

Good to know Breakfast: included · Parking: on-site free

Check ratesFull storyBook direct
c. 1890–96Bourbon Barrel Inn

Built c. 1890–96 · Victorian · Old Louisville · B&B

Bourbon Barrel Inn

Why stay A three-story Victorian on Third Street's 'Millionaire's Row' in Old Louisville, with four suites themed on Kentucky bourbon and horse racing.

Good to know Breakfast: included

Check ratesFull storyBook direct
The Seelbach HiltonNyttend / Public domain

Built 1905 · Beaux-Arts · Downtown – Fourth Street · Grand hotel

The Seelbach Hilton

Why stay Otto and Louis Seelbach's 1905 hotel, F. Scott Fitzgerald's model for Tom and Daisy's wedding in The Great Gatsby; Al Capone played cards here.

The ghost story Guests and staff report the 'Lady in Blue', a dark-haired woman in a blue chiffon dress seen walking through the closed doors of the number 3 elevator, first reported by a chef and a housekeeper in 1987. Hotel lore links her to a 1936 newspaper story about a woman who fell down the elevator shaft after her husband was killed; an earlier telling makes her a bride whose groom died on the way to their 1907 wedding.

Good to know Parking: on-site paid · Elevator · Pets welcome

Check ratesFull storyBook direct

Before you book

Planning your stay

Getting around

At Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), taxis wait at the commercial curb outside baggage claim, and Lyft and Uber pick up on the baggage claim level. TARC runs the city buses: a single ride is $2.25 and a 24-hour pass is $5.00 on MyTARC, and cash fares don’t include transfers. Downtown is walkable, and the Main Street museums sit within a few blocks of each other.

Parking

The Seelbach and Embassy Suites are valet-only: Hilton’s 2025–2026 listings put The Seelbach at about $40 a night and Embassy Suites at $45. The Brown Hotel’s parking isn’t on the pages we read, so ask when you book. In Old Louisville, DuPont Mansion and Central Park Bed & Breakfast have free on-street and off-street parking. To park yourself downtown, PARC set meters at $2.25 an hour for the first two hours ($3.35 after) and garages at $3 an hour from January 1, 2023, when Kentucky applied its 6% sales tax to parking.

When to go

The Kentucky Oaks and Derby run at Churchill Downs at the start of May (in 2027, the Oaks on April 30 and the Derby on May 1), and downtown hotels sell multi-night Derby packages instead of single nights, so book early. The free St. James Court Art Show fills Old Louisville’s B&B district in early October (October 2 to 4 in 2026), so book those dates early too.

Accessibility

The Seelbach lists elevators, and Embassy Suites lists accessible rooms with 32-inch doorways. Old Louisville’s B&Bs are multi-story Victorian houses (Central Park Bed & Breakfast has a third-floor room), and none of their official pages we read mentions an elevator, so ask about stairs before booking.

Before you book

For Derby week, expect packages, prepayment and no refunds: The Seelbach’s 2027 Derby packages start at $4,900 plus 17.66% tax for three nights, prepaid and nonrefundable. The Old Louisville B&Bs and the Inn at Woodhaven take bookings on their own sites, several through ThinkReservations, so book direct. The Seelbach takes pets for a $100 fee, and Embassy Suites takes up to two dogs or cats for $75 to $125.

Things to do

Tours of historic Louisville

Tours from GetYourGuide

Tours are sold by GetYourGuide and run by local operators. If you book one through these links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Ratings and prices are GetYourGuide’s.

Questions travelers ask

What is the oldest hotel in Louisville?

Of the hotels we list, The Seelbach, opened in May 1905 by Otto and Louis Seelbach, is the oldest building built as a hotel that still operates as one; The Brown Hotel followed in 1923. You can sleep in older buildings: the Inn at Woodhaven occupies the 1853 Theodore Brown House in St. Matthews, and Old Louisville’s B&Bs fill houses built from about 1879 to the 1890s.

What is the most haunted hotel in Louisville?

There is no official ranking. The Seelbach is the hotel with published lore: Historic Hotels of America put it on its Most Haunted lists in 2019 and 2021 for the ‘Lady in Blue’, a dark-haired woman in a blue chiffon dress that a chef and a housekeeper first reported in 1987, seen walking through the closed doors of the number 3 elevator. Hotel lore ties her to a woman who fell down the elevator shaft; an earlier telling makes her a bride whose groom died on the way to their 1907 wedding. These are stories guests and staff tell, not documented fact.

Is it better to stay downtown or in Old Louisville?

Downtown’s historic hotels (The Seelbach, The Brown Hotel and Embassy Suites in the Stewart’s building) put you on Fourth Street near the museums and nightlife, but valet at The Seelbach and Embassy Suites runs about $40 to $45 a night. Old Louisville’s B&Bs are restored Victorian mansions around Central Park and on Third Street, all with breakfast included, and DuPont Mansion and Central Park Bed & Breakfast have free parking.

Where do you park at a historic Louisville hotel?

Downtown, The Seelbach and Embassy Suites are valet-only, at about $40 and $45 a night per Hilton’s listings; ask The Brown Hotel when you book. DuPont Mansion and Central Park Bed & Breakfast in Old Louisville have free on-street and off-street parking. If you park yourself downtown, meters cost $2.25 an hour for the first two hours and garages $3 an hour (PARC rates from 2023).

Are there historic bed and breakfasts in Louisville?

Yes, mostly in Old Louisville: the Louisville Bourbon Inn, an 1880s mansion that Tripadvisor named the No. 1 B&B and inn in the U.S. for 2025 and 2026; DuPont Mansion (about 1879); Central Park Bed & Breakfast (1884); and the Bourbon Barrel Inn, whose four suites are themed on Kentucky bourbon and horse racing. East of downtown, the Inn at Woodhaven occupies the 1853 Gothic Revival Theodore Brown House, which is on the National Register.

Keep exploring

All of Kentucky →

How we chose these inns

Every place on this page is at least 50 years old, holds a credential we can check (National Register listing, a listed historic district, landmark status, or Historic Hotels of America membership), and takes bookings today. We verify each one against primary sources before it goes on the list, and last checked this list in October 2026. Read our criteria.

Planning details on this page (parking, transport, seasons and events) come from: flylouisville.com, gotolouisville.com, kentuckyderby.com, louisvilleky.gov, lpm.org, ridetarc.org, seelbachhilton.com, stjamescourtartshow.com.

Sources (22)

Some links on this site may earn us a commission at no cost to you. It never decides which inns we include. Disclosure.