The Trail Hotel — Hotel in Bardstown

The lobby is beautiful and rooms are nice - overall very aesthetically pleasing. However, for the price point, there are some things that need dialed in to make this really jump out as the destination spot for Bardstown. I don't know that as it stands right now that we would return to stay here next time we come down.

Wait staff are all very nice but don't know how to work together and appear to be new hires. Had 15+ minute wait times at the pool bar on the 4th, with 3 bartenders, and they were tripping over each other/not working as a team and didn't know how to make some common drinks. Some of the dinners were very good (shout out to the hangar steak frites with chimichurri sauce!), but had two guests have to send their burgers back 3 times due to them not being cooked correctly and they finally just gave up and ate their sides only (not sure if their food got comped, as we split checks). Prices were in line with high end restaurants in Columbus (where we were from) but the quality wasn't what we expected for the price point. The restaurant at Bardstown Distillery has lower prices and their food is very good.

For the bad - any bottom level rooms that are on the inside of the hotel courtyard are billed and charged as "pool side", however there are fully 6 rooms 9n thevlower level that are on the opposite side, facing a field, that are considered pool side which left a bad taste in our mouth (felt like a bait & switch). We politely called this out and got a credit on our room to make the price the same as "pool view" which was very fair in my opinion (although it was a bit of a stretch/had to step out of the room by a few feet and turn to see the pool), but another couple in our group didn't get the same consideration. The hotel sells day passes for the pool/bar area (and allow people to bring in outside drinks!) so the pool/seats were full on 7/4 with people drinking out of coolers - would have been nice to get some sort of "dibs" as a guest paying $200/day over someone paying $35. :) We were expecting no kids and the website says 21+ but there were babies and small kids at the pool at various times in swim diapers. Not the vibe we wanted.

The rooms were very nice, loved the modern decor. Some small tweaks I think would have been welcome - more sound proofing (could hear toilets flushing and the upstairs guest had a barking dog in their room), more hooks to hang towels, especially one for hand towels at the sink. Our room didn't have a room safe or luggage stand. Ice machine or ability to get ice from the outside bar, to avoid having to go in the main lobby for ice. The outside bar closed VERY early, maybe 6-7pm, so if you were enjoying the pool or hot tub until closing time (10pm) you had to go into the lobby in wet clothes/coverups. No poolside service for drinks or food. The speakeasy was really cool (literally and figuratively, it was ice cold in there), bourbon pour prices were outrageous though for some of their selections (speaking as someone who is an enthusiast and has a decent knowledge of relative values of bottles/pours and is married to someone who is more knowledgeable that I am).

Overall I felt this was a good experience, but at the price point I had a higher expectation, so this doesn't get 5 stars from me. The staff really brought this up to a 4 star, as had they not been as good, friendly, and pleasant as they were (newness aside) I would have given this an "average" score.

Side note that we were told that they got a LOT of complaints about the pool side room situation for rooms 141-151, but corporate wasn't going to change the listing for those particular rooms. If we DO come back, we will be sure to book over the phone and specifically call out that we don't want...

The lobby is beautiful and rooms are nice - overall very aesthetically pleasing. However, for the price point, there are some things that need dialed in to make this really jump out as the destination spot for Bardstown. I don't know that as it stands right now that we would return to stay here next time we come down.||Wait staff are all very nice but don't know how to work together and appear to be new hires. Had 15+ minute wait times at the pool bar on the 4th, with 3 bartenders, and they were tripping over each other/not working as a team and didn't know how to make some common drinks. Some of the dinners were very good (shout out to the hangar steak frites with chimichurri sauce!), but had two guests have to send their burgers back 3 times due to them not being cooked correctly and they finally just gave up and ate their sides only (not sure if their food got comped, as we split checks). Prices were in line with high end restaurants in Columbus (where we were from) but the quality wasn't what we expected for the price point. The restaurant at Bardstown Distillery has lower prices and their food is very good.||As a previous reviewer mentioned, any bottom level rooms that are on the inside of the hotel are billed and charged as "pool side", however there are fully 6 rooms that are on the opposite side, facing a field, that are considered pool side which left a bad taste in our mouth (felt like a bait & switch). We politely called this out and got a credit on our room to make the price the same as "pool view" which was very fair in my opinion (although it was a bit of a stretch/had to step out of the room by a few feet and turn to see the pool), but another couple in our group didn't get the same consideration.|The hotel sells day passes for the pool/bar area (and allow people to bring in outside drinks!) so the pool/seats were full on 7/4 with people drinking out of coolers - would have been nice to get some sort of "dibs" as a guest paying $200/day over someone paying $35. :) We were expecting no kids but there were babies and small kids at the pool at various times.||The rooms were very nice, loved the modern decor. Some small tweaks I think would have been welcome - more sound proofing (could hear toilets flushing and the upstairs guest had a barking dog in their room), more hooks to hang towels, especially one for hand towels at the sink. Our room didn't have a room safe or luggage stand. Ice machine or ability to get ice from the outside bar, to avoid having to go in the main lobby for ice. The outside bar closed VERY early, maybe 6-7pm, so if you were enjoying the pool or hot tub until closing time (10pm) you had to go into the lobby in wet clothes/coverups. No poolside service for drinks or food.|The speakeasy was really cool (literally and figuratively, it was ice cold in there), bourbon pour prices were outrageous though for some of their selections (speaking as someone who is an enthusiast and has a decent knowledge of relative values of bottles/pours and is married to someone who is more knowledgeable that I am).||Overall I felt this was a good experience, but at the price point I had a higher expectation, so this doesn't get 5 stars from me. The staff really brought this up to a 4 star, as had they not been as good, friendly, and pleasant as they were (newness aside) I would have given this an "average" score.||Side note that we were told that they got a LOT of complaints about the pool side room situation for rooms 141-151, but corporate wasn't going to change the listing for those particular rooms. If we DO come back, we will be sure to book over the phone and specifically call out that we don't want...

Buckle up, this is going to be the longest review.

Admittedly, I first wrote a scathing review when we checked-in. The website and advertising do not accurately represent the hotel. I did reach out to management and they did respond quickly- for that we are thankful.

We stayed in the king room with a private patio. The private patio was not private and it is shared with rooms along the motel row, which faces the parking lot and busy freeway. It does not include a fire pit, so when you are looking at the advertising photos on their website- you're not booking the one with the fire pit.

The room was small, but nice. A mini fridge but no microwave so if you want to heat anything up... I wouldn't know what you're supposed to do. The room was spotless but there were clearly crickets or cicadas in the AC unit that kept us up intermittently throughout the night. It's also a very humid room so things had condensation on them. Towels didn't dry etc. The shower pools water at your feet so be ready for that.

Everything is an add on. To visit the Speakeasy you need to pay. To do the golf simulator, you need to pay. To do the patio with the fire pit, you need to pay. Rejuvenation room with sauna, you need to pay. I called the front desk from the room phone and nobody answered. I called from my cell phone and they answered. I asked what was included and they said just the pool.

We dined at the restaurant three times; once for dinner and twice for breakfast. The dinner was good, my husband had the catfish and did not complain. I had the burger with fries and it was tasty. Service was great. Menus need to be placed in a proper holder and not just hot off the printer like an instructional handout. Breakfast was excellent both times, zero complaints. It was quite empty, though.

Despite everything being an add-on, the gentleman at the front desk said they weren't charging that weekend to let people into the speakeasy. So, we went. The bartender was outstanding. He listened to what we wanted and then curated his own spin on it and we were very impressed. I do not see the point in upselling the speakeasy because the drinks are very, very expensive. There also needs to be speakeasy style music. We loved sitting in the back and listening to other guests talk, who also couldn't understand why everything was an upsell.

While we were sitting outside one evening watching fireworks, a couple walked by and was also complaining about the add-ons. That made us giggle because we felt we weren't alone in our gripes.

Service was fantastic throughout, so friendly. But everyone was confused. I get it, it's all new.

We were on a walk in front of Spaulding Hall and a wonderful local owner of a museum started speaking to us and asked us where we were staying. She said the Trail Hotel is the talk of the town but locals have been disappointed. I guess the hotel experience prior to what it is now used to be a local favorite for live music and buffets and parties. I think this hotel prices out and looks past the locals it serves. One local over at a distillery said this used to be the swingers hotel, we got a kick out of that.

Is this a luxury hotel? Far from it. In fact, I think it actually lacks where budget hotels surpass it. For the price point, you do not get much. Is this a boutique hotel? No.

I see a handful of reviews similar to mine and believe more to come. It takes a lot of money to be profitable here and you're footing the bill with all those add-ons.

Add a coffee bar, add some basic breakfast options for families, and update the photos on your website to...