The Brown Hotel — Hotel in Louisville

While we were in Louisville we had to stop by the Brown hotel and try their world famous Hot Brown.

There are a ton of restaurants that sell cheap knock off versions of this sandwich. You take some toast add a couple of slices of turkey and bacon add a little sauce with hot cheese and tomatoes and it's easy to replicate. The Brown hotel Hot Brown, which is the original Hot Brown just hits a little different.

Not sure about the bread they used but it's great, not just a slice of store bread. An actual juicy roasted turkey breast that had a really nice flavor on it's own. I rarely order anything with turkey because as my wife points out it tends to be dry and overcooked or just processed turkey slices that you get at the supermarket. It's covered in a mornay sauce which also had nice flavor. The tomatoes are finished in the oven with the dish so mine had a nice char on it which I like. I think roasted tomatoes add a little extra something.

Now let's talk about the bacon. My wife and I both love bacon and they added a few thick cut slices to this. This bacon is outstanding by itself. Great flavor. We were talking to the manager Rob and he confessed that he enjoys a few pieces of the house bacon during his shifts and I don't blame him, it's delicious! Adding it to the Hot Brown just enhances an already solid dish. Very generous portions. If you want a Hot Brown try it here before you order it from someplace else.

Our starters were the cream of mushroom soup. Oh my God it is so good! I have never had cream of mushroom soup prepared like that before. Absolutely delicious. We ordered 2 sides. Garlic zucchini and squash medley and truffle salted fingerling herb potatoes. We were both shocked by how large the portions were. Definitely enough to share.

They have an impressive alcohol menu. The bourbon section caught my eye but it's Kentucky so bourbon is a given. I actually decided not to have a cocktail with my meal and instead ordered a sweet tea. I took a sip and my wife looked at me, she thought something was wrong. I passed her my glass and she tasted my tea. The tea was sweetened with honey and I believe it's locally sourced as many of the ingredients on the menu are. Nice touch! I have friends that are beekeepers and it's something I have been interested in for several years. My mother would often sweeten tea and coffee with honey so it brought a smile to my face when I tasted it. My mother's family were farmers for over 60 years so supporting local farmers and beekeepers is something I really appreciate.

Derby cake is delicious. My wife and I dine out a lot. This place is exceptionally well run. Front of house staff and management were top notch especially our server Rein.

They had live piano music playing which really enhanced our experience. My wife and I really enjoyed guessing the different songs she was playing. I heard Billy Joel, Elton John, and Lionel Richie. She even played the theme songs from Cheers and Hill Street Blues. It was fun to look at the other guests when we all recognized the songs being played. My wife very happily tipped our pianist for adding to a very enjoyable date night.

There's so much more that I want to try on this menu so I'm looking forward to another visit...

A friend and I stayed at The Brown Hotel for Bourbon & Beyond Music Festival the weekend of Sept 21. I’ll start with the good: the place is stunning — it even smelled good when we walked in from the parking garage ($22 for overnight parking was not terrible). You cannot deny the rich history of the place and the beauty that has been kept up the last 100 years. We were able to check into our room a few hours early — which I called and asked about 2 weeks in advance. They were able to accommodate without fuss. The room itself was fine. The beds were comfortable; the toilet had trouble flushing which is not uncommon in old buildings like this.

On Sunday, I called the front desk and asked if I could order room service. The gentleman who answered said “yes of course” and put me through to the J. Graham Cafe. When the cafe answered, I was told no food could be delivered to my room and I would have to come down and place a carry out order. I found this odd, considering the front desk made it seem as though there would be no issue. I have never had an issue ordering room service at other upscale hotels — after all, this is a 4 star hotel boasting numerous “Diamond” rating plaques in the lobby. I go down to the cafe to order carry out and the same woman who told me to come down then informed me they could not offer carry out orders due to them only serving buffet. Once again, I was confused. Why was I told to come place a carry out order if they don’t offer carry out? I went to the front desk to ask if this is their normal procedure and was told they offer a limited carry out menu on the weekend. Why was that not mentioned before, I am not sure. The woman I spoke to then went on to recommend restaurants nearby. As there are 2 restaurants inside the hotel, I did not want to venture out but explore what was in-house. Ultimately, we ordered Door Dash.

Upon returning from the festival, we realized the single roll of toilet paper provided was running low and called the front desk for more. We were told that “there are only 2 people working the front desk” and “we would have to wait.” I am not sure why low staffing was the answer to us asking for toilet paper. This is a very minor request and not uncommon, though we were treated as though it was a serious inconvenience to the understaffed front desk.

The next morning, housekeeping ignored our “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. We got in very late from the festival and I did not appreciate this, especially since we were checking out just a few hours later. The walls are quite thin, and we heard another guest’s screaming child at the elevators. Not as restful as I would have liked. We exited the room around 10:30 and housekeeping immediately went in behind us, before the doors to the elevator even closed, as if we overstayed our welcome.

All in all, the place was beautiful. The service left much to be desired. I would not return. I have had better, more rave-worthy service at a 2-star hotel. I left quite disappointed and am not surprised the front desk didn’t ask how our experience was when...

The Brown is a fine old hotel that keeps many of the fine old hotel traditions alive for a very good reason - it helps insure that their guests get an excellent stay. Every single time.||Check-in started with the reception at the front door, and the doormen and bellhops had the luggage unloaded and us heading up to the second floor for check-in in just a few minutes. Check-in was equally trouble free, and we took a bit to admire the adjacent high-ceilinged Lobby Bar and Grill (main dining room). The elevators are very smooth and fast, but it can take a bit to get the hang of swiping your room keycard to allow passage to the upper floors.||We had a Deluxe Room with king bed, and it didn't feel cramped. The large windows look out to various views of downtown Louisville. It appeared to have been recently refreshed and all the furniture, wall decorations, lamps. etc., looked new and worked well. The bed was very comfortable. You get four rather soft pillows so if that's an issue, pack your own. The closet contained two suitcase stands, iron and ironing board, and one white terrycloth robe. Housekeeping will bring another robe up on request. ||There were adequate amenities in the bathroom, including towels, and the water pressure in the shower was good. The showerhead was the rainfall type. Lighting in the bathroom was a little dim, but there was a swing-out makeup mirror available. The only real down side to the room was the lack of a mini-fridge. The phone system was also problematical - none of the pre-programmed buttons seemed to work, but the front desk could be reached by dialing 0 and get you routed to who you needed to talk to.||You owe it to yourself to spend at least an hour exploring the hotel, learning about its rich history, the movie that was filmed there, the exceptional craftmanship of the public rooms, all the architectural details, and the many cozy areas to read a book or people watch. A visit to the rooftop patio and garden area will reward you with panoramic views of the city and surrounding area.|| Both the Lobby Bar and Grill on the second floor and J. Graham's Cafe on the first floor are exceptional. Every dinner we had in the Lobby Grill was very good, and the service was quite attentive. J. Graham's knows how to do breakfast, and will have coffee and that day's newspaper at your elbow almost before you sit down. The avocado toast is not to be missed. The small bar grill area was closed when we were there.||Both restaurants ask for reservations. We found that the easiest way was to go to the hotel website on our smart phone and then reserve a time slot through Open Table on the link to each restaurant. It can take a bit to master, but there were no issues with table availability when we did it this way.||Some reviewers have commented that The Brown is in a sketchy area of town. We walked all over the immediate area and surrounding streets and felt perfectly safe, so that was not a concern for us.||PS - the squirrel the bellhops feed peanuts to needs his own Instagram account,...