The Brown Hotel

Built in 1923 at the then-staggering cost of $4 million and just three miles from Churchill Downs, the Brown was a magnet for celebrities from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Revived by a 1983 restoration, the 16-story stone and terra cotta Georgian Revival landmark was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story lobby features a hand-painted coffered ceiling, Palladian-style windows, and mahogany furniture on Bottocino limestone floors. The 293 guestrooms (with a spring 2012 renovation in the works) are equally grand, sporting four-poster beds with feather pillow tops, damask patterned carpeting, wallpaper, and upholstery, gilt-framed equestrian art, and custom throws on the beds depicting scenes from Kentucky Derby races.