Kindly allow me to repeat a prelude that appeared in this space just two months ago.
According to Louisville’s tourism authority, 2023 was a record-breaking year for visitors to the city.
At the start of 2023, Bourbon City kicked off the year on a high note with The New York Times naming the city as one of the ‘52 Places To Go in 2023,’ further fueling Louisville Tourism’s prediction of growth versus recovery. Bourbon City made news again when Travel + Leisure reported the city as the number one U.S. summer travel destination on the Airbnb platform, followed by the Human Rights Campaign also awarding Louisville a perfect score for 2023, continuing the city’s nine-year streak.
Several of Louisville’s tourism-centric agencies also saw exponential growth in 2023, breaking previous visitation records. Depending on the source, all these visitors might have numbered anywhere between 16 and 19 million.
They must sleep somewhere, hence the hotel construction boom during recent years: The Grady, Moxy, Myriad, Hotel Distil, Hotel Genevieve, The Bellwether and Tempo by Hilton off the top of my head, generally located in or near the urban core, precisely where exurban denizens of social media seem terrified to travel.
It can be such a strange, defeatist vibe hereabouts. Tourists come to Louisville from Japan, but my fellow Hoosiers won’t make the trip across the river from the Knobs to downtown because of the presumed “danger.”
Are we tired of politicized internet “expertise” yet?
Happily, for our purposes at Food & Dining Magazine, the observation is that these new hotels tend to incorporate eateries and bars: Paseo at Myriad, Wild Swann at the Grady, and so forth. According to Louisville Business First, another is on the way.
Le Moo owner’s next steakhouse will be at Canopy By Hilton, by David A. Mann
A new hotel in the works in Downtown Louisville will feature a steakhouse from a well-known Louisville restaurateur.
Kevin Grangier, president and CEO of Bellé Noble Entertainment Group, will open Bourré Bonne Steakhouse in the Canopy by Hilton Downtown Louisville, according to a news release. The hotel, a $75 million project under construction at 143 W. Market St., is expected to open in Q4 of 2024. Bellé Noble Entertainment Group, which owns Le Moo and Grassa Gramma in Louisville, is designated as the hotel’s food & beverage operator.
