Louisville’s Hotel Genevieve opened this past May, just in time for Derby Day, and stylish tourists and locals have been galloping through its doors ever since. While there are plenty of nods to Kentucky’s thoroughbred history, the property really takes its design cues from the French (Saint Genevieve is the patroness saint of Paris), which is fitting, since Louisville was named for King Louis XVI. Here are four reasons to check in now.
Fanciful Design
The Genevieve is the largest hotel so far from the Bunkhouse Group—best known for its hip, whimsical Texas properties—and also represents the company’s first time working with an outside design firm, Rohe Creative. Here, color is king: There are aqua tiles in the café, a dusty mauve check-in desk framed by burgundy velvet curtains in the lobby, an array of rainbow-hued artworks on the walls, and banana-yellow shelving in Mini Marché, perhaps the cutest hotel bodega in history.
Technicolor Accommodations
The 122 rooms and suites are like little Wes Anderson vignettes, continuing the color story from downstairs with walls and ceilings painted in rich, vaguely ’70s shades of blue, mustard, and burnt orange. Floral chairs and sapphire-blue corduroy sofas are balanced by scallop-edged white curtains and Sferra linens. Even the Ortigia bath products match the blue-veined marble sinks. You’ll want to take home the custom-designed robe—featuring an orange print inspired by Kentucky’s quilting history—and, for $150, you can. (Worth it?)
Curated Cocktails
Rooftop bars are rare in Louisville—one reason Bar Genevieve has claimed its place as one of the hottest spots in the city. The other reasons? The drinks are delicious (try the spicy A French Girl’s Name), the charcuterie board is overflowing, and the space is full of Instagrammable moments (that vine wallpaper!). If you’re looking for a more intimate spot to have a tipple, dip into Lucky Penny, the ground-floor speakeasy.
Hip ’Hood
The hotel is located in the heart of restaurant- and boutique-packed NuLu (New Louisville), easily the coolest neighborhood in town. Buy local art and fun gifts (a horse-and-jockey wine stopper, perhaps?) at Red Tree NuLu; do a tour and tasting at Rabbit Hole Distillery; dig into arroz con pollo at La Bodeguita de Mima; and grab a scoop of Bourbon Smoked Pecan at Louisville Cream. The only thing sweeter is going to bed knowing you can do it all again tomorrow.
From $179, bunkhousehotels.com
