Need a place to stay in Louisville? AAA says these are the 9 best hotels in Kentucky
Looking for a place to stay in Louisville or Kentucky? AAA has narrowed down the list for you.
The celebrated travel service has awarded seven hotels in the city and two more in other parts of Kentucky its prestigious AAA Four Diamond Award for 2024. Each year, AAA honors hotels and restaurants across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean for their upscale style and amenities
The winners are also known for their high level of hospitality, service, and attention to detail, and as consistently clean and comfortable places to stay.
Whether you're hitting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, visiting friends, heading to Churchill Downs or even going to a wedding, these are some great places to stay.
And the winners are...
21c Museum Hotel: 700 W Main St. Louisville, 21cmuseumhotels.com
21c Museum Hotel Lexington: 167 W. Main St., Lexington, 21cmuseumhotels.com
The Brown Hotel: 335 W. Broadway, Louisville, brownhotel.com
Embassy Suites by Hilton Louisville Downtown: 501 S. Fourth St., Louisville, hilton.com
Hotel Covington: 638 Madison Ave., Covington, hotelcovington.com
Hotel Distil Autograph Collection: 101 W. Main St., Louisville, marriott.com
Louisville Marriott Downtown: 280 W. Jefferson St., Louisville, marriott.com
Marriott Louisville East: 1903 Embassy Square Blvd., Louisville, marriott.com
Omni Louisville Hotel: 400 S 2nd St, Louisville, omnihotels.com
Reach Courier Journal reporter Maggie Menderski at mmenderski@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Best hotels to stay at in Louisville, Kentucky AAA Four Diamond Awards
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Yahoo
AAA offers tips for a budget-friendly summer getaway
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – You may be planning a trip this summer and hoping to make it budget-friendly. AAA Northeast is sharing some money-saving steps for those interested. They say those planning a road trip should fill up their gas tank away from the highway. Stations close to it are more expensive than those further away. They also recommend booking flights during the week. The best price offered is usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And people wanting to get away should look into cruises. Adding rooms, dining, and entertainment is usually included. Naefia Pabi of Springfield told 22News,'This summer we are planning on going to Cancun! My daughter is the one who found the deal for us. The deal that she found is all inclusive, so that's perfect.' According to experts, the top places to visit in the country this summer include Las Vegas, New York City, and Myrtle Beach. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Forbes
Travel Industry Fundamentals Remain Strong, Bucking Negative Headlines
The headlines haven't been too kind to the travel industry lately. You've probably seen the same bearish takes I have—reports of slumping business travel to the U.S., falling international visitor spending and weak demand. Context is everything, though, and if you dig a little deeper, you'll see a more nuanced, surprisingly bullish picture. In fact, there's a lot to like about the travel industry right now from an investment standpoint. You just have to know where to look. Let's start with one of the most time-tested indicators of travel health: Memorial Day. According to AAA, an estimated 45.1 million Americans were expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this holiday weekend. That's the highest number ever recorded, breaking a record that's stood since 2005. Despite inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty, American consumers continue to prioritize leisure travel. That's according to Allianz, whose latest survey found that 63% of U.S. households express confidence in taking a summer vacation, and projected spending is set to hit a record $226.6 billion, with the average household shelling out nearly $2,900 for their getaway. Deloitte also found that more than half of all Americans are planning leisure vacations this summer, with trip frequency on the rise. People may not feel wealthier, but they're still putting a premium on experiences and making time for family and travel. There's another tailwind worth highlighting: fuel prices. GasBuddy projects a national average of $3.08 per gallon for Memorial Day, the lowest since 2021 and the lowest adjusted for inflation since 2003. Over the course of the summer, prices could even drop below the $3 mark. That's good news for road trips and domestic leisure, which continues to represent a large portion of overall travel volume. Meanwhile, air travel is climbing back as well. AAA expects nearly 3.61 million air passengers this Memorial Day, a 2% bump from last year and 12% above pre-pandemic levels. Average domestic airfare is also up 2% year-over-year, suggesting steady demand. Let's address the elephant in the room: international inbound travel to the U.S. is underperforming. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) projects that the U.S. will lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025, with total spending falling to just under $169 billion. Why? Some of it comes down to policy and perception. Reports of detentions and rigorous border checks have created concern among some foreign nationals. But from an investor's perspective, this isn't necessarily as damaging as it sounds. U.S. airlines and travel platforms still generate the majority of international revenue through domestic point-of-sale channels—in other words, Americans booking trips abroad. So while inbound traffic is down, outbound travel remains robust. If you want to see what strong travel demand looks like, look across the Atlantic. Ryanair, the largest airline in Europe by passenger volume, says it's seeing record demand across its network of 37 countries, with fares up in the mid-teens year-over-year. CEO Michael O'Leary said, 'The whole of Europe seems to be traveling,' and recent earnings support that view. Ryanair's fare outlook is 'far stronger than we had expected,' according to analysts at Bernstein, potentially putting the company on track to replicate the profitability of spring 2023. Higher fares could push Ryanair's stock higher U.S. Global Investors Demand for travel hasn't disappeared. It's just shifting geographically. Savvy investors can benefit from understanding where the action is moving. That brings us to the digital side of the travel business. Booking Holdings—the parent company of Priceline and OpenTable—was recently named IBD's Stock of the Day after posting 22% earnings per share (EPS) growth and 8% sales growth in Q1. What's key here is that Booking derives a majority of its revenue from Europe, giving it a natural advantage over U.S.-focused platforms like Expedia and Airbnb, which both flagged weakness in domestic travel. This divergence is worth watching. As American travel preferences shift toward regional and road-based trips, and international travel increasingly favors Europe over transatlantic routes, platforms with broad, diversified exposure may come out ahead. Another area that's sometimes overlooked, but increasingly important, is cruising. After a few tough years navigating pandemic-era restrictions and capacity limits, cruise lines are finally seeing smooth waters ahead. Passenger volume has surged, especially in the post-pandemic recovery years. In 2023, cruise lines carried 31.7 million passengers, and that number jumped to 34.6 million in 2024, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Forecasts suggest another 9% increase in 2025, reaching 37.7 million passengers, with continued growth projected to hit 42 million by 2028. The third quarter, typically the high season for cruising, continues to be the industry's strongest sailing period. In Q3 2024, 8.7 million passengers sailed on CLIA-member cruises, surpassing all previous seasonal peaks. These gains reflect not only pent-up demand but also fleet expansions and strategic deployments of larger, high-capacity ships, especially in popular destinations. There's no denying that parts of the travel industry are under pressure. Business travel to the U.S. declined 9% in April compared to last year. But that's only part of the story. As I see it, the broader trend is one of resilience. Consumers are still traveling, and planes are still packed. They're just adjusting how and where they do it. And companies that are well-positioned in those areas—low-cost carriers in Europe, digital platforms with global exposure, airlines benefiting from lower fuel costs—stand to benefit.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Yahoo
Asia jet fuel exports to US West Coast to hit 1-year high in May
By Trixie Yap and Shariq Khan SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Asia's jet fuel exports to the U.S. West Coast are expected to hit at least a one-year high in May, according to shiptracking data and three trade sources, as refinery outages in California boosted prices and import demand. The exports for May, mostly from South Korea, are pegged at nearly 600,000 metric tons (4.28 million barrels), according to shiptracking data from Kpler and estimates from two of the sources. The exports were last at similar levels in February of last year, the Kpler data showed. "The main reason behind the increasing volume of imports into the USWC region is primarily associated with unexpected outages in local refineries," said consultancy Wood Mackenzie's research analyst Rodrigo Jacob. The surge in imports comes at the start of the American summer travel season, potentially impacting travel costs and highlighting the vulnerabilities of U.S. West Coast supply. Motorist association AAA said near-record numbers of domestic airline passengers were expected to have flown over the May 22-26 Memorial Day holiday period this year. This year's forecast represents a 2% increase over last year and is just shy of 2005's record of 3.64 million passengers, AAA said. Outages at refineries in California owned by PBF Energy and Valero Energy since early this year have limited overall U.S. West Coast fuel production. [REF/OUT] "These outages combined with a decline in local inventories, drove local prices higher and triggered increased interest from traders in sourcing cargoes for import, predominantly from North Asia," Jacob said. ARBITRAGE The strength in U.S. jet fuel prices against Asia's opened the arbitrage window last month, traders said. The spread averaged more than $17 a barrel in April, Reuters calculations showed, while the average cost of chartering a medium-range vessel carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for the roughly 30-day voyage was $5.50 a barrel, ship broking data showed, providing a good margin for Asian sellers. In the near term, strong jet fuel supply from China could depress benchmark prices in Singapore and keep arbitrage export trade to the U.S. open, said Matias Togni, an analyst at market insights provider Next Barrel. China's jet fuel exports hit a 13-month high in April, official customs data showed, while industry estimates for May volumes were above 2 million tons. "China prioritised jet fuel above other products in their export quotas, flooding Singapore storage tanks and forcing South Korea to redirect their flows towards the U.S. West Coast," Togni said. However, U.S. West Coast refinery use rates rose to a two-month high of 82.6% in the week ended on May 16, U.S. government data showed, potentially limiting import demand for June. Still, the permanent closure of two refineries on the U.S. West Coast from end-2025 could lift the region's jet fuel imports by up to 100,000 tons per month, analysts said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
