OMNI LOUISVILLE

400 South Second St. Louisville, KY 40202 502-313-6664 www.omnihotels.com/hotels/louisville

For a Bourbon enthusiast visiting Louisville who may not have time to venture out of the downtown business district, the Omni has the virtue of having an on-site liquor retail store where some shopping for bottles that never leave Kentucky can occur. There are no rare allocations or hard-to-find brands here, but there are plenty of the solid offerings from the heritage distilleries. The hotel also has several comfortable venues where guests can sip Bourbon straight or in cocktails.

The library, off the lobby, is a handsome space with a high ceiling, crown molding, a mural of a stream of Bourbon accenting the wall behind the shelves of whiskey and lots of conversational seating clusters. The Lewis + Louis Tasting Room is a private room where guided tastings are held and in which bottles may be purchased.

The signature sipping space is Pin & Proof, a speakeasy-style bar that also happens to be a four-lane bowling alley designed by

Brunswick Bowling. Even though it’s on the first floor of the hotel, accessible through a door off the lobby marked with a neon sign spelling out “Shhh”, it feels like it’s underground. The ceiling of the windowless room is supported by arched stone pillars that would not look out of place in the crypt of a European cathedral. Bar bites include Bourbon ale-battered green beans and a very local Louisville dish, rolled oysters. To the uninitiated, the mollusks are encased in batter, then rolled in cracker crumbs and deep fried. Cocktail sauce tends to be the preferred condiment of choice.