The heart of the Highlands is now home to The Bellwether Hotel. Located at 1300 Bardstown Road, the Bellwether has given new life to two early 20th century buildings that have sat empty for the past two decades: the old Highlands Police Station and the former home of the Louisville Ballet. Purchased in 2019 by Park Mile Partners, Highlands residents Ben Botkins and Sarah Mattingly, and Sean and Annie O’Leary, the 20 unit apartment-hotel is heavily inspired by the Art Deco period of the ’20s and ’30s and will take you back in time as soon as you step inside. It’s also an “invisible service” hotel, meaning guests will check themselves in with a secure code.
For the Park Mile Partners, getting the approval of the neighbors in the surrounding Highlands neighborhood was paramount. “What we believe is our biggest asset is getting friends and family of the neighbors when they come to visit them to stay here,” said Ben Botkins. ”So, that’s what we sought out to do, and all signs point to that we’ve done that. People come to us all the time and say they can’t wait to put their friends and family here.” Botkins said the group of owners always recognized that the project had to fit with the neighborhoods around it. “Everything about it was to do it at neighborhood scale. Even the branding says ‘The Bellwether Neighborhood Hotel’.”
Each room in the hotel is unique with it’s own style and the rooms are also named after streets in the surrounding Tyler Park neighborhood. The Bellwether sleeps 50 people and also has a four bed, two bath unit that is great for larger groups. Rooms start at $139 a night. The largest unit will cost upwards of $600 per night. Booking begins on Oct. 15.
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