'08 Kentucky Bourbon Festival

[doubleblank]

Yes folks, that's not a misprint. 2008 KBF is the topic. As currently scheduled, the 2008 KBF and the 2008 Ryder Cup (being held in Louisville) are on the same weekend. As a golf fan, I think "great!".....I'll combine attending the Ryder Cup with bourbon. But here's the reality.

Barbara Brown who owns the General Nelson has already booked 100% of the rooms for the Ryder Cup weekend. She was getting calls a year ago from Scottish travel groups. Between reservations she made directly and those made by the Best Western national agency....all the rooms are gone for 2008. That also means the Gazebo will be occupied by some hard drinking Scotts (keep an eye on the good stuff). Note to all Scotts.......this is said tongue-in-cheek. Anyway, this means at best we're going to another location if anyone else has any availability. I haven't had time to check that yet. My guess is that rental cars out of Louisville and Lexington are going or gone too.

There's some discussion about moving the dates for the Fest, but no decisions yet. In fact, they may view it as a way to get the Festival and bourbon in front of an affluent international crowd and not be concerned with the other visitors (us) who rely on local accomodations, etc in order to visit the Fest.

As time permits, I'll investigate availability at other area accomodations. Don't bother using their websites, they don't go that far out but will take reservations made over the phone.

I told Bobby that if we go somewhere else and like it, we might stay there in the future. She understands this all too well.....but ultimately isn't too concerned as the hotel is up for sale and she has an offer. More bad news for us SB.com'ers.

Randy

[jeff]

Ed and I left our information with Bobby and she said they would call if the dates are changed or something falls through with the travel group. I would suggest everyone make a call or send an e-mail just in case.

FWIW, she seemed confident that the dates for the festival would change, and I guess if they're going to change it will happen soon, but that was only her opinion (wishful thinking?)

[Gillman]

I think one year it might be nice to do this in another city in Kentucky, maybe 2008 provides an opportunity. True, it would remove the linkage to the KBF (which means the time frame could be changed although I would stick with September/early October) but I wonder how many of the group attend its events these days. Few attend the Gala, I know.

Another town or city would provide increased interest for visitors who are veterans of Bardstown and even I think for many Kentuckians.

Ideally it would be near some distilleries, so Frankfort would be perfect, or Lexington. I suppose Owensboro is too far, but we could arrange some take-out of mutton and other barbeque for the Friday night and visit the site of the distillery being built there.

I'd think out of the box for '08.

Gary

[boone]

I just called Day's Inn near the location of the Sampler...right off the exit to the Bluegrass Parkway....

They have over 100 rooms available...Sept. 11-15, 2008. That's just the first one I called...

[cowdery]

I find it a surprising that people coming for the Ryder Cup will have to stay as far from the venue as Bardstown. We were just there on the first weekend of Derby Festival and that event was having zero impact in Bardstown, though perhaps this coming weekend will be different.

Is it possible that the Ryder Cup is bigger than the Derby? I can't imagine it, but I also know nothing about it.

If the Ryder Cup is already selling out hotels in Bardstown, then you can bet air travel, rental cars and all the rest will be a mess. If it's really going to be that disruptive, changing the festival's dates seems reasonable, but I don't have a lot of faith in the KBF's managers doing the smartest thing.

[nor02lei]

Yes folks, that's not a misprint. 2008 KBF is the topic. As currently scheduled, the 2008 KBF and the 2008 Ryder Cup (being held in Louisville) are on the same weekend. As a golf fan, I think "great!".....I'll combine attending the Ryder Cup with bourbon. But here's the reality.

Barbara Brown who owns the General Nelson has already booked 100% of the rooms for the Ryder Cup weekend. She was getting calls a year ago from Scottish travel groups. Between reservations she made directly and those made by the Best Western national agency....all the rooms are gone for 2008. That also means the Gazebo will be occupied by some hard drinking Scotts (keep an eye on the good stuff). Note to all Scotts.......this is said tongue-in-cheek. Anyway, this means at best we're going to another location if anyone else has any availability. I haven't had time to check that yet. My guess is that rental cars out of Louisville and Lexington are going or gone too.

There's some discussion about moving the dates for the Fest, but no decisions yet. In fact, they may view it as a way to get the Festival and bourbon in front of an affluent international crowd and not be concerned with the other visitors (us) who rely on local accomodations, etc in order to visit the Fest.

As time permits, I'll investigate availability at other area accomodations. Don't bother using their websites, they don't go that far out but will take reservations made over the phone.

I told Bobby that if we go somewhere else and like it, we might stay there in the future. She understands this all too well.....but ultimately isn't too concerned as the hotel is up for sale and she has an offer. More bad news for us SB.com'ers.

Randy

Thanks Randy for bringing this up in this early stage. I have figured KBF-08 as the “realistic†time for my next Kentucky visit and I am glad for all information I can get.

Leif

[doubleblank]

Chuck....The website www.gotolouisville.com is projecting the 2008 Ryder Cup to be the highest attended sporting event in the history of Kentucky. Yes, the Ryder Cup is a big deal.

The franchise "Best Western" and their hotels have a good reputation in Europe. Of course, over there they are not called Best Western but are known by their local names. It doesn't surprise me that that is the hotel chain of choice for those looking for modest accomodations from Europe.

If the dates are not changed, the GN won't be able to accomodate many, if any, of us. So we need to find our next "Gazebo" gathering place. I believe many area hotels would like our business. We'll just rent a tent for the weekend to have a temporary Gazebo.

Randy

[barturtle]

When the PGA comes to Louisville, it's a huge deal...I remember in '96 many people locally actually went and stayed with relatives so they could rent out their houses (for some huge sums, too). There just aren't enough rooms available in town.

[camduncan]

I just called Day's Inn near the location of the Sampler...right off the exit to the Bluegrass Parkway....

They have over 100 rooms available...Sept. 11-15, 2008. That's just the first one I called...

Jeez, that's about 6 months too late for me :bigeyes:

(Jen and I sat down last night and rough-planned a trip attending the Sampler in April 08 :D:D)

Hopefully we won't hit this sort of problem when we go to book :skep:

Thanks Bettye Jo - now I have the name of another place 'just in case'

[barturtle]

Jeez, that's about 6 months too late for me :bigeyes:

(Jen and I sat down last night and rough-planned a trip attending the Sampler in April 08 :D:D)

Hopefully we won't hit this sort of problem when we go to book :skep:

Thanks Bettye Jo - now I have the name of another place 'just in case'

It's even within walking distance of the General Nelson....:slappin:

[cowdery]

From Pam Gover of KBF, re changing the 2008 KBF dates:

"We have been discussing it and it will be decided at the May 21 board meeting. At this time my feeling is that it will not be changed, but the board has to make that decision."

[OscarV]

My first reaction was not to move the KBF so that bourbon could be on display for the international guests.

But now that I think about it, I feel the date for the KBF should be changed, because the distillery people will be working the Ryder Cup heavy,(with pro-mo's), anyway and the out of towners will not be attending the Festival, they will be just using rooms and rental cars.

And the Festival will get less attention by the distillery people.

Question,.... what is a Ryder Cup?

It can't be more important than Lord Stanley's Cup, could it?

[Rughi]

Question,.... what is a Ryder Cup?

And where do they put on their toodoo? Is it close to Bardstown? Up near Louisville?

[barturtle]

At Valhalla Golf Club in the East End of Louisville.

[cowdery]

Valhalla is about 20 miles east of Louisville, putting it about as close to Frankfort and, for that matter, Lexington, as it is to Bardstown. From what everyone is saying, it probably will impact all of the lodging "clusters" along I-64 and I-65, at least as far east as Lexington and to E-town, maybe even Bowling Green, to the south. Probably up into Indiana too.

It will be revealing what the KBF decides to do. If what seems to be the case (pressure on hotel rooms for about 60-70 miles in every direction) is, in fact, the case, that will make it very hard on out-of-town festival attendees. If they (The Committee) are okay with it being a mostly local festival for next year, they'll leave it alone. If they think out-of-towners are crucial, they'll move it.

On the other hand, you can't dismiss the fact that all of the Bardstown area hotels will be full, so no skin off their noses, and probably a good percentage of Ryder Cup attendees who wind up in Bardstown probably will sample a dram or two of the local product, if not attend a festival event or two.

[doubleblank]

I fully appreciate the quandry they face in making the decision. It is an opportunity to introduce the Ryder Cup attendees to bourbon.....by making it a mostly local event. The bourbon industry thinks that's what they do anyway....."its just a county fair with some focus on bourbon." This might trigger the industry to re-evaluate their future support of the event.

The top bidders at the auction are usually us out-of-towners. There won't be much action without us.

I like Gary's suggestion to think outside the box.....in 2008 and beyond. Maybe our own "Fest" working with a local hotel and one or more distilleries.

Taking advantage of one time opportunities can be costly. People attending the Ryder Cup won't be returning. We might not either.

Randy

[TNbourbon]

...I like Gary's suggestion to think outside the box.....in 2008 and beyond. Maybe our own "Fest" working with a local hotel and one or more distilleries...

Well, I almost hate to bring the subject up (since were talking "Tennessee" here), but I'm within 75 minutes of three distilleries (2 whiskey, 1 rum), and have a hotel with a Gazebo about a 1/4-mile up the road. Just thinkin' out loud, of course...

[BourbonJoe]

If (when) Bobby sells the place, I think we can just about forget "business as usual" there. We should probably form an official "hangout huntin" committee and start lookin. Just my opinion.

Joe :usflag:

[pepcycle]

Bardstown and the KBF would be wise to move the festival for no other reason than filling the hotels on two weekends instead of one. Move it to the weekend prior and people could come in one or two days early.

As far as alternate accomodations. I sugest we look across the street from the General Nelson.

I wouldn't mind staying in a room near the Michter's still.

(Any entrepeneurs out there interested in buying used FEMA trailers and setting up a temporary Hoovertown for Ryder Cup/KBF?)

[Gillman]

All these are good suggestions but Tim's, if we relocate to another town, makes a lot of sense to me. It wouldn't take away from the bourbon theme to check out the very related Tennessee distilleries. And I am starting to warm to the idea of a personally selected barrel of 100 proof JD!

This would be something different, too, both for Kentuckians and those from further afield.

"Tennesse '08", I say let's do it!

Gary

[doubleblank]

Hey Bettye Jo.....The weekend you inquired about is the weekend before the Ryder Cup and proposed KBF dates. Ask them about the following weekend...... the 16th thru the 21st. Thanks.

Randy

[boone]

Hey Bettye Jo.....The weekend you inquired about is the weekend before the Ryder Cup and proposed KBF dates. Ask them about the following weekend...... the 16th thru the 21st. Thanks.

Randy

Hi Randy :grin: :grin:

I did a "mini" phone marathon calling most every hotel, bed and breakfast in Nelson County and the city of Bardstown. Most importantly, letting each one know that this is KBF week :grin: :grin: then specifically noting Sept. 16th thru the 21st...to make sure everything would be correct.

The few of the major hotel chains will not book that far in advance. They told me that I would have to wait till Sept. to book a year in advance. That was policy with two of them...

I jotted down a few of the responses. Every single hotel that I called was "open" (no reservations) They could handle the number of rooms we need. I pulled a number out of my head and guessed 40 rooms. Counting the member's who attend each year that seemed appropriate.

I mentioned Days Inn...She told me that they are under contract with several distillery's (out of town guest) during that week---she noted that it was a small number---but she would guarantee us 40 rooms, at $89.00 a night. A new guy from West Virginia (?) just bought it. He's been "remodeling it the last two weeks"... I went by last night and noticed that sign had finally been uncovered...It's "Quality" Inn now. It's has lots of privacy in the back near the pool, with rooms surrounding in a "U" shape. A excellent restaurant, Lounge, and meeting rooms are there. This is the place where "we" go...I've partied a lot there. I've mentioned a time or two that after the HH Christmas party we head there for the duration of the night :grin: :grin: Turkey Kick it's "the Place" :grin: :grin: Union strike votes...we book a meeting room there...Sorry, no link there yet...

Parkview Hotel is nice. Homeplace is a good term. http://www.bardstownparkview.com/index.html This is the link. I am sure you noticed it at time or two. It also has privacy in the back by the pool a restaurant and bar right there also. It "overlooks" My Old Kentucky Home". A longtime, family owned, place. They are open for reservations...they have 32 rooms.

Ramada http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Booking/check_avail?brandCode=RA,MQ,DI,HJ,KG,SE,TL,BU&searchWithinMiles=25&areaType=1&destination=bardstown&stateName=Kentucky&state=KY&countryName=United%20States&country=US&checkInDate=05/02&numberAdults=1&numberRooms=1&checkOutDate=05/03&numberChildren=0&rateName=Best%20Avail&rate=000&smoking=any&bed=any&promotionCode=&corporateCode=&iataNumber=&id=02637&propBrandId=RA&force_nostay=false has 39 (open) rooms but this place has everything in the open. There is no "backyard" privacy. The "U" is open facing the road

Hampton has 106 rooms http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=5X0JHIJOQ2BAQCSGBIV2VCQKIYFC5UUC?ctyhocn=BDSTWHX&ctyhocn=BDSTWHX. A very new and clean place but again, there is no "backyard" for us to play. Their policy will not allow booking until Sept. only one year in advance bookings allowed.

Comfort Inn...49 rooms http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/HotelInfo?hotel=KY021&sid=mL70g.oqDy0ggne.1&sarea=9924&sname=Bardstown&sstate=KY&scountry=US&sradius=40.23&slat=37.8092&slon=-85.4669&schain=Q&exp=&scity=Bardstown&sort=&nroom=1&nadult1=1&nchild1=0&nadult2=1&nchild2=0&nadult3=1&nchild3=0&nadult4=1&nchild4=0&nadult5=1&nchild5=0...same policy...Not booking over a year in advance. Their policy will not allow a reservation over a year in advance.

The Sherwoond Inn (New Haven :grin: ) has rooms available. Small, and the only place we have :grin: :grin: :grin: 6 rooms :grin: :grin: Located right beside the Kentucky Railway Museum. A "time lock" olden days bar, and restaurant all in one :grin:

The only place that is booked is the General Nelson. She got lucky I guess. Just like last month when she booked solid for a long time.

All other's seemed surprised that I am asking this far in advance.

Although, major events happen in Louisville quite often. I can't imagine that any could be bigger that The Kentucky Derby Festival and the "Kentucky Derby".

I see that the Ryder Cup expects 210,000. That's a lot, but the Twin Spires holds 150,000 and that does not include all the guest at nearby homes places, like bars, restaurants private parties etc...etc...Thunder over Louisville drew 800,000 people that lined the banks of the Ohio River...Louisville will book this week and it will spill over to other counties...It brings business to Bardstown but never to the extent that it's "booked" solid in Nelson County...Just like this week. The Derby is Saturday and there's rooms available in Bardstown.

But, the Governor is banking highly on the Ryder cup...I noticed big brown "Kentucky attraction" signs on I-65 already promoting this event. I sincerely hope that it blows the doors off at Louisville. It will be good for Kentucky :grin:

There's plenty of rooms available in Nelson County and the city of Bardstown :grin: :grin: this week and KBF week 2008 :grin:

This is just a "small list" of motels in my area :grin: There's plenty more including bed and breakfast places...If y'all want to see more, let me know.

This post will help folks (coming to Bardstown) to use as a reference, from a local person :grin:

[doubleblank]

Thanks for all the leg work Bettye Jo. In summary, it sounds like there will be "pressure" from the Ryder Cup on hotels, rental cars, etc, but that rooms will be available in Bardstown....just not at the GN. So if we act in a timely manner (reserve a room early), we should be able to designate another location as "our" place to hang out and party.

As we all know, Barbara at the GN has been a great host and allowed us to use the Gazebo (and occasional tent) for our socials. While not exactly raucous, we are drinking and laughing till 2 or 3 am each night! Who knows if a new owner will be as liberal with our activities. Will any other Bardstown property owners allow us similar privileges?

Randy

[cowdery]

LeNell pointed the way to another alternative and what is, in fact, a venerable Kentucky tradition--the party house. The place she rented is owned by Michael Masters. There are others. A variation would be to "buy out" all the rooms in a B&B with the understanding that we can use its common areas, including the yard, for our party.

To the best of my knowledge, no other guest at the GN nor any of the permanent neighbors ever has complained about us, leading me to believe we wouldn't have problems elsewhere.

[pepcycle]

The Rosemark Haven B&B has a tobacco barn converted into a three story wine bar. In addition to the main house, there are two other buildings with rooms.

They have a restaurant on premises as well.