Bardstown has about a dozen hotels and motels, and the two most interesting ones are also the newest: The Trail Hotel, a 95-room bourbon-themed hotel that opened in 2025 in the town’s 1970 Holiday Inn, and the Bardstown Motor Lodge, a restored 1950s motor court with a pool and a good restaurant. For points and predictability, La Quinta, Spark by Hilton (the former Hampton Inn), Holiday Inn Express and Fairfield sit on the north-side bypass. On a fall 2026 weeknight most rooms ran about $64 to $124, but prices move a lot with the calendar.
Old names, new names
Bardstown’s hotel scene reshuffled between 2021 and 2025, and map apps and older blog posts still send people to hotels that no longer exist under those names. Here is the decoder.
| Old name | Now | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday Inn Bardstown, later Quality Inn | The Trail Hotel (opened May 28, 2025) | 1875 New Haven Rd |
| Hampton Inn Bardstown | Spark by Hilton Bardstown | 985 Chambers Blvd |
| Comfort Inn, later Quality Inn & Suites | Distill-Inn (independent) | 984 Frost Ave |
| Downtown Super Inn | Bourbon Capital Inn | 523 N. Third St |
| Kurtz Restaurant and Bardstown Parkview Motel | Bardstown Motor Lodge (reopened 2023) | 418 E. Stephen Foster Ave |
A few brands you might search for are not in town at all: no Hilton Garden Inn, Home2, Tru, Days Inn or Red Roof. The nearest Home2 Suites is in Shepherdsville.
Every open hotel at a glance
| Hotel | Area | Rooms | Rate snapshot* | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Trail Hotel | New Haven Rd, south side | 95 | $127-$163 | Bourbon-focused splurge, pool, on-site dining |
| Bardstown Motor Lodge | E. Stephen Foster Ave | 30 rooms + 5 suites | $89-$106 | Style on a budget, walking to the state park |
| Distill-Inn | Frost Ave, north side | 49 | $108-$124 | Dogs, accessibility, pickleball |
| La Quinta Inn & Suites | E. John Rowan Blvd | 81 | $84-$93 | Top-rated chain, studio suites |
| Spark by Hilton | Chambers Blvd | 105 | $92-$99 | Hilton points, simple rooms |
| Holiday Inn Express & Suites | Morton Ave | 80 | $87-$98 | Families, indoor pool, breakfast |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites | Morton Ave | not published | not captured | Marriott points, free breakfast |
| SureStay General Nelson | W. Stephen Foster Ave | not published | $64-$69 | Cheapest walk to Court Square |
| Old Bardstown Inn | E. Stephen Foster Ave | 21 bookable | $73-$74 | Across from My Old Kentucky Home |
| Bourbon Capital Inn | N. Third St | 39 | about $69 | Basic, cheap, near downtown |
| Americas Inn | Off Blue Grass Pkwy exit 21 | about 24 | $82-$85 | Big rooms off the parkway |
*Google Hotels, read September 24, 2026, for a Monday night in late September. Weekends, October and festival dates cost more; treat these as a floor, not a quote.
The Trail Hotel
The Trail Hotel turned the shell of Bardstown’s 1970 Holiday Inn, a local gathering place for decades and later a Quality Inn, into what its owners call “the world’s first bourbon-infused luxury hotel.” It has 95 rooms, including eight bourbon-themed suites, and more places to drink than some towns: the Oak & Ember steakhouse, the 36-seat Bourbon Vault speakeasy (a fee applies), the Bourbon Lounge and a seasonal pool bar. Add a resort-style pool with a whirlpool, fire pits, a golf simulator, a fitness center and a Rejuvenation Room with a sauna and cryotherapy.
Its “Bourbon Butler” service coordinates VIP tours, and in 2025 it became an official Kentucky Bourbon Trail partner. It is a short drive, not a walk, from Court Square. Pets are allowed. Check-in is 3 p.m. and check-out 11 a.m. Details are on our Trail Hotel page.
Bardstown Motor Lodge
The Kurtz Restaurant and Parkview Motel served travelers on Stephen Foster Avenue for 84 years before closing in December 2021. Weyland Ventures rebuilt the late-1950s motor court and reopened it in 2023 as the Bardstown Motor Lodge, with 30 rooms and five suites, a seasonal pool with a poolside bar, fire pits with s’mores, a retro rec room and a restaurant, Toogie’s Table. Matador Network named it the best hotel along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. It is about 1.2 miles from My Old Kentucky Home State Park and walkable to downtown.
Distill-Inn
The former Comfort Inn on Frost Avenue now runs independently as Distill-Inn, and in September 2026 it sat at the top of Tripadvisor’s traveler ranking for Bardstown hotels. Its 49 rooms include ADA rooms with roll-in showers and 32-inch doorways. You get a free hot breakfast, a pool, an indoor pickleball court and a small bourbon bar called Whiz-KY. It is dog-friendly (fees apply), one of few in-town hotels that are. Call (502) 349-9400.
The chain hotels on the bypass
La Quinta Inn & Suites at 3305 E. John Rowan Blvd is the best-reviewed chain in town (4.5 on Tripadvisor), with 81 standard rooms and studio suites, including accessible rooms. Phone (502) 233-6860.
Spark by Hilton on Chambers Boulevard is the old Hampton Inn and still the most-reviewed hotel in Bardstown, with more than 1,000 Tripadvisor reviews. Spark is Hilton’s pared-back brand, so expect simple, practical rooms that still earn Hilton Honors points.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Morton Avenue, built in 2020, has 80 rooms, an indoor pool, a fitness center and a breakfast buffet from 7 to 10 a.m. King suites add a sofa bed for families.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott at 1070 Morton Ave includes free breakfast and is a group-friendly pick on Visit Bardstown’s list. Phone (502) 350-6720.
Budget motels near downtown
The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Bardstown General Nelson, at 411 W. Stephen Foster Ave, keeps the old General Nelson Inn name and the best location for the money: steps from the Talbott Tavern, with an outdoor pool, a continental breakfast with hot items and a 24-hour desk. Phone (502) 348-3977.
The Old Bardstown Inn at 510 E. Stephen Foster Ave faces the entrance to My Old Kentucky Home. It publishes rates from $84.99 for two queens and $149.99 for its single Jacuzzi room, lists a 10.24% tax rate, and allows no pets. Phone (502) 349-0776.
The Bourbon Capital Inn, the former Downtown Super Inn at 523 N. Third St, has 39 rooms with a microwave, fridge and big TV, plus a pool, across from the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train. Phone (502) 349-0363. Americas Inn, off exit 21 of the Blue Grass Parkway, offers large king rooms on a budget. The small Old Kentucky Home Motel at 414 W. Stephen Foster Ave, next to the SureStay, is listed as open but keeps a low profile online, so call (502) 348-5979 before counting on it.
Tips for booking a Bardstown hotel
Book early for any weekend from September through October; the Kentucky Bourbon Festival sells out hotels a year in advance. Check whether breakfast is included, because it varies. Expect roughly 10% in taxes on top of the room rate. If you plan to taste at downtown bars, weigh the savings of a bypass hotel against the cost of getting back; our tours and transportation guide covers drivers and shuttles. Traveling with a dog? See pet-friendly stays. Prefer a porch and a cooked breakfast? Try the historic inns. Not sure which part of town fits? Start with where to stay.
Compare hotel prices on the live map
Rates in Bardstown can double between a Tuesday and a festival Saturday, so the snapshot above only gets you so far. Use the live map below to see which of these hotels has rooms on your dates and what they cost right now, side by side with the inns and rentals nearby.
