Gratz Park Inn

Overall this is a great stay. The bed was comfortable and we had no trouble with our check in. The traditional décor is suiting to the hotel’s historical significance and there is a lot of charm. Con: the bathroom could use updating/​A new shower or tub. But overall a very positive experience. They had complimentary champagne in our room since we stayed on New Year’s Eve.

A nice little boutique hotel. Lots of charm and very comfortable rooms. I didn’t experience the noise problems that other reviewers complained about and my room was in pretty good shape. I had one of the best meals of my life in the restaurant downstairs, Distilled.
My only complaint is the doors/​keys. The room doors were damn near impossible to open! And even more difficult to lock from the inside! You’re given an actual room key (mind-​boggling, I know!) The doorknobs on the rooms are completely weird, they only turn under certain circumstances, when the key is turned just right and the moon is aligned with Jupiter. Unlocking the door was difficult, but once inside, it literally took me five minutes to turn the deadbolt! The mechanism was so old/​tight/​rusted shut by the tears of previous occupants, it would not turn. And for a lady, I have a pretty significant case of man hands, so that’s sort of sad. I finally got the stupid thing to turn and the bolt wouldn’t catch in the doorframe! Five minutes, locking a door. Not the greatest start to my stay.
Upon leaving the room, I couldn’t LOCK the door. The key wouldn’t turn. And then when I finally got it to turn, the bolt wouldn’t catch. Five more minutes, locking a door. I walked away still not entirely sure I’d locked it.
Other guests I spoke to had the same issue. I know this sounds like a pretty silly problem, I’m sure, but I’m a woman traveling alone for business, I do not feel safe entering a room that I’m not sure I locked on the way out. I don’t feel comfortable leaving my laptop in a room that may or may not be locked. I can’t sleep while «HOPING» I locked the door correctly.
I would suggest the management sacrifice the charm of the old-​fashioned key system and invest in a more modern secure means of locking the doors.

I recently spent the weekend at Gratz Park Inn for a small alumni conference. This hotel was very charming with its own … character. The staff was very warm and welcoming when I arrived. The lobby is very quaint. I was a little taken aback when I was given an actual key as my room key! The rooms are very basic and the matches the old historic vibe. The beds are not super comfortable but the pillows were nice. They had hot coffee all day in the lobby and free wireless access. I knocked them down a few notches because the place is very noisy. The walls are very thin and you can hear every step that anyone takes above or below you. In addition, the wait-​staff in the restaraunt were pretty rude. Overall, I would frequent Gratz Park Inn again if I needed a quaint and cozy place to stay.

I think the Gratz must have been given good reviews in the past due to the renowned amazing restaurant there for 25 years. That restaurant closed July, 2014. Rumor has it the closing was due to management’s decision not to renew their lease.
Our stay at the Gratz was not as pleasurable as one would expect an expensive historical inn would be. Some of the staff was friendly, others uncaring and curt. The comfortable beds did not make up for the disappointing level of amenities and overall depressing condition of the lobby and guest rooms. The dingy dark shag carpeting is awful and felt dirty. Old, worn, marred, furnishings are not charming; they are disgusting.
One week before our visit I phoned the hotel to ask if the new restaurant was to be open prior to our arrival. I was told it was scheduled to open before we arrived. It was obvious when we checked in the restaurant was weeks away from opening.
We were told breakfast would be served in the basement. We assumed it was free and at least continental. We were shocked to enter the unattractive basement room with awful carpeting and décor. Breakfast was prepared on folding banquet tables using a portable griddle by the same seemingly unhappy person that served it. The free coffee did not make up for the $ 13 greasy omelet we ordered.
The only positive comment I can make about the Gratz is its convenient walkable location to restaurants and downtown Lexington.
In summary, it’s a dump for $ 179. No recommendation from me.

Sa-​WHAP! That is the sound of my dueling glove smacking the previous review for giving a bad impression of this lovely little place. To be fair, what happened to the reviewer sounds frustrating, but also to be fair, expecting five-​star anniversary surprise-​clinching service from a place like Gratz Park is silly — sort of like expecting it from a Comfort Inn.
Here’s what this place is: a gracious, quirky little midrange hotel, perfect for business travelers and older UK alums. For $ 99/​night, the amenities are frankly amazing: hair dryers, TV’s, bathrobes, big plush towels, shampoo AND conditioner (not that gross shampitioner they have most places).
Then there are the beds. My God, the beds. This is an all-​Tempurpedic hotel. Imagine it now — getting out of a hot bubble bath, slathering yourself with citrusy hotel moisturizer (they have that too!), wrapping up in a bathrobe, and then drifting off to sleep wrapped in the most deliciously comfortable sheeto burrito you have ever experienced.
Oh, sure, the place is dated. When you meet the staff, you feel like they should be working in a library or bookstore or absent-​minded professor lab of some kind rather than a hotel. But all that just makes this place feel like a home to me. I love it.

I’m afraid I’ll wax too poetic if I try to do more than just list my major points.
Pros:
o The word for this hotel is ‘gracious’. Tasteful, quiet, cheerful décor.
o Comfortable Tempur-​pedic mattress on the four-​poster bed, good quality linens.
o Huge, plump feather pillows.
o Excellent bathroom with good quality ‘hotel sized’ soaps and so on.
o QUICK and SUPERB room service meals.
o Friendly and very professional staff.
Cons:
o Get ice from the bar (no ice machines).
o Air conditioning leaves a smidgen to be desired but is still okay (I like my room pretty darn cold so this is probably a quibble on my part).
o The rooms use real keys and are a little hard to use as the locks are a bit elderly.
o Room service is charged separately as the restaurant is its own entity.
o Weak Wi-​Fi.
Turns out the Inn was originally a hospital, which is why the layout seems a little strange. Vending machines for cans of soda and so on are in the stairwells and there are no ice machines. The staff are very kind when explaining and always offered to fetch whatever it is we wanted instead of just waving a hand and saying «over there» as sometimes happens in chain hotels.
We paid $ 179 for a Sunday night stopover during our road trip. Considering we have stayed at chains for about the same price, I rated the Gratz Park Inn as «Moderate» instead of «Pricey». It’s beautiful and exceedingly comfortable. Not for those who look to travel on strict budget, no. For a treat, it’s excellent. The neighborhood is beautiful and worth a walk around just to see.
Johnathan’s Restaurant is apparently the creation of a local celeb chef who apprenticed with Emeril Lagasse. It’s MUCH better than Emeril’s (the one in Atlanta, anyway). Next time I will try the burgoo! (Had to Google that to even find out what it was!)
We might come back to Lexington just to stay here again and enjoy the scenery.
The Man O’ War gravesite at the Kentucky Horse Park is only one exit away on the Interstate and is a beautiful place to visit as well.
Loved this place and it made me want to come back to Lexington.

Very disappointing and embarrassed having taken my partner there for a surprise anniversary trip. So, here’s the scoop:
Prior to our arrival, we had a drink at a winery just north of town. I went to the bathroom to stealthily contact the hotel and I called 30 minutes before arrival to remind them I had requested champagne in the room upon arrival — an anniversary surprise. They said «yours is warm but someone else brought some in for you, that’s, frankly, better than what we have. I’ll put it on ice.» Then he calls me back 5 minutes later — ruining any sort of surprise as we were in the car by this point — to tell me he got me confused with someone else and that the champagne we were getting «is warm but I’ll put it on ice to get it as cold as possible.» Really, they don’t keep champagne/​wine and other alcoholic beverages in the fridge? There’s a restaurant attached to the hotel which most likely has a walk-​in fridge.
So we get there. We drive past the circular entrance to the parking lot behind another neighboring building. Not a great first impression.
We walk in the hotel front doors. The entire lobby was bursting at the seams with what could be likened to a warehouse of obvious chair and couch reproductions.
So, I go to the front desk. I give my name and say I have a reservation. I remind him I just spoke to him about 20 minutes earlier. He says, «yes, I remember. I haven’t been up to your room with the wine yet. A hundred things have come up since then.» A hundred things have come up since then? What a horrible thing to say to a hotel guest. Poor service. Lack of proper training maybe. And of course my partner is right next to me hearing the whole thing so if there was any remnant of surprise with the champagne awaiting us in the room, it was just washed down a river of warm alcohol.
The front desk person then reminds me of the package I reserved, complete with a gourmet breakfast from 7−9am Sunday morning. He proceeds to tell me, «well our breakfast (the gourmet breakfast) isn’t that good, but the restaurant’s is better and they serve brunch until 11.»
OK, so, a horrible first impression with their one man staff.
Then we grab the elevator to get to our rooms. Elevator is lined with microfiber fabric to mimic suede walls. Just an observation.
We get to our room door. It is a beat up metal door, really, with dents, scratches and all.
We entered the room. There was nothing horribly wrong with the room once inside. It was just odd with a TV near the front door with two chairs and a table. Then, you walk around the wall to the bedroom. It was a flat screen TV. I guess it was too big to have replace the old one in the chest, which was still in the room with hangers in it. Fine. But the right side of it had chipped shelves and wall sides and a hole in the backside. It was clearly where the old TV went.
10 minutes later the guy from the front desk stumbles in with the champagne. Still warm. Bottom of the barrel too. We tolerated a half of a glass and that was enough.
We had dinner reservations at Jonathon’s, a restaurant just past the hotel lobby. I thought it was great. They started us off with a bottle of champagne of a respectable caliber per my request earlier the week prior. The meal was well-​prepared. Interesting fare. Our server was nice, with a good personality. All grey-​haired people ranging from 45 – 80 years old, but whatever, we were there for the food, not the other people dining there.
We went out after dinner. Came back later, went to bed and that was that. Checked out the next morning, left to recount our horrible experience on our way home.
This place is definitely one that oversells itself on their Web site. There were a few really cool photos online.
I would never return nor would I recommend it to any one else.