[Photo: Caprig]

The fun thing about the Seelbach was not just that the rooms were inside and therefore not accessible to the door-to-door panhandlers but that it has ample hangout space. Much of my grad school memories center on the mezzanine floor where there is a small easy access bar (more of like a small coatroom really in which a person stands and dispenses drinks)  and a piano.

Here's the thing about writers, we might like to drink a little. And so this space was great not just for hanging out with the other students and professors but for attracting random folks like the teenage piano prodigy who patiently played or hours  while a bunch of writers drunkenly caterwauled along.

Because there are not a lot of fancy hotels in downtown Louisville, each semester's stay generally brought us a celebrity or two, a basketball player one time, a senator the next.

During my final semester I watched the Red Sox lose the Series in the Seelbach Bar with members of Hootie and the Blowfish. The Old Seelbach Bar specializes in bourbons (they even have a special Seelbach bourbon cocktail) and yes, you can get a decent mint julep too.

And then there are the Seelbach ghosts. A writer friend of mine reported that a ghost in her room knocked a lamp off a table. Many of the very friendly employees have been there for a long time and can tell you which floors are likeliest to have ghosts in them.

There are also several photos on the walls that tell about the Seelbach's history and ghosts. Grand old hotels often have that strange august silence in them at night, this one definitely has a certain creepy quiet.

The hotel's rooms are nicely and traditionally appointed but a bit small if you are staying for more than a night or two. It's completely luck of the draw, some of the rooms are fairly large but have no view and often the smaller rooms have better views.

The hotel offers a couple of specialty suites but the best one in my opinion is not the Presidential Suite but the Seelbach Suite which is the original apartment of Otto Seelbach, It has an oak fireplace with a tile hearth, bookshelves and stained glass windows.

This is not a hotel to go to if you want to spend a lot of time in your hotel room (for that I would opt for 21C, the new modern hotel in Louisville) at the Seelbach, the grand lobby and elegant public spaces are the big draw.

Check out where our other VIP Hotel Reviewers have stayed.