See Inside the Newly Renovated Kentucky Castle
-by Matt Dawson, KY Castle Owner, Operator
Growing up in Kentucky I drove by it hundreds of times, every time wondering what in the world was in there. So, I’ll never forget the first time I actually stepped foot inside the castle walls. It was actually a castle! It wasn’t just a cardboard Hollywood prop that looked like a castle from the outside. I was super excited to host my medical conference in this amazing venue.
“You’re really going to have a medical conference in Kentucky?” I heard so many times that it got pretty annoying. We have conferences in Cabo, Hawaii, Yellowstone, Norway, and other “destination” places, so I did face a fair amount of skepticism about a conference here, but I grew up here. Central Kentucky is an amazing place you just have to show people. The horses, bourbon, beautiful farms, and a CASTLE!
I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Maybe people wouldn’t love Kentucky as much as I do, and honestly, our registration wasn’t that great the first couple of years. Our faith in the combination of southern hospitality in an incredibly unique setting (a castle on a farm) paid off, though. Now, after six years, our conference in The Kentucky Castle is the biggest point of care ultrasound conference in the world. Bigger than ALL of the other conferences. People love staying with us, our warm hospitality, and just getting to know Versailles and Lexington, KY. It has been a dream come true to be able to share my home state with physicians from literally every continent other than Antarctica (still working on that one). Click HERE to see the amazing time we have at that conference every year. It really is an wonderful conference space.
Of course, holding a conference in a castle is one thing but buying a castle is a completely different deal. Growing up in central Kentucky (Lincoln County) the son of a firefighter/pastor and a teacher I was certainly not royalty. I had to bring together several other “commoners” from Kentucky as well to purchase this amazing icon. Being from Lincoln County, Oldham County, and Elliott County we emptied our couch cushions, cleaned out the change trays from our cars and combined what we found with a huge dream to purchase the castle.
That dream includes a working 55 acres farm to support a world class farm to table restaurant and boutique hotel and event experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the world.
We’re already hosting at least 15 events per month from groups as small as corporate retreats of 10 to weddings as large as 500. We have private spaces to fit any group size or budget.
We can’t figure out how to make trees grow more quickly, so the farm is taking longer than we’d like. We will have sheep, chickens, and a really cool apiary very soon. While we wait for our fruit trees and truffle orchard to grow, though, we are already serving delicious farm to table dinners for our overnight guests and any events which book a private space in the dining room, ballroom, music room, rooftop, or bourbon tasting room. And the restaurant is open now. See further below for more information on that.
We’d really love for you to come not just eat, but stay with us at our boutique hotel. As excited as I was the first time I walked into the castle and realized how amazing the property was, I’m just as excited to share this local icon with you now that we’ve completely renovated the rooms.
Of course, we realize you have a lot of choices when it comes to which castle in central Kentucky to book your special night! We really hope you give us a chance, though. We’ve done an incredible amount of work to the rooms, and we really want to share it with you.
You have to come see the renovations that we’ve just completed! Every single luxurious room has a king bed, vaulted ceilings, and a level of detail that you would expect in a castle.
By now you know the history, why it was built, when it burned down, and how it has changed hands several times. What you may not know is that we are 100% committed to making it one of the greatest boutique hotels in the world. We’ve been working extremely hard and are now ready to open it to you to come stay overnight.
Come check it out, enjoy an amazing experience, and be a part of our story. We have so much more work to do, but we’d love to get your feedback now. Tell us what you love and how we can do better. Come be our guest.
You’ve got plenty of options. If you just want to get a taste of the castle, you can stay in one of our deluxe king rooms. These rooms are perfect for a single person or a couple. They get you complete access to the castle, the courtyard, the roof, and the entire property.
Of course, if you really want to step it up, then book one of our second level corner suites, numbered 205, 207, 208, and 210. These rooms are fit for a king and come with a turret on the corners for extra space, in-room dining, or just hanging out.
Finally, if you want to absolutely go all out and really impress your significant other or whole family, then reserve an entire chalet! You get two stories all to yourself. You get balconies with stunning courtyard and farm views, a pullout sofa on the bottom level, king bed on the top, and plenty of space.
While you’re here, make sure you have dinner at our incredible farm to table restaurant. Our chef is cooking fresh ingredients every night from local farms for our hotel guests. We guarantee you will absolutely not be disappointed.
The other owners of The Kentucky Castle and I are all from central Kentucky and we really want to share this incredible icon of the state with you. Our goal is to have an absolute world class experience right here in central Kentucky. We realize not everyone can come stay with us. If you can’t we’d love to invite you to come out and take a tour, or come out for a special Christmas Dinner or Brunch with Santa, Bourbon Dinner, or go to the website and see all the other great events we have planned.
We have a bourbon steward in residence, a dozen concierges, an amazing chef, a castle farmer, and many others who are working feverishly to make this a one of a kind experience. Much more work to come in the near future. In the meantime, come stay with us and be a part of our story.