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The Seelbach Hilton Louisville

Name: The Seelbach Hilton Louisville
Address: 500 S 4th St, Louisville, KY, US

door 5 locals aangeraden,

Tips van locals

Bed And Bike

April 30, 2016

As the grandest hotel in Louisville and the center of Kentucky's bourbon and whiskey country, The Seelbach attracted some of the most famous gangsters. Notorious figures included Lucky Luciano and Dutch Schultz – known as the "Beer Baron of the Bronx." The King of the Bootleggers - George Remus, a Cincinnati mobster, referred to as "King of the Bootleggers," got rich running whiskey northward during Prohibition. As a local gangster, he would spend time at The Seelbach, for business and pleasure. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, who also visited The Seelbach for bourbon and cigars, was taken with the charismatic Remus. In fact, Remus became the inspiration for the title character Jay Gatsby in "The Great Gatsby." Al Capone's Secret Passageways - Al Capone, probably the most legendary gangster of the 1920s, used to visit The Seelbach frequently for blackjack, poker and bootlegging. Today, you can dine in a small alcove in The Oakroom where Capone would play cards. The famous gangster even sent a large mirror from Chicago, still in the room today, so that he could watch his back. Capone's favorite room also has two hidden doors behind special panels, leading to secret passageways. "The Great Gatsby" is Born - While in Army training at nearby Camp Taylor, famed author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, often visited The Seelbach on weekend passes to sip Kentucky bourbon and smoke expensive cigars. With a reputation for carousing, Fitzgerald was once banned from The Seelbach after he had one too many! During his visits, Fitzgerald encountered gangster George Remus, who became the model for Jay Gatsby in "The Great Gatsby." His experiences in The Seelbach's elegant rooms inspired him to use the hotel as a model during the writing of "The Great Gatsby." As the premier Louisville hotel, debutantes of upper-class society often "came out" on the top floor ballroom, throwing grand galas, similar to the parties in Fitzgerald's classic 1920s novel. Fitzgerald chose the Grand Ballroom at The Seelbach as the backdrop for Tom and Daisy Buchanan's wedding reception in his American masterpiece.