New hotel by horse racing fans, for horse racing fans coming to downtown Paris
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hotel Thoroughbred revives 1891 Main Street building into a 19-room boutique.
- Owners open hotel April 2025 to coincide with Keeneland spring race meet.
- Hotel features equine exhibits, Derby winners wall, event center and gallery.
A new amenity is galloping into downtown Paris, Kentucky, where they celebrate Secretariat and other famous Thoroughbreds year round at surrounding horse farms.
Hotel Thoroughbred will be “a love letter and celebration to the equine industry in Paris and Central Kentucky,” said Chris Poynter, one of the owners.
Poynter, who grew up in Paris and still lives there, said he fell in love with the historic building at 530 Main Street eight years ago when he had a chance to walk through it. Built in 1891 by John T. Hinton, former mayor and a prominent businessman, for his furniture business, the building had long been empty.
“When I was growing up it was Century Furniture, and my parents, who are partners with us in the hotel, bought their first furniture there,” Poynter said. Partners in the hotel include Poynter’s husband, Andy Embry, who will be the hotel’s general manager; Poynter’s parents, Darrell and Debbie Poynter; and Joel and Jan Moncivaiz of Paris.
Now it’s come back to life as a 19-room boutique hotel with original hardwood floors, 10- to 12-foot ceilings with the original tin ceiling and massive windows that look out over Main Street and Secretariat Park.
They hope to open the first week of April to coincide with the spring Keeneland race meet, but they are already garnishing positive attention: Garden and Gun magazine recently named it one of seven “Hot Southern Hotel Openings to Watch for in 2026.”
The hotel will have a bar for guests and an event center that can accommodate up to 150 people, with smaller meeting areas available as well, Poynter said.
It was redesigned by architect Haviland Argo, a University of Kentucky professor and longtime friend of Poynter and Embry. Argo has a background in hospitality, having helped to create the 21c Museum Hotels, Poynter said.
Throughout the hotel will be nods to horse country, including massive photos by Bourbon County photographer Bobby Shiflet, who has a gallery nearby.
There also will be historic photos from the Keeneland library of famous Bourbon Countians who have been parts of the Thoroughbred industry for more than 120 years, including the Hancocks of Claiborne Farm, where Secretariat stood at stud and is buried.
The hotel lobby will have a massive wall dedicated to all the horses (25 so far) from Bourbon County who have won the Kentucky Derby, including the beloved Sunday Silence from Arthur and Staci Hancock’s Stone Farm. There is already a mural on the corner of the building of Sunday Silence that was dedicated in October with great fanfare.
And as a serendipitous touch, Poynter found online a former 16th pole from Churchill Downs, removed during the turf track renovations, with which guests can pose.
“It will be an Instagram moment,” he said.
The hotel also will have an art gallery that will feature different artists. The first will be former Louisville Courier-Journal photographer Pat McDonough.
