Introducing the Galt House and Hyatt

Introducing the Galt House and Hyatt

The Braille Monitor

May 2003

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Introducing the Galt

House and Hyatt

by Max Robinson

The

lobby of the Galt House Hotel.

From the Editor: Max

Robinson is second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of

Kentucky. Last year he provided readers with a walking tour of our convention

hotels. It seemed a good idea to reprint his description again this year. Here

it is:

General Information about

the Galt House Hotels

The addresses for the two

Galt House towers are the West Tower, 140 N. Fourth Avenue, and the East Tower,

141 N. Fourth Avenue. The phone number for both towers is (502) 589-5200.

The

Galt House is bordered on the north by River Road and on the south by Main Street.

Fourth Street runs north and south between the two towers. These are referred

to as the Galt House West Tower and the Galt House East Tower. The East includes

suites equipped with a living room area, refrigerator, and wet bar. The two

facilities are connected by both an outdoor pedestrian walkway between the two

front doors, and above it a fully enclosed bridge on the third floor.

The East Tower has eighteen

floors, sixteen of which contain sleeping rooms, and the West Tower has twenty-five

floors. The lower room numbers are in the West Tower. They range from 1 to 35,

preceded by the floor number. On the east they range from 46 to 98, preceded

by the floor number. For example, room 1201 is found on the West. On the east

side the twelfth floor numbers begin with 1246.

The Galt House West

When you enter the Galt

House West Hotel, you are facing west. Walk straight west, and the front desk

will be to your left, along the south wall. If you stand at the registration

desk in the West Tower, the bank of four elevators will be directly behind you

on the north wall.

The staircase leading to

the second floor of the West Tower is to the left (south) when you enter the

front door, before you reach the check-in desk.

The Galt House East Tower

The front door of the Galt

House East Tower faces west. As you enter, you are facing east. If you turn

left (north) just inside the door, you pass through a small lounge area with

chairs and low tables. This is the entrance to the Lobby Bar, which is located

between the back of the elevator bank and the west wall of the building. To

find the desk once inside the door, walk straight ahead for a few feet, then

turn left, and walk several yards. You are facing north, and the hotel registration

desk is to your right, along the east wall. The elevators are to your left,

along the west wall. The stairs leading to the second floor are directly in

front of you, on the north wall.

Restaurants, Hallways,

Obstacles, and Other Objects of Interest

In the West Tower the layouts

of the second and third floors are quite similar. As you exit the elevators,

you enter a large open area and are facing south. The main hallway is to your

left. Also to your left is a large support pillar, just waiting to embarrass

you. There is about a ten-foot space between the elevator wall and the pillar.

Turn left and follow the wall until you hear the hallway opening to either side.

If the area in front of the elevators is congested, you should swing wide to

pass the pillar on the south rather than the north.

The River Grill, located

on the second floor of the West Tower, is at the northwest end of the building.

Exit the elevator and turn left to reach the hallway, then turn left again and

follow the hall north. The River Grill is at the end of the hall on the left

and has moderate prices. The Flagship is a first-class revolving restaurant

with prices to match. It is on the twenty-fifth floor of the West Tower.

The outdoor pool is located

on the third floor, west side. The Galt House gift shop and barber and beauty

shops are on the second floor west. Exit the elevator, turn left, then right

(south) along the main north-south hallway.

D'Marie Lounge is on the

twenty-fifth floor of the West Tower. It features 120 brands of Kentucky bourbon.

The Lobby Bar is in the lobby of the East Tower. All rooms have coffee makers,

blow-dryers, and irons.

If you drive, you should

remember that the Galt House charges a $5-a-day parking fee.

The Bridge

To reach the third-floor

enclosed bridge from the West Tower, turn left out of the elevator to get to

the main hallway. Turn right and walk south down the hall. Turn left at the

first opening (east), and turn left again (north). After a while you will hear

some noisy air-conditioning equipment. Walk a bit farther until you can turn

right (east). You are now on the enclosed bridge--windows on your left, wall

to the right, echoes.

After

you leave the bridge, jog a bit to the left to avoid running into a banister

like those found on stairs. You will find a wall to the left and open space

to the right. Keep walking south. You will soon find a wall on the right. Then

the hallway will open up to the south again. Turn right (south). The elevators

of the East Tower will be to the right.

To reach the West Tower

from the East Tower, exit the elevator on the third floor and turn left. Turn

left again almost immediately; you are now facing west. Keep walking west and

jog to the left to enter the bridge--windows to the right, wall to the left,

echoes. Continue west until you hear the air conditioner and the ambience changes.

Turn left (south) and then right (west) and then right (north) again. You are

now in the main north-south hallway of the West Tower. The openness to your

left is the area where the elevators are. Pass the pillar, turn left, and the

elevators are immediately on your right.

The Hyatt

Here is the Hyatt's general

information: phone number, (502) 587-3434; the address is 320 West Jefferson.

If you arrive by taxi at the Hyatt, you will turn into the hotel driveway from

West Jefferson, which runs east-west. The entrance faces east, and you will

enter a short hallway going west. At the end of the hall you will enter what

can best be described as a circular lobby. Make a right, continuing your path

counter-clockwise around the circle. You will find a bank of telephones on your

right and the elevators on your left. They and the escalators stand in the central

area of the lobby, which includes a central atrium that the upper floors look

into. In the lobby the front desk is just past the phones on your right, across

from the elevator doors.

If you enter the hotel

by the Fourth Avenue door, you are walking east and will step immediately into

the circular lobby. If you walk straight ahead from this door, you will step

onto the escalator to the second floor. Just a few feet inside the door and

to your left is the Trellis Cafe, a full-service restaurant featuring American

cuisine and open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pepper's Bar is located at

the Fourth Avenue end of the

building

on the second floor, directly above the Trellis. At the top of the escalator

turn left. When you reach the bank of elevators, turn left again, and Pepper's

is there.

On

the first floor, continuing clockwise around the circular lobby past the Trellis,

you will reach the front desk. When you face the front desk, the elevators will

be directly behind you.

When

standing at the front desk, you can turn right, continuing clockwise around

the circle to find the hotel gift shop. It is just after the bank of phones

and the hallway from the West Jefferson entrance.

There is nothing unusual

about the numbering system in the Hyatt. The sleeping rooms are on floors three

through eighteen, beginning with room 301, the lowest, and ending with 1828,

the highest. The Hyatt rooms are equipped with blow-dryers, irons, and coffee

makers. Parking is $7 a day at the Hyatt.

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