Hotels, restaurants offering promotions to drum up Valentine's Day business

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Hotels and restaurants are ready for a little extra love this Valentine’s Day weekend.

The hospitality and restaurant industries are relying on pent up demand from lovey dovey couples, looking for any reason to get out of the house. Many restaurants are offering special Valentine’s Day menus or romantic to-go options, and they’re filling up fast. Meanwhile, hotels are offering special getaway packages to help guests spice things up.

The Hilton Garden Inn downtown is offering a $99 romance package for guests this weekend.

“We’ve got an insatiable romance package,” said general manager John Fields. “That means we’ve got everything covered. So you’ve got chocolates when you arrive, champagne when you arrive, 8UP dinner reservations are available to you. We’ve got parking included, breakfast included. You name it, you’ve got it.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the Hilton Garden Inn still had rooms available for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But if rooms sell out, Fields said there are options to help those Valentine’s Day procrastinators snag a good getaway gift.

“We can make a future reservation for you. We can make that happen, and we can put together the same package if that’s what you want,” he said.

The Brown Hotel is also offering a romantic hotel package for this weekend at a rate of $230 per night.

“Well romance is definitely in the air,” said the hotel’s director of operations, Marc Salmon. “With that room package, you get a lovely bottle of champagne, a $50 credit towards dining at our world famous English Grill, valet parking, and guaranteed late check-out of 2:00 p.m.”

Even if you're not booking a room, the English Grill was also taking dinner reservations for its special Valentine's Day three-course meal, which costs $99.

The Brown Hotel is fully booked for Saturday, but guests can check the hotel's website to see if rooms are still available for Friday or Sunday.

At the height of the pandemic last year, many hotels dipped below 10% occupancy. They’re still operating on limited capacity to follow CDC and state guidelines. However, the fact that several hotels are fully booked for this weekend of love is a good sign.

“We’ve seen a nice uptick in our business, especially on the weekend. And we’re happy to welcome guests back,” said Salmon.

Louisville Tourism launched a promotion last fall to encourage locals to book staycations and help boost the hospitality industry. There are hotels participating across Jefferson County, and some are offering up to 50% off room rates.

As of Thursday, 66 hotel reservations were booked through the Louisville Tourism promotion for this holiday weekend. Several of those hotels show that there are no rooms available for this Saturday.

“This year more than ever, people need to get away. People need to get out of the house. People need to come downtown, we’re downtown strong! And we’re here for them,” Fields said.

Louisville Tourism’s hotel discount continues through March 31. To browse the participating hotels and book a room, click here.