Inventing a Boutique Hotel in Kentucky’s Horse Country Isn’t Easy

Nik Feldman long believed that Lexington, Kentucky, was ready for a high-end boutique hotel.

Every summer in his teens, his parents sent him to the “Horse Capital of the World” to stay with a professional polo team, take care of the horses, and play in tournaments. Years later, while working in Manhattan for real estate developer Brodsky, he realized that Lexington had no hotel tailored to the city’s wave of next-gen visitors.

That changed in June when Feldman and his co-founder Hank Morris debuted The Manchester, a 125-room boutique.

“My plan — not particularly well thought through — was to move to Lexington and build a great hotel — because the city needed it,” said Feldman. “Easier said than done.”

Feldman noticed Lexington was booming — whether it was the city’s Distillery District (revitalized in 2008), its spot on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail (which hit record visitation in 2022), its $37 million 12-acre park (set to open in two years), or the recent $300 million expansion of its convention center, Central Bank Center.

“You do a day at the races, explore the Bourbon Trail, see some horse farms, visit Lexington’s gorgeous little buttoned-up historic downtown, and go to a Kentucky basketball game,” Morris said.

He’s banking on that growth, and his background in the horse world, to help The Manchester thrive. Still, the path to reaching this point had its hurdles. 

The Starting Gate

In 2019, Feldman moved to Lexington and began New Circle Investments. Over eight months, Feldman acquired about 2.5 acres of land and existing property. He funded the effort with his father’s help.

Then, he proposed his development plan to 30 banks and nearly 50 private investors.

Some of those banks, he believed, would meet with him just for entertainment.

“’A 29-year-old, with no track record, no brand for the hotel, hasn’t identified a guarantor yet, and we’re in COVID, a crisis with seemingly no end in sight — I’ve gotta see this Don Quixote!’” said Feldman.

With practice, he got better at his pitch. Friends at Cushman & Wakefield — a former employer — helped him design his presentation so that his data (which he researched himself) visually stood out.

Finally, someone said yes: Traditional Bank.

“Traditional Bank is deeply rooted in Lexington, so they understood how the city was quickly evolving from one focused primarily on the thoroughbred industry and University of Kentucky into a major tourist destination centered around distilleries throughout the entire state,” said Feldman.

Linda Gorton, the town’s mayor and head of VisitLex tourism promotion, also supported the city’s use of industrial revenue bonds to help finance the roughly $40 million project.

Now, Feldman and Morris (formerly of Sydell Group and Life House) are hoping their gamble pays off.

“It’s fully a creation of our own, and we did exactly what we wanted, and that’s a risk that very few people are willing to take by not having the support of a brand or a franchise,” Feldman said.

Their operating company, 941 Management, opened the hotel in June and now has about 100 workers.

Taking the Reins

People outside of the horse world may not realize Lexington’s international appeal.

“You’re driving out in the country, and there’s an Argentinian horse farm next to a Saudi farm next to a Japanese farm,’ Morris said. 

Nevertheless, there hasn’t been a higher-end hotel catering to that international crowd. 

“You can imagine that people in years past would be coming and staying at the Residence Inn — these are world travelers and from Europe and Asia,” Morris said. “It’s astounding.”

Feldman, who played polo at Cornell University, is also using his connections in the Lexington horse world to offer guests the sorts of equestrian experiences they wouldn’t otherwise get. 

“There are these wonderful thoroughbred farms, but they haven’t been so accessible,” says Feldman. “It’s a very private, locked-up world in many ways.”

But now, for example, their guests can visit Gainesway Farms, known for its champion sire Tapit, as well as experience a typical Lexington weekend. (They’ve partnered with Way.co to help make booking experiences easier.)

Design With Lexington in Mind

To capture what it means to be “Lexington,” Morris partnered with designer Jenny Bukovec.

“It’s primarily branded hotels here,” Morris said. “There’s nothing that’s been designed and concepted around Lexington and Kentucky and provides that local immersion.”

The lobby floors are lined with tiles made in Morocco yet inspired by the limestone of Kentucky. The hotel’s leather touches, meanwhile, nod to the city’s equestrian heritage.

While The Manchester is new construction, it’s built in a style they’ve coined “rickhouse revival.” (Rickhouses are where barrels of whisky age.)

The architectural choice makes sense, considering that the hotel sits on the site of the former Ashland Distillery — an 1800s registered bourbon maker. 

“We found a lot of those [rickhouses] in the district had a constant theme of arch masonry work, so we ran that throughout the facade and throughout the interiors — and even the showers in the bathrooms,” said Morris.

Despite the challenges of getting The Manchester off the ground, Feldman and Morris are confident what they’ve learned on this $40 million project can help them on future projects.

“There are so many beautiful places in this country — special places — so Lexington is certainly that, and we hope to do more cities like it,” Feldman said.