--- description: Find out why The Manchester is on TIME’s list of the World’s Greatest Places 2024. title: The Manchester: World's Greatest Places 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c04e4ef80b3f7a5/698a591ce6e84a4bf72b32e1/worlds-greatest-places-the-manchester-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jul 25, 2024 # The Manchester Lexington, Ky. by [Adam Robb](/author/adam-robb/) ## Adam Robb Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Inside The Manchester Inside The ManchesterMatt Kisiday The seven-story [Manchester](https://themanchesterky.com/ "undefined") hotel is an homage to Lexington’s first bourbon distillery—opened on this very plot in 1865\. The arched interiors are a nod to the former rickhouses where stacked barrels once rested; now 125 guest rooms extend between the ground floor [Granddam](https://granddamky.com/?campaignid=20543836514&adgroupid&gclid=CjwKCAjwjqWzBhAqEiwAQmtgTxEbojBuciK5Io%5FvifH2Gg80yh5VsgXlIm8o9emidGn9li9sko4iVhoCdnEQAvD%5FBwE&keyword&matchtype&gad%5Fsource=1 "undefined") restaurant to rooftop bar [Lost Palm](https://lostpalmky.com/ "undefined"). Downstairs, executive chef Paula Endara’s elevated Appalachian cooking includes country ham and leek chowder, and lamb Wellington packed with locally foraged mushrooms, while the panoramic bar above is a tribute to horse racing culture in 1960s South Florida. The roof is the perfect place to scout the surrounding Distillery District, which includes longtime residents such as [Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co](https://lexingtonbrewingco.com/ "undefined")., and the upstart [Fresh Bourbon](https://freshbourbon.com/ "undefined"), the first Black-owned distillery in the state. The Manchester is also an anchor point on the Town Branch Trail, completed in 2022; pedestrians and cyclists can now follow a strip of bluegrass that connects Lexington’s urban greenspaces while also celebrating its legacy and future. Stops include the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden, a park-cum-classroom honoring the country’s earliest African American jockeys, and the newly expanded [Central Bank Center and Rupp Arena](http://centralbankcenter.com "undefined"), a concert and convention hall that’s become a coveted stopover for headliners like Olivia Rodrigo and Tim McGraw, monster truck shows, and March Madness. _Buy your copy of the World's Greatest Places issue_ [_here_](https://magazineshop.us/TIMEWGP24 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992234/the-manchester/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992234/the-manchester/"},"headline":"The Manchester","datePublished":"2024-07-25T11:07:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:33:42.254Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992234/the-manchester/","keywords":["World's Greatest Places","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c04e4ef80b3f7a5/698a591ce6e84a4bf72b32e1/worlds-greatest-places-the-manchester-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Robb","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/adam-robb/"}],"creator":"Adam Robb","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c04e4ef80b3f7a5/698a591ce6e84a4bf72b32e1/worlds-greatest-places-the-manchester-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/worlds-greatest-places/","name":"World's Greatest Places"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992234/the-manchester/","name":"The Manchester"}}]}] ```