Hotel Bothwell

My husband and I just finished the trail and want to recommend the following places that were great stops for us. Westbridge Inn in Clinton, Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, SchoolHouse BNB in Rocheport , Katy Trail Cottage in Jefferson City and Lindenhof in Augusta. Luggage transfer service with Joey Grace and van shuttle with Todd all worked seamlessly. Cleanest and best stocked trailhead bathroom was in Marthasville. Trail was in great shape and people were friendly everywhere. Wonderful experience.

Thanks Beth, we appreciate riders like you, And you didn't even complain about the dust on the trail. Come back.

Awesome luxurious king room 89 dollars if your riding the Katy breakfast inculcated laundry on site really don’t think you can stay at a better place for that price if you need a hotel. I will be back

We certainly agree. When we ride the KATY the Bothwell is a must. You can easily see their dedication to keeping the historical perspective, yet updated quality. They are people and bike friendly, breakfast is good and plentiful. Bathrooms may be small, but who cares? It is really a step back in time.

Awesome luxurious king room 89 dollars if your riding the Katy breakfast inculcated laundry on site really don’t think you can stay at a better place for that price if you need a hotel. I will be back

This is a fun old hotel with a charming ambience (old timey, cozy lobby with music from the 40's.) The staff was very friendly and helpful. The option to keep bikes in the ballroom made the room comfortable and there was no problem retrieving them when we wanted to get an early start. Food at the restaurants was good. Mattress was showing its age a little but the room was clean and comfortable.

We couldn’t have asked for better lodging after our first day on the trail. The helpful and courteous staff, historical ambiance, good food (including free breakfast), available washer and dryer and camaraderie among the cyclists made for a very enjoyable stay.

Great place to stay. 20% discount if you tell them your on the trail. Had bike storage so you don't have to take your bike to your room the the elevator. VERY VERY CLEAN.

This is a great place to stay! Very friendly staff. Historically significant and attractive building. Beds are so plush!

Dana, Billings MT, 10/2/2020
Great old hotel. The staff were amazingly friendly.
Trail was very close to Hotel.
Katy Trail Discount, make sure you tell them!!
Our room was kind of small- especially with our bikes in the room. They did offer to store them for us, but we wanted to get an early start, we didn't want to bother with that time constraint.
Thye had usb ports on bedside table- which is very nice!!
The restaurant in hotel, was very good!!
The only breakfast available were in brown bags due to COVID. Mostly high sugar stuff, no protein.
Bed was comfy; hot water, but pressure was very low. It took forever to fill up bathtub. Would def recommend.
Check out Train Depot at trailhead, if you can- closes at 4pm. Get you KATY trail tour stuff there, support the local economy.

We're staying at the Hotel Bothwell tonight. Perfect place to start our 3-day ride. Historic, charming, welcoming to cyclists. Excellent location downtown and near the trail. We'll stop at Katy Depot on our way out of town.

Stayed at the Hotel Bothwell. Great hotel. Complimentary morning breakfast. Great rooms.

They do offer a Katy Trail discount, so be sure to request that when you check in.

I was there on a Sunday night, so I was unable to try their bar/restaurant which are closed on Sundays.

They can store your bike for you or you can keep it in your room.

2-3 blocks from Katy Trail Sedalia Depot.
2-3 blocks from Amtrak station.

On the downtown square, so short walking distance to restaurants, bars, stores.

Stayed at the Hotel Bothwell as we did 10 years ago, after day one of riding the trail through to Machens. The Hotel is historic and clean, and staff were very accommodating. Fancy though it is, they welcome bike riders, store their bikes and even have a bike wash station. Enjoyed dinner at Fitters Fifth St Pub - CJ was great and shared the establishment's history. Nice free hotel breakfast got us started in the morning. Close to the trail and reasonably priced, we highly recommend.

The Bothwell is our choice as well....Ditto your remarks

Had an excellent overnight stay at the Bothwell. Very cool old hotel. Great location to the Katy trail. There are trains located nearby and did wake me up a couple times, but the bed is so comfortable. The hotel restaurant, Ivory Grill, was amazing...from appetizers to desserts

This is the neatest old hotel I have ever stayed at. The staff was very helpful. They will store your bike in the basement. The restaurant was nice for dinner.

I second this comment. The hotel was very clean, and I had the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced in a hotel. The staff was great and accommodating and the bar across the way had good food.

If you're a light sleeper the trains at night might wake you up. It's walking distance from the Amtrak station. Looking forward to my next stay!

We arrived early but the front desk kindly allowed to check in early.
The room was small but very comfortable and clean.
We went to the hotel bar (The Oak) for (happy hour); the staff were somewhat disinterested but the drinks were good value.
The server in the restaurant however was excellent and the food delicious - we had Caesar salad and salmon with mashed potatoes.
The following day a staff member helped with our luggage and we were seen out the front door by the hotel manager. Great stay.

This is comfortable old hotel and our group thought it was great. They were very helpful at the front desk. They now have breakfast and I loved the omelet. They had a special of 2 breakfasts for $15 as well as a regular breakfast. There is a craft pub with 100's of bottles and about 6 taps down the street which was very good and friendly. It is a block past Fitter's. The town is very quiet with not much going on.

If you're biking the trail and need a hearty breakfast, you'll need to go elsewhere, because the Bothwell now just serves a few pastries that run out quickly (they used to have big breakfasts in a separate room). The staff directed me to the Sunrise Cafe down the street, but we had to get on the trail and didn't have time to go there. This development at the Bothwell is a bummer. Also, they didn't offer me the usual discount for trail users--not sure if this means they no longer offer it or not.

WE just stayed at the bothwell....great room, nice people....very small breakfast, good coffee.

We were told that we would have adjoining rooms. Booked 6+ months ahead of stay. Also called to see what time coffee would be ready. Arrived at that time, oh it was Sunday, ccffee would not be ready for another hour. Not impressed.
A

Was hoping to have coffee and a snack there with my parents before I set off from Sedalia. Enjoyed seeing the historic building but staff was not even remotely interested in serving us, it was disappointing.

Even though the hotel was booked for the night, Tiffany, the receptionist went out of her way to give us directions to another hotel. We were really lost and it was already dark. Thanks so much for saving us!

Our room was wonderful with an awesome bathtub. Hotel was very nice. Service at the desk was great! Food in restaurant was good. Service in restaurant was very slow. Had a good visit though.

Our stay at the Bothwell hotel was great. We had 4 seperate rooms and each one was different. The staff was so helpful and fun. Be sure to check your computers on your bikes after there stay in the basement :-) Would highly reccomend a night at the hotel.

Are you saying there are ghosts in the basement that like to ride??

Just was strange that one of our computers was really off both mileage and speed I mean really off....hummmmm makes ya wonder.

Off by more or off by less?

There is actually a tale of a ghost in this Hotel. The Hotel is featured under the ghosts of

Missouri.

Under what ghosts of Missouri?



Is that a book or website or something? Where are these ghosts featured?

I can't remember the exact mileage, but I think it said her max. speed was 166 mph it was very strange. Yes we have heard the hotel has ghosts also, but did not see any, just the bike computer thing. If the hotel is haunted I think they are fun loving, after all they seemed to have a nice bike ride ha...

Any ghost that likes to ride can't be all that bad!

My computer does that if I get it too close to my iPhone for some reason - but I have a wireless computer (trek incite) and suspect it's just similar enough frequency to wireless or bluetooth or something that does it...

Sounds like a good place to stay if your wheel breaks a "spook"...

My speedometer does that when I go 166 mph. But it's rare, I've only done it a few times under ideal conditions. :-DDD

Sedalia MO is one of the prettiest little towns I've ever seen...

Fantastic hotel our group stayed the night on 9/6 during a St Charles to Clinton tour. The rooms were fantastic. Staff very attentive they kept our bikes in the Grand Ballroom. The meals we had there were stellar. Customer service - They Get It!

great place to stay. We keep our bikes in our rooms with us. Hotels don't have a problem with it.

Don't Stay any place else when you ride the Trail. It was great. The staff were so helpful and the bed was wonderful. The Hotel is about 3 blocks from the Katy Depot

My wife and I stayed here last year and found it to be a nice hotel with friendly staff. This place has character, we stayed here because it was on the 10 most haunted list from AAA travel or something similar. There was no room 1408 so we took what they had. The allowed us to put the tandem in the coffee shop overnight since it would not fit in the elevator to go to bike storage in the basement. I recommend this hotel even though I did not see any ghosts.

Great stay at the bothwell. Comfy room, they stored our bikes in the basement and let us leave the car there while on the trail.

We stayed at the Hotel Bothwell on our first night riding the Katy Trail in October, 2009. It is a beautiful hotel and the service and amenities were excellent. We rode the train into town with our bicycles, arriving about 8pm (dark), and the staff was wonderful, storing our bikes and making us feel comfortable. Sorry our stay was so short. The town of Sedalia was undergoing some renovation at the time, but it is a pleasant place to visit. Felt welcomed by everyone we encountered - bike shops, coffee shop, and restaurant.

this hotel is fine - great staff, historic building, clean rooms, and very close to the trail.

HOWEVER, if you are staying on a sunday, the town is DESERTED, everything is closed, and it

feels a little like the setting for a horror movie. i resorted to eating fast food for both lunch

and dinner because nothing was open, and hung out in my room for the entire afternoon and

evening because, again, nothing was open and it was also 100 degrees. the hotel is FINE, but

i don't recommend an extended stay in sedalia. maybe i missed something, though...

I forgot small towns are like that--I went to college in Kirksville. Good to note for my

future rides.

We had reserved for 4 nites, but cut it short at 2. The restaurant reviews are apparently for the old chef, the new is ok but a little rich. We were ok with the wireless going out, but when the bath water ran dark yellow-brown and only cold, we packed our bags. We were told that they have to flush their pumps periodically, and that was the cause for our loss of hot water. So you might want to ask about that when you make your reservation. It IS well located to the trail, we had a nice ride through a residential area to the access.

We stayed here in July 2008 and had a great experience. Our room was huge, originally two rooms that had been made into one. One of the bathrooms had been converted into a walk-in closet, and we were able to store our bikes in there. The Ivory Grill had good food, especially the asparagus appetizer.

We stayed at the Hotel Bothwell on our recent ride on the KATY (March 14 -19th) A wonderful place to stay. They stored our bikes with no problems and were very nice. The Ivory Grill had good food and is right on the first floor. Also, the 5th street brewery has a great porter and it is just down the block on the main square. We enjoyed our stay at the Bothwell.



Mike T

I cannot possibly say enough in this box to tell my overwhelmingly good experience at the Hotel Bothwell!! It was a great place to stay. I enjoyed the 1920s era hotel more than any I have stayed in anywhere.

My husband and I along with a neighbor couple stayed one night in the Bothwell before we headed out on our trip on the Katy Trail. The rooms were clean and comfortable and the staff was very friendly. The meal in the Ivory Grill was fantastic. We would definitely recommend the Hotel Bothwell and the Ivory Grill.

we had a great time there A+

I rode Amtrak from Kirkwood (St. Charles) to Sedalia to return rental bikes to the Velo shop (very helpful people there) and had a wonderful stay at Hotel Bothwell across the street. The room was probably the smallest hotel room I've ever seen but quaint and comfortable. The lobby is lovely, there is a small work-out room, and a complimentary computer on the second floor.

The Ivory Grille has fantastic food- I had lunch and dinner there, plus appetizers in the lounge. Great salads,and the pork tenderloin was delicious. I had a good massage and facial at the spa (no longer located at the hotel, but they will pick you up).

The four of us especially appreciated the friendly and helpful attitude of the staff. They were more than just smiling heads. Our rooms were clean, spacious and updated, apparently incorporating two rooms into one, comfortable beds and bedding. Great shower. We opted to store the bikes in the secure basement to give us more room. The self-serve continental breakfast was fine with us. The rates were more reasonable than we expected. A short version of the whole trip is posted on this website.

A classic restored grand hotel. Bike parking options were 1) in your room or 2) in the basement. The standard 1927 room cozily fit 1 person and bike. The self serve continental breakfast had fresh fruit, make-your-own waffle, and the standard cereals, breads, and pastries. The 5th street brew pub is 1 1/2 blocks away; hooray!

We pulled into Sedalia on rainy April 29th, staying at the Hotel Bothwell, only to find out the hotel's Del-Amici restaurant had closed in mid-April. The person at the front desk said that they were expecting to open another restaurant in the same space sometime in the future.



With the hotel staff telling us our other close by (walking distance) food options were bar-food, we elected to stay in and order out. In the room was a hotel directory with various restaurants listed that deliver and we settled on a place that delivered Italian.

Oh, here's the answer to the question I just posted! We were told the same thing about "way too far to walk anywhere" one Sunday, when the restaurant was closed. Everyone said that the nearest restaurants were 3 or 4 miles away. But we thought, "how can that be, in a town the size of Sedalia?" So we set out on foot, and discovered that it was a beautiful walk of no more than a mile, along tree-lined Broadway, with gorgeous historic houses, to a little business section with several restaurants. We had a very nice meal, to the sounds of a marimba band, at the Mexican restaurant. Travelling everywhere by car seems to result in people losing their sense of distance.

Me again--I called the Hotel Bothwell, and they are expecting a new to open May 22--not sure what kind, but supposedly a 5-star establishment. I hope they will cater to Katy Trail users!

El Tapatilo is the restaurant you are talking about. Excellent food and usually has entertainment on the weekend. The Sedalia House Bed and Breakfast also caters to KATY Trail cyclists and provides shuttles to all local restaurants. There is a page on the website exclusively for the KATY Trail, and special packages are available.

How are the rooms at the Bothwell?

Rooms are small (it's an old hotel), but clean and comfortable and attractive. While some people like taking their bikes to tbheir rooms, we would prefer to be able to put ours in a storage area, or even outside, but they really discourage that. This is especially a problem for us, with 4 people and 4 bikes in their family suites, and they did let us put our bikes in the basement this time. They have done that in the past, but are now putting a bar in downstairs. Also, we ate at the new restaurant, The Ivory Grille, and were very happy with the food--delicious herb and cheese biscuits, a good house salad, and a good selection of beef, chicken, pasta and seafood entrees, with a complimentary dessert of a small but tasty serving of cheesecake.

The Ivory Grille has replaced Del Amici and is a fabulous upgrade. Open for Lunch and Dinner Tues-Fri, Dinner Sat, and Brunch on Sunday. I live in Sedalia and haven't missed a brunch yet. A true chef, affordable prices.

We stayed at the Bothwell a few days ago and found it to be very nice and reasonably priced. The plumbing is a bit quirky but is not a problem. The included continental breakfast was better than expected and included biscuits and gravy, self-made waffles, quality coffee and fruit, plus the usual items. Didn't eat at the hotel's restaurant (kinda pricy). Instead stuffed ourselves at a seemingly new and good Mexican restaurant at the intersection of the Katy trail and HWY 65; the HWY is marked on the Katy trail. The hotel is five blocks from the Katy trail train station, best reached on 3rd street.

The Mexican restaurant mentioned by the previous poster is El Espolon, and it is fabulous. Although I think the food at El Tapatio is a little better, the price and atmosphere at El Espolon is preferable.



I have yet to try the Ivory Grille, because Del Amici was our favorite restaurant in town. We hated to see it close. It was expensive, but the service was always excellent and we loved the food.

We stayed at the Bothwell on April 29th, 2006 and it was just what we needed, having rode the last hour in pouring rain coming from Clinton. The hotel was easy to find too (even with my glassed covered with raindrops), with us leaving the trail on the Harrison Street crossing, going north till we met up with 4th Street then going east right to the hotel.



The front desk person was really helpful, telling us we could keep our bike in the room, but we explained we had a tandem recumbent and even though we could break it in two sections (it has S & S couplers) we really did not want to muck up a room with a wet bike. She then found us a storage area to the right of the lobby desk behind a freight elevator.



The front desk person also gave us a great room (701) on the top floor in a quiet corner. And while the in-hotel restuarant had recently closed, we called out for Italian food and had it delivered right to our room.



Also, the hotel has what to me was a good, no-charge-to-guests, breakfast with cereal, make-your-own waffles fruit and juice.



I would say the hotel is very Katy-rider friendly, having a Katy trail ad in the Katy trail guide and mentioning it on their website. Highly recommended.

I too had a great experience staying at the Bothwell, and highly recommend it to anyone biking the KATY and staying in Sedelia.

The restaurant had closed? Was this just for the weekend, or is it out of business? We always really enjoy a meal at del Amici's when staying at at the Bothwell, and in fact are planning a trip in June with Sedalia as a stop.

We enjoyed our stay here in June. The desk clerk hauled our tandem to the basement storage by herself! The new restaurant is open but it is closed on Monday so we didn't get to try it.

we are planning ride on katy trail. using amtrak from st. louis to sedalia, ride to jefferson city, then return train to st. louis. we understand that single bikes are allowed on train with nominal fee. has anyone tried to board train with tandem?

I did it once with success. The first conductor was giving us grief. The second conductor was much more accomodating. I felt bad because they put it along the handicap area and it was leaning against a lady in an electric wheelchair when we got off the train. Based upon this experience and other reports of issues with recumbants and trailers on this section of Amtrak, I'd recommend doing this on a non-holiday weekday (that means not Friday night too), tie wrap the wheels to the bike and rotate the captain handlebars down (try to make it not much longer than a single).

Be sure to check with Amtrak before making a trip this summer. There are track works that are causing delays, and when we were in Sedalia this weekend, the train had been replaced by a bus to Jefferson City. We weren't planning to use the train, but the couple we spoke to who were didn't know whether they would be able to put their bikes on the bus. Don't know what came of that, but I would be sure to find out before planning a trip that requires use of the train.