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| Aerial View of Budgetel Inn 3304 Bardstown Rd |
If you have been in the Bon Air Neighborhood or surrounding area for any length of time, you are likely familiar with the Economy Inn/Budgetel Inn at 3304 Bardstown Road and the negative attention it has garnered over the years in the media.
It was most recently the subject of a WAVE 3 “Troubleshooters” Investigative Report in July. https://www.wave3.com/2022/07/11/troubleshooters-history-repeating-itself-louisville-hotel/ You can still go to the WAVE 3 website, enter Budgetel into the Search bar and see John Boel’s expose or you can just click on the link.
In all fairness, some disclosure is appropriate. As a social worker, I have referred some patients with the financial means to consider the Budgetel. It is not in a food desert. It is located on a TARC line and near several stores within walking distance so that someone can get pretty much whatever they need. It appears to serve a housing need for a population segment.
The Budgetel is owned by members of the Yaldo family out of
Michigan. They own several hotels in several states. They
have owned the Budgetel since 1998 under a corporation named Bardstown Lodge
Inc.
About two and a half months ago I was approached by one of the owners, Jim Yaldo regarding trying to locate someone who had made a complaint. The person he named was apparently a resident of Bon Air. I could not identify the person and told him.
Moving on, Jim and Tony Yaldo came to our August
board meeting to discuss their business and what they are doing. We invited them to come to our September general membership meeting to meet the community
I speak for the Bon Air Neighborhood Association Board in
that we seek to be positive in this matter.
We are giving the Yaldos a stage to meet the community. I figure that many people would like to meet
them as they would like to meet the community.
As far as I can tell, the Yaldos and the Budgetel Inn are not
going anywhere anytime soon. The Yaldos have demonstrated over the years through
different controversies that they are committed to doing business at 3304
Bardstown Road. We might as well see
what good we can do here. If the owners
of the Budgetel can build positive relationships with the neighborhood that is
a plus.
So, if you are
interested in meeting the owners of the Economy Inn/Budgetel, you have your
chance on Monday, September 12, 2022, at 6:30 in the Bon Air Library Meeting
Room. They will be the lead speakers in
the meeting which will include representatives from Louisville Metro Council
Districts 8 and 26. A representative from LMPD is also expected to talk about
crime patterns in the area.
Oh, by the way, apologies again that Chief Erika Shields did
not show up at the last general meeting. I did make a confirmation with her
assistant the week before that we were on her schedule. I actually called Jim Yaldo two days ago and
got him live on the phone. He stated he would be there
at the meeting.
