Three Greater Cincinnati hotels have cracked either Ohio’s or Kentucky’s top 10 list for best hotels in the state.

Lytle Park Hotel, located at 311 Pike St., is ranked No. 4 among the best hotels in Ohio, according to a 2026 list from U.S. News & World Report. The Summit Hotel, located at 5345 Medpace Way, is ranked No. 6. Both hotels are four-star establishments with ratings at about 9 out of 10.

But Lytle Park and The Summit aren’t the only Cincinnati-area hotels among Ohio’s best. Just outside the top 10, downtown Cincinnati’s 21c Museum Hotel (No. 15), Renaissance Cincinnati (No. 16), The Cincinnatian Hotel (No.19) were also featured among the top 20 hotels in Ohio this year.

On the Kentucky, Hotel Covington, located at 638 Madison Ave., is listed at No. 7 among the Bluegrass State’s best hotels. Hotel Covington has a 9.5 out of 10 rating, according to public reviews. 

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Kentucky’s state auditor Allison Ball released findings showing millions of dollars in questionable spending across executive branch agencies in fiscal year 2025, including $39 million in advertising expenditures and $7.4 million in out-of-state travel costs.

“It is clear that some executive branch agencies are spending tax dollars extravagantly and this needs to stop,” Auditor Ball said. “Public servants should be safeguarding money as if it was coming from their own pockets, rather than doling it out on extravagant travel and other unnecessary expenses.”

The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts examined data within the state’s eMARS financial system to compile the spending report, which highlighted concerns about competitive bidding processes and detailed expenses for luxury accommodations and promotional items.

Advertising and promotional spending

Executive branch entities spent $39,055,133.96 on advertising expenditures, with $2,488,789.77 going to vendor Red7e across multiple agencies.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services paid $249,950 for an ad campaign that included telling people to get a COVID vaccine. CHFS’s Office of the Secretary and Office of Medical Cannabis paid one vendor $339,365.90 for video footage assistance, social media strategy development and digital communications channel management.

The Department for Aging and Independent Living paid $198,000 for a media campaign for the Senior Meals Program, despite alleging a shortfall within that same program.

CHFS’s Department for Community Based Services spent $45,635.20 on promotional items including color changing tumblers, cotton canvas totes, stadium cushions, football rockets and antibacterial hand sanitizers with clips.

The Council for Postsecondary Education paid $300,000 to increase public awareness of the importance of post-secondary education.

Out-of-state travel expenses

State agencies spent $7,438,490 on out-of-state travel, with $398,897.12 charged to agency American Express cards.

The Kentucky Department of Education spent at least $929,947.88 on out-of-state travel, including $28,179.35 in flights for individuals who may not be state employees.

Kentucky State Police spent $183,575.87 providing security to Governor Beshear and staff members during out-of-state trips. Specific expenses included $11,786.33 for flights to Europe, $7,632.07 for a limousine in Germany, $5,192.16 for airport navigation services in Switzerland, and $520.73 for meals at the Caribou Club, a private membership club in Aspen.

Other notable travel expenses included $10,953.33 to stay at the Eau Palm Beach Resort, $3,499.50 for the Limelight Hotel in Aspen, and $3,179.19 for hotels in Beverly Hills.

Conference and training costs

Agencies spent $16,693,103.32 on trainings, conferences, food and trade show expenditures.

The Tourism Cabinet and Governor’s Office paid a combined $338,452.10 for Derby events to a non-profit company called First Saturday in May.

The Department of Public Advocacy spent $153,377.71 for its 2024 annual conference and $189,237.52 for its 2025 annual conference.

The Department for Medicaid Services held a banquet totaling $34,392.04, including $8,985 for breakfast, $13,485 for lunch and $6,431.04 in service charges.

Other spending concerns

The report highlighted $69,770,650.13 spent on temporary manpower services, with the Department of Vehicle Regulation’s Division of Driver Licensing spending almost $8 million. The auditor noted this spending occurred amid public reporting of an alleged black market of driver’s license sales to undocumented noncitizens.

The Department for Community Based Services spent $915,997.89 for legal services despite having over 50 attorneys on staff. The department also paid $481,523.05 to one vendor for emotional injury evaluations, which was $339,016.80 more than the next highest vendor for the same services.

The auditor noted several ongoing issues, including the Department for Medicaid Services failing to ensure Medicaid benefits are not given to ineligible noncitizens for at least two fiscal years and CHFS failing to prevent at least $836 million in Medicaid program waste since 2019.

The report stated that competitive bidding processes appeared not to be used to obtain some services and noted disadvantages in examining transactions including no uniform use of expenditure codes and expenditures not being recorded in real time.

Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.

When Kentucky fans booed the Cats off the court in a 35-point loss to Gonzaga, it’s safe to say things were not going according to plan. Despite the injuries and disappointing losses in non-conference play, the Cats are right where we expected them: playing Florida for the top spot in the SEC.

Hopes were high ahead of the season, and amplified significantly by the blowout win over top-ranked Purdue in an exhibition. Like all of us, Mark Pope admits that he had much different plans for how the season would unfold, but the funny thing about plans is that they often change.

“We don’t look anything like we imagined. This is not the plan. This was not the scheme. This was not how this was conceived at all,” he admitted to Seth Davis and Andy Katz on the HoopsHQ podcast. “But that’s the beauty of a season, that’s the beauty of the journey. It’s adjusting and figuring things out, and guys stepping up, and guys maturing, and guys leaning on each other.”

It’s not just what happened. It’s how this team looked. That sword cuts both ways. They way they’ve figured things out is not what Kentucky fans are accustomed to seeing.

“We’re not doing this the traditional Kentucky way. It’s probably not the traditional Kentucky season. With all that said, I feel bad for you if you’re missing what’s happening right now because it’s awesome. I love stories. I love redemption. I love overcoming, and what these guys are doing right now, I wouldn’t trade anything,” said Pope.

Kentucky Keeps Finding Ways to Overcome

Slow starts defined this Kentucky basketball team. Early on, they dug themselves into holes that were too deep. After overcoming double-digit deficits against LSU and Tennessee (twice), those callouses have transformed into war scars from successful battles.

“I think you earn belief, and our guys have just figured out a way to do it.” Pope continued: “There’s probably not a lot that can happen to us in a game that hasn’t happened before. We’re not really scared of it. There’s probably a lot of things people can say about us that they didn’t say about us the week before or two weeks ago, so we know we can handle it. Let’s go. When you come out the other side of those difficult moments, you come out different.”

This Kentucky team looks different. They’ve won eight of their last nine. It’s not just that Otega Oweh is playing like the Preseason SEC Player of the Year. Collin Chandler has been en feugo, Denzel Aberdeen has gotten comfortable leading the offense, and role players are rising to the occasion.

Kentucky is playing great basketball. They could’ve had too much of their own medicine in the middle of the hype surrounding Saturday’s game against Tennessee. Pope shared a message with his team prior to the game, one they clearly heard.

“This is only about us,” Pope told his team. “This is the story you guys are writing right now, and it’s a great story. I don’t want to put the book down. I’m loving every second of this. It’s nontraditional, but it’s special because they keep raising up and doing things people don’t think they can do and shouldn’t be able to do. It’s not the way we expected to do it. We’ve had to recreate everything, but it’s been pretty cool.”