Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Description:

• A lot of hotels claim to be centrally located in the French Quarter, but the Bourbon Orleans really is. The place takes up an entire block of prime real estate at the intersection of -- guess where -- Bourbon and Orleans streets. And while many hotels claim to have an interesting history, this one actually does: The oldest part of the hotel is the Orleans Ballroom, constructed in 1815 as a venue for the city's masquerade, carnival, and quadroon balls. In 1881 the building was sold to the Sisters of the Holy Family, members of the South's first order of African-American nuns. The sisters converted the ballroom into a school and remained for 80 years until the building was sold to real estate developers from Baton Rouge, who turned it into an apartment hotel.

  Today the hotel occupies three buildings, but neither the lobby nor the French Regency-influenced rooms were hit by Katrina, which is a relief, because it had just gotten a handsome $15.5-million face-lift before the storm. The rooms for the mobility-impaired are well designed. Some rooms have only armoires, no closets, and some have balconies. Rooms in the nos. 17s have views up Bourbon Street, but if you want to escape noisy street excitement, ask for an interior room. Ceilings feel lower than the frequent high variety found around town, which may be an optical illusion. Beds are too firm while bathrooms are long and narrow with a natty use of stripes and brocades (they feature Golden Door Spa toiletries). Small rooms are cozy but not unbearable, though if occupied by two people, they had better like each other. We are fond of the two-story town-house rooms, with exposed brickwork on the walls, and the beds upstairs in a romantic loft. It's classy sexy, good for a multiple-day stay. Planned new additions include a blues bar featuring live local musicians, and a martini-and-wine bar -- both done in contemporary styles rather than harkening back to the days of the quadroon balls.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010