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 Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans is the oldest of the hotels in the French Quarter, has been continuously owned by the Monteleone family for four generations, and has grown to a 600-guestroom hotel, making it the largest hotel in New Orleans.
The first time I stayed at the Hotel Monteleone was in 2003, and I was impressed with its location on Royal Street, or Rue Royale, as it is also known by, in the center of the French Quarter, as well as the history of the hotel, which was founded by Antonio Monteleone in 1886 as a 65-room hotel.
In August 2005, I returned to New Orleans to participate in Southern Comfort’s Third Annual Tales of the Cocktail, and once again stayed at the Hotel Monteleone, designated as a Literary Landmark in 1999 by the Friends of Libraries USA. The hotel has hosted such illustrious authors as William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Sherwood Anderson, Richard Ford, and Ernest Hemmingway. Both the hotel and their famous revolving Carousel Piano Bar continue to be featured in books and attract locals, visitors and celebrities.
 The marble lobby is still impressive with its hand-carved mahogany clock, designed by Toledano, Wagan and Bernard in New Orleans and sculpted by Antonio Puccio in 1909 that stands at center stage, there are inviting lavish exotic floral arrangements and four sparkling crystal chandeliers on the hand-painted ceiling.
The hotel has recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation throughout, which includes marble and granite bathrooms with garden tubs or Jacuzzis in its 600 guestrooms (55 are suites), as well as robes in all of the bathrooms, Gilchrest & Soames amenities, special accommodations for the handicapped and disabled, in-room safes large enough to hold laptops, Internet access available in all rooms, custom millwork and new furnishings in the guestrooms.
 The guestrooms still have excellent appintments with mini-bars, ironing boards and irons, hairdryers, coffeemakers with complimentary coffee, dual port guestroom phones, in-house Movies-On-Demand, large screen televisions and digital music stations, as well as clock/radios. One of the more innovative ideas in safety that I found in my bathroom was an automatic nightlight that came on when the bathroom lights were turned off.
A new addition to the hotel is their Spa Aria, a full-service Spa, which features Pavonia products. Although I did not have time to visit Spa Aria on this trip, it is something I will look forward to on a future visit to New Orleans.
With all of the renovations going on in the roof-top swimming pool area, the Fitness Center, the 3 restaurants presided over by Award-winning chef Randy Buck (The Hunt Room Grill, Le Café, Aft-Deck Oyster Bar and Grill), 2 lounges, the business center, public spaces and the guestrooms, I was happy to hear that some things haven’t changed, the hotel is still haunted.
 There are many ghost stories about the Hotel Monteleone; apparently they have several “guests” who decided never to checkout, who enjoy opening and closing the doors to Le Café, as well as other friendly interaction, usually on the 14th floor of the hotel, which is of course actually the 13th floor. Although I had stayed on the 14th floor in the past, I did not encounter any spirits that time or on this visit, other than the ones the bartender was serving in their famous Carousel Piano Bar, and of course upstairs during the Southern Comfort’s Tales of the Cocktail special Cocktail Hour! It was great to be back at the Hotel Monteleone!
The Carousel Piano Bar has created some famous cocktails including the Vieux Carre Cocktail (Benedictine, Peychaud, Angostura, rye whiskey, cognac and dry vermouth with a twist of lemon) and The Goody (dark rum, light rum, Orgeat, orange juice, and pineapple juice). In 2004, Bartender Marvin Allen won the 2004 Southern Comfort Tales of the Cocktail with his creation of the Southern Comfortini.
Southern Comfortini
1 ounce Southern Comfort
1 ounce Chambord
1 ounce peach schnapps
1 ounce pineapple juice
squeeze of lemon
Shake all ingredients over ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon, mint, and a peach wedge. Twist rim with powdered sugar.
Hotel Monteleone
214 Royal Street
Telephone: 504-523-3341, 800-535-9595
Email:
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www.hotelmonteleone.com
Read more about the Hotel Monteleone and New Orleans in the Destinations, Restaurants, Chefs’ Recipes, Arts & Antiques, Music Scene, and Events sections.
For additional information, please visit the Southern Comfort’s Third Annual Tales of the Cocktail website, as well as the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau website.
© November 2005. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.
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