It’s been said that the French Quarter begins in the lobby of Hotel Monteleone. This venerable New Orleans hotel sits majestically at the foot of Royal Street and offers valet parking with two garages. Guests have the best point of departure for all things New Orleans.
Outside this historic French Quarter hotel you’ll discover shop after shop of fabulous European antiques, estate jewelry, oriental rugs, and art and antiquities from around the world. Specialty shops and quaint New Orleans restaurants line the French Quarter streets. Enjoy New Orleans tourist attractions just steps from our New Orleans hotel, including Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, the French Market, and the Riverwalk, where you can watch the steamboats along the Mississippi River.
CAROUSEL BAR & LOUNGE
This is the quintessential New Orleans hotel lounge and bar. The famous Carousel Bar & Lounge is a favorite New Orleans hot spot. It is the city’s only revolving bar and for decades, it has charmed guests to take a slow spin on the bright circus-clad Merry-Go-Round.
History (from the hotel website)
Before he became founder of this famous New Orleans hotel, Antonio Monteleone was an industrious nobleman who operated a very successful shoe factory in Sicily.
Antonio had heard great things about America. The call of adventure motivated him to pack the tools of his trade and head for the “land of opportunity.” Antonio arrived in New Orleans circa 1880 and opened a cobbler shop on Royal Street, the busy thoroughfare of commerce and banking in America’s most European city. At the time Antonio emigrated, Royal Street was indeed the grand street of the “Vieux Carre,” as the French Colonials sometimes called the new town. Hotel Monteleone has history of all sorts behind it.
Hotel Monteleone, a historic New Orleans hotel, has long been a favorite haunt of distinguished Southern authors. Many of them immortalized the Grand Dame of the French Quarter in their works. Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner always made 214 Royal Street their address while in the Crescent City. While at The Carousel Bar, Truman Capote used to boast that he was born in the Monteleone. (He wasn’t – though his mother lived at the historic hotel during her pregnancy, she safely made it to the hospital in time for Truman’s debut.)
The list doesn’t stop there; Anne Rice, Stephen Ambrose, and John Grisham also joined the ranks of literary guests over the years. In June of 1999, due to Hotel Monteleone’s distinction among the literary elite, the hotel was designated an official literary landmark by the Friends of the Library Association. (The Plaza and Algonquin in New York are the only other hotels in the United States that share this honor.) Whether truth or fiction, the Hotel Monteleone’s history is rich in stories.
In 1886, Mr. Monteleone bought a 64-room French Quarter hotel on the corner of Royal and Iberville streets. The setting was ripe for Antonio to spread his entrepreneurial wings when the nearby Commercial Hotel became available for purchase. That was the beginning of an amazing historical landmark New Orleans hotel.
Hotel Monteleone is one of the last great family-owned-and-operated hotels in New Orleans. Since 1886, five generations of Monteleones have dedicated themselves to making their hotel what it was — and still is — a sparkling jewel in the heart of the French Quarter.
Generations of hotel guests and staff have regularly experienced haunted events that would cause even the staunchest skeptic to take pause. This haunted hotel in New Orleans had a restaurant door that opens almost every evening and then closes again, even though it is locked.
Hotel Monteleone is known for being one of the premier haunted hotels in New Orleans. In March 2003, the International Society of Paranormal Research spent several days at Hotel Monteleone. While at the hotel, the team made contact with more than a dozen earthbound entities.
If you book online room Prices are reasonable for such a luxurious hotel especially during the summer.
https://hotelmonteleone.com/
