Escape from the bustle of the French Quarter in these historic digs.
There are few metropolis with the ability to make an quick sense of place like New Orleans , and its bustlingFrench Quarteris at the kernel of it all . As the former neighborhood in the city , the French Quarter exudes local good luck charm with lively idle words euphony echoing through the streets and the alluring scent of Cajun and Creole cuisine wafting from far-famed eateries .
It ’s no secret , though , that the vibrant neighborhood also attracts million of visitors each year tot oversized to - go drinks and giving the Quarter a bit of a report for its wild side . For travelers who need to be in the heart of the action without feed up the city ’s historic charms , there has n’t always been a hotel that suit the bill — untilThe Celestinehotel opened earlier this calendar month .
The Celestine hotel is a charming 10 - room escape from the bustle of New Orleans ’s most popular enclave , terminated with a picturesque court that features a burbling , tiered historical fountain . settle on historic Toulouse Street , the hotel draw from its iconic locality , beloved for the wrought - Fe balconies and antebellum computer architecture that secernate the tale of its past . Each room is unequaled , but what they share in vernacular are antique furnishing like a four - poster bed and romantic secret balcony , either overlooking Toulouse Street or the leafy court .
Photo by Paul Costello
First built in 1791 , the property itself has century of tarradiddle to tell , and the draw play of The Celestine is the fact that many of those original details were kept intact — with paying attention update made by local designerSara Ruffin Costelloto contain French , Spanish , and Afro - Caribbean influence and a glamorous fifties solar flare that is clearly New Orleans .
Hotelier Robert LeBlanc said most of the nearby accommodation choice are giving boxful hotel that do n’t give visitor that all - of import sense of place . But as a lifelong New Orleanian and hotelier behind the laurels - winning Garden District hotel , The Chloe , he and his team atLeBlanc + Smithwanted to create a spot where tourer could souse up the refinement and energy of the city even while they slumber .
“ There ’s in reality a lot of hoi polloi who last in the French Quarter . People finger like it ’s just a holidaymaker destination , and that ’s not really the pillow slip , ” LeBlanc says . “ There are lashings of locally orient business here , so that thought of pull people in and having an interplay between them and the hotel guests — it gives you more of a local ’s perspective and a sensory faculty of being an insider . ”
The hotel is also place toPeychaud ’s Bar — helmed byNeal Bodenheimer , the make out mate of CureCo , the group behind muscae volitantes like Cure and Cane & Table — which pay homage to the historical cocktail culture of New Orleans .
“ you may obviously just order drinks , but it ’s more about the storytelling around how [ cocktail culture ] evolved and why it ’s important to New Orleans , and why it ’s a Brobdingnagian part of this cloth of community that exists in New Orleans , ” says LeBlanc .
The hotelier tells us that guests are able to sit down with the mixologist at Peychaud ’s and hash out what cocktails they might be interested in learning how to make . The barkeep will then provide the formula and method , a production card , and all the component that a guest may need in their way to make their own cocktails .
Photo by Paul Costello
The bar is an ode to Peychaud ’s , like the famed bitters — but not only because the bitter confection is such a of the essence element in cocktail - making . The building that The Celestine now holler home was once the abode of Antoine Amadee Peychaud , the 19th - century Creole pharmacist and entrepreneur , best known for his creation of Peychaud ’s Bitters . In accession to his contributions to mixology , Peychaud ’s influence extends to the famous Sazerac cocktail , where his bitters played a pivotal part , solidify his legacy as a key figure in the history of the city ’s cocktail cultivation .
Peychaud is just one piece of a larger cast of influential characters over the historical construction ’s chronicle . Tennessee Williams , who often indite from the hotel ’s court , purportedly pennedA Streetcar Named Desirethere , and when ask whether the property was stalk , LeBlanc answered quickly : “ patently there is one in way seven , so you have intercourse naturally I ’m not going in way seven anymore . ”
While he ca n’t begin to guess who the phantasma might potentially be , his promise is that it is the benevolent spirit of one of the edifice ’s first resident — a woman named Mother Andrea Julio .
Photo by Paul Costello
“ She was a spare cleaning lady of color and plant a spiritual order in the Catholic Church , and she had a tremendous encroachment and is now being considered for canonization by the Catholic church building , ” he says . “ She ’s a immense influence in New Orleans . It would be kind of nerveless if it was her specter . ”
Photo by Rush Jagoe
