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Waldorf-Astoria Collection to Restore The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans

June 5, 2008 at 10:09 AM | 0 Comments

The Waldorf-Astoria Collection wasn't kidding when it said it would be adding new hotels left and right this year.

The latest hotel to become a member of Hilton's luxury tier of hotels is the Roosevelt Hotel, the hotel's original name before it became the Fairmont New Orleans in 1965.

The hotel was was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina and so it will undergo a $100 million renovation that will be completed by Spring 2009.

Key among those plans to restore the property to its previous grandeur will be the reopening of the hotel's famed "Blue Room," as well as the legendary Sazerac Bar.  In the golden era of supper clubs from the 1930s to the 1960s, the Blue Room played host to some of the biggest names in show business as well as to an elaborate floor show.  The reopened Blue Room will once again periodically host live entertainment.  The Sazerac Bar, a fixture in The Roosevelt since 1949, will once again be serving its signature Sazerac Cocktails and Ramos Gin Fizzes when the property reopens.

The hotel's ballrooms will get a new look as well and WAC management team will once again do the "extravagant" Christmas decorations which was something that the Fairmont New Orleans was known for.

In total, there will be 500 guestrooms, a luxury spa and a fitness center on site. Fun fact: The hotel was known for having inspired the 1965 best-selling novel from Arthur Hailey titled, Hotel.