New Orleans' Historical Hotel Dining Rooms: The Fontainebleau

July 12, 2012 at 9:55 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

A while back on our brother site, Jaunted, we looked into how the NYC of the 1950s gave way to the NYC of today, sadly minus $1.95 steak dinners and the "famous rooms" that used to keep hotels hopping. It's important to note, however, that the famous rooms—selling a good time with dining, drinking and dancing to live music—weren't just a Big Apple exclusive.

Recently we came across a 1960 visitor's brochure for the Mississippi Coast, in which the New Orleans version of these famous rooms is advertised. We'll be focusing on a few the rest of this week.

Today, it's the The Empire Room at The Fontainebleau.

Man, we were on a real streak there, finding two vintage New Orleans hotels who have managed to keep both themselves and their famous rooms hopping into 2012. Today, however, that streak ends with The Fontainebleau.

A modern motor-up motel, The Fontainebleau was 1960s chic on the Gulf Coast with New Orleans' largest hotel swimming pool. It lived a short life, closing in the 1980s to become part college dorm and part storage facility. These days, you'll have to take a roadtrip off the interstates (or to Palm Springs) to view still surviving motels in a similar style. Of course they won't be touting any formal dining rooms; the best you can ask for is King's Highway, the renovated former Denny's at The Ace Palm Springs.

Curious to learn more about The Fontainebleau? This Etsy seller has a ton of details.

[Scans: HotelChatter]

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