70130 Travel Guide
Tags: Halloween Hotels / Halloween Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / New Orleans Hotels / → All Tags
The W New Orleans is Now Serving Witches Brew
We were quite sad when summer ended, for all the obvious reasons, but also because we missed featuring Summer Cocktails that were being mixed, shaken, stirred and poured in hotels around the world. Plus, we even got our hands on the recipes for these drinks allowing us to make some crazy concoctions at home.
While Starbucks might be serving pumpkin spice lattes, we think it's a little too early to start up our Holiday Cocktails coverage. But Halloween is just around the corner and we know of a few hotels that are choosing to celebrate our favorite holiday with a special drink, like The W New Orleans.
The Witches Brew is being served in the hotel's Whiskey Blue bar and the Living Room for $35. It's made with bacardi light, Meyers Rum, Bacardi 151, pineapple juice, orange juice, sour mix and grenadine and it's garnished with gummi worms and silly straws. We love it.
The full recipe is after the jump.
Tags: Hotel Parties / W Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / Fashion Hotels / → All Tags
Hotels For Watching 'Project Runway': W New Orleans
If we had a list of hotels for where to catch the preview of the next, and most debated, season of Project Runway, the W New Orleans would be at the top of it.
On August 20 in their Whiskey Blue bar, the W will screen the season premiere of Project Runway from 7 to 10pm and offer those who come out for the event a fashion of their own. Actually, fashion shows as part of this "Project A-list" series will be held to coincide with the airings of Project Runway on August 20, September 17 and October 22. But forget that; everyone knows we're in it for the free stuff and drink specials.
As for that free stuff: the first 50 people to show up to Whiskey Blue for the screening will receive swag bags. In addition, there will be $5 drink specials, like on the Finlandia Tangerine. And it's not all money in the W's pocket either; a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Metripolitan Center for Women and Children, providing services to survivors of domestic violence and assault.
Somewhere where we can dish about fashion and not simply drink out money away? Count us in .
[Photo: W New Orleans]
Tags: Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / New Orleans Hotels / Hotel Bars / Loews Hotels / → All Tags
The Red-Headed Stepchild at The Loews New Orleans
We've kicked off our Summer Cocktails series where we profile fun new summer drinks that hotels are making. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!
We heart the Big Easy. Big time. Rock ‘n’ Bowl at Mid City Lanes, music at Donna’s Bar and Grill and famous drinking establishments with storied pasts make us swoon, but it’s the unforgettable meals we’ve had that makes New Orleans one of our all-time favorite dining destinations.
Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of dining at the Bar Chef Table at Café Adelaide & The Swizzle Stick Bar in Loews New Orleans Hotel with the grande dames of the Big Easy – cousins and co-authors, Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan.
To say it was a mere meal would be a huge understatement – it was a multi-hour, paired cocktail and culinary adventure woven with colorful stories and true Southern hospitality. Reigning over our escapades was Bar Chef Lu Brow and Executive Chef Chris Lusk, a creative tag team of taste that will make your mouth very, very happy.
Tags: Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Hotel Bars / W Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / → All Tags
Try an Amazon Cooler at The W New Orleans
We've kicked off our Summer Cocktails series where we profile fun new summer drinks that hotels are making. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!
The next in our refreshing Summer Cocktails series comes from The W New Orleans, a hotel that is well-versed in seeking creative options to cool down in the hot Southern sun. Check out their rooftop pool.
The W's Whiskey Blue lounge has now put together the Amazon Cooler, a light drink that's perfect way to cap off a sweltering down of sightseeing. Or you know, just to get started on your wild night out on Bourbon Street.
The recipe is after the jump.
Tags: W Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
The W French Quarter's 'Summer Cinema' Nights Are Back
The W French Quarter is bringing back their Sunday outdoor movie nights. "Summer Cinema" evenings under the stars are free and perfect for cheap dates who want to score on romance, but skimp on shelling out dough. Hosted by the New Orleans Film Society and Paramount Pictures, even the drinks are budget friendly. X-Rated cocktails are $5 with proceeds benefiting New Orleans Film Society.
Movies run from May 17 to June 21 and start at 8pm. The first film is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and the summer billing includes "Into the Wild," "Grease," "Hotel for Dogs," "Ghost," and "Top Gun." Seating is limited.
Those who want to turn makeouts at the movies into some serious nookie. For moviegoers rooms start at $139 a night. Give meaning to the shouts: 'Get a room!'
Tags: March Madness Hotels / Hotel Deals / New Orleans Hotels / → All Tags
Sink Slam Dunk Rates at NOLA Marriott, from $69
Travelers can be quick to forget that New Orleans does, in fact, exist beyond the mania of Mardi Gras. As a friendly reminder, the New Orleans Marriott has a pretty rad incentive: “Bee-Ball Buzz” rates ($69-199!) to coincide with Hornets home games now through April 13. To which, we say: Score!
Plus, basketball fans can extend the good rate for a night pre- or post-game night. Hornets play at home March 16 (vs. the Houston Rockets), March 18 (vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves), March 20 (vs. the Memphis Grizzlies), March 22 (vs. the Golden State Warriors), March 25 (vs. the Denver Nuggets), March 29 (vs. the San Antonio Spurs), April 5 (vs. the Utah Jazz), April 8 (vs. the Phoenix Suns), and April 12 (vs. the Dallas Mavericks).
Book the Bee-Ball Buzz rate using rate code SPE. Two-week or more advance purchase required.
Tags: Hotel Closings / New Orleans Hotels / → All Tags
Is the Maison DeVille Hotel Closed?
It appears so. HotelChatter tipster David sent us this photo of the Maison DeVille and Audubon Cottages hotel on Rue Toulouse which had a For Sale sign hanging from its balcony where the usual hotel sign would hang. The reportedly haunted hotel actually closed on December 1, 2008. Guests who have made a deposit on an existing reservation will be refunded in full. On the bright side, the hotel's bistro still remains open for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Sad.
Another photo is after the jump.
Tags: Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / New Orleans Hotel Scene / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Inside the New Orleans Marriott
A few months ago, Juliana spent some time in New Orleans checking out the city's still-booming business of live music, haunted tours and good cookin' all the while still maintaining its ability to overserve visitors on Bourbon Street (and pretty much everywhere else.) We've uncovered some old footage that we forgot to air. Blame it on the booze, you're probably right.
We had no idea that when we checked into the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans that it had over 1,000 rooms in two different towers. Nor did we know it had a Starbucks inside or free WiFi in the lobby. Fortunately for you, we figured all those things out during our three-day stay here.
We arrived in town during Voodoo Fest and our nerves were already a little frazzled thanks to a malfunctioning plane. Don't worry, the mechanics fixed it up and we were on our merry way, three hours later. But of course, Voodoo Fest is not really about Voodoo, just music. Still, we wondered what it meant that the hotel is located on 555 Canal Street and we were given room 555. Ah...welcome to the mysterious city of New Orleans.
Tags: Mardi Gras 2009 Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / W Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Find the Baby, Get a Free Night at W French Quarter
The holiday season is over, but don't fret: your next excuse to participate in a huge celebration and indulge in an excess of glitter and stupid behavior is just around the corner — in fact, tonight marks the beginning of Carnival season — and Mardi Gras 2009 is coming up on February 24. It's not too early to book your hotel room in New Orleans for the big festivities.
W New Orleans French Quarter — in a killer location adjacent to Jackson Square — is waiting for you with its King Cake and Cocktails package, available for stays between February 12-25. Starting at $259 a night, you'll get a Wonderful room (the official name of their basic room), two "Big Easy cocktails" and two pieces of king cake at turndown.
King cakes, for those unfamiliar, are lovely confections made with brioche dough, rolled with cinnamon and topped with purple, green and gold sugar sprinkles. A little plastic baby is hidden somewhere inside the cake and the person who finds the baby in their slice is traditionally supposed to hold the next king cake party — but with this package, finding the baby in your slice scores you a free night at W French Quarter for Mardi Gras 2010.
Well, as long as you don't choke on it, we suppose. That would be something straight outta an Alanis Morissette song, right?
Reservations can be made here.
Tags: Holiday Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / Loews Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Celebrate Papa Noel at the Loews New Orleans for $129
Papa Noel is a long-standing New Orleans tradition celebrating their Santa Claus. This Claus is a little different from the one recognized in Christmas fairy tales flying in the skies with his reindeer crew. We like this description of Papa Noel best:
Papa Noel is the New Orleans Santa Claus, and, like New Orleans, a fog of mystery and myth surrounds him. He doesn't own a sleigh (it would sink in the bayou) and he has no need of reindeer (living on Cajun food, they'd be to full to fly). Instead he moves about in a pirogue, a narrow, flat-bottomed boat that can penetrate the deepest swamp. Some say he has 8 fat alligators and a red-nosed loup garou* to pull his pirogue. Others say no, the alligators are just close friends, the loup garou is a distant cousin, and it's Papa Noel who has the red nose.
To welcome Papa Noel to the Big Easy, families build giant bonfires along the Mississippi River on Christmas Eve so he can navigate his way through the city to all the good little boys and girls.
It's a pretty special tradition and The Loews New Orleans is offering guests the Papa Noel Package at $129 a night which includes complimentary valet parking (a $29 value.) The package is good from Dec. 10 to Dec. 29 and can be booked online or by calling 1-800-23-Loews.
[Photo: David Richmond/New Orleans Online]
Tags: W Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Austin Scarlett / New Orleans Hotel Scene / → All Tags
Austin Scarlett Dandifies W French Quarter with Bridal Fashion Show
Proving that former Project Runway contestants can score some good gigs post-show, fop extraordinaire Austin Scarlett showed nineteen wedding looks in the romantic courtyard of the W Hotel French Quarter. In addition to being great exposure for the young designer, the show raised money for Sweet Home New Orleans, a non-profit agency that offers social services and financial assistance to New Orleans musicians.
With the hotel's lush courtyard awash in W's signature purple lighting and many cabanas filled with eager brides-to-be, the W French Quarter evoked a bit of the fantasy for which New Orleans is known. Of course, W Hotels wants you to hold your wedding at one of their hotels and so the night served as a sample of how magical you could look wearing a designer dress and surrounded by paparazzi.
Considering that this is the same hotel which in the past has brought us events like Bikini Brunch and Scary Movie Night, we hope something dramatic and scandalous went down. It wouldn't be like Austin Scarlet to have a normal party.
W French Quarter room rates from $149 a night.
[Austin Scarlett image via EvilBeetGossip; Wedding dress via W Hotels]
Tags: Snapshot / Bill Marriott / Hot Hotelier News / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Back in the Day
It's no secret we have a crush on Bill Marriott over here at HotelChatter HQ so when we spied this portrait of Bill and his father, the original JW, in the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street the other week, we got all giggly and shy like a middle-schooler at the first dance of the school year.
For no reason whatsoever and we are not implying anything at all here but we have met many hoteliers in our time. They are Nicholas Clayton, Chip Conley, Jason Pomeranc, Sean MacPherson and Ian Schrager, to name a few. Funny, Bill Marriott is not on this list. We're just saying.
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
