Formerly: Royal Orleans Hotel Formerly: Saint Louis Hotel Formerly: The City Exchange Built: 1960 Designed by: Arthur Davis and Samuel Wilson, Junior Type: Hotel Stories: 6 Location: 621 Saint Louis Street, New Orleans, United States
T he Royal Orleans is one of New Orleans' more historic hotel. Historians contend that the hotel was constructed by the locals as a way of one-upping another grand hotel built nearby by an outsider. It was a masterpiece designed by J. Nicolas Bussiere DePouilly and J.I. DePouilly, and built under the direction of Pierre Soulé, the head of the Banque des Améliorations, which was created specifically for the purpose of financing the construction. But the one-upmanship wouldn't last long.
The original building was erected in 1838, but burned to the ground just three years later. Another hotel was immediately built on this spot in much the same form as the original. The Civil War was a tumultuous time for New Orleans, and the nation. The building, then known as the Saint Louis Hotel, was commandeered by the Union to serve as a military hospital. After the war, it changed hands and purposes many times and was eventually abandoned. By 1915, its state of disrepair was so bad that it was virtually flattened by a passing hurricane. Amazingly, the green, low, flat central dome managed to survive, and an architect named Nathaniel Curtis tried, unsuccessfully, to save it. Afterward, the plot served various masters, and was even the location of WDSU Television.
It took decades of wrangling with investors and preservationists to get the new hotel built. The design was based on the previous Saint Louis Hotel, but modified to suit modern needs. Specifically, in order for the new hotel to be profitable, it had to have many more rooms than the old one, so extra floors were added, but concealed so the new Royal Orleans Hotel would not look much taller than its predecessor, the Saint Louis Hotel. As fate would have it, the son of the previously-mentioned Nathaniel Curtis would work on the new hotel, and also help design the city's landmark Superdome.
During the Civil War, the building was used as a Union military hospital.
According to local lore, the cafe that was once on this spot is where gumbo was invented.
It is claimed that this is also the location where the modern cocktail was born.
