Maison de la Luz ★★★★★

The Old City Hall Annex, Turned Into a Private House

Carondelet Street sits on the quiet side of downtown New Orleans, where the Central Business District gives way to the Warehouse District and the noise of the Quarter is a long block of streetcar track away. The building was the city hall annex, six floors of wrought ironwork, grand staircases and high ceilings, and Atelier Ace turned it into a guest house of sixty-seven rooms with interiors by Studio Shamshiri. The idea, stated plainly by its makers, was the intimacy of a private home crossed with the glamour of a members' club, and the building had the bones for it.

Why It Works

The detail is what earns the place its reputation. Antique voodoo beads and African masks in the public rooms, custom tiger rugs by Christopher Farr, embroidered cushions, lighting made for the house, and shower handles cast in the shape of snakes. None of it reads as theming, because it is drawn from the city's own cross-cultural history rather than applied to it. Add a salon that serves breakfast under bespoke wallpaper and a cocktail bar of genuine standing, and the house works as a destination rather than a base.

Why This Location

This end of Carondelet is walkable to almost everything a first visit wants and insulated from the part of it that keeps you awake. The St Charles streetcar runs a block away toward the Garden District and its oaks. The French Quarter is a walk of a few blocks northeast, close enough for an evening and far enough to sleep. The Warehouse District museums and galleries are south. What the address imposes: this is a business quarter, so the streets around the house are quiet on a Sunday and the life is indoors.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Maximalist, layered, clubby, New Orleans by way of a private house

• Rooms: 67 guest rooms and suites across six floors of the former City Hall Annex

• Best For: design travellers, cocktail drinkers, couples, guests with a dog

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the door hidden behind a bookcase that drops you straight into Bar Marilou

• Dining: breakfast in the salon, with scallop-edged tables and blue velvet seating; Bar Marilou for cocktails, with its own street entrance and its own following

• Amenities: salon and living room, honesty bar, concierge, commissioned artworks throughout, pets accepted, family-friendly

• Attractions: French Quarter (a few blocks northeast), St Charles streetcar and the Garden District (a block away), Warehouse District museums, Lafayette Square

Rooms Built Around the Building's Bones

The annex gave the designers height and light, and the rooms use both: tall windows, deep colour, framed artworks and custom lighting rather than the pale palette that has become standard in new luxury hotels. Ask for a higher floor if you want the rooftops and the streetcar line in the window; the lower floors sit closer to the salon and the bar, which suits a short stay. The suites add sitting space. Nothing here is neutral, which is the reason to come and the reason to look at photographs before choosing.

Bar Marilou and the Salon

Bar Marilou is the anchor. It reads European rather than Southern, an aperitif room that also knows the New Orleans cocktail canon, and it draws a local crowd through its own entrance on the street. The concealed door from inside the house is one of the better arrivals in American hotel-keeping. The salon carries the mornings, with breakfast served under bespoke wallpaper, and doubles as a sitting room through the day. Together they mean the house never feels like a lobby with rooms above it.

What to Know Before You Book

There is no pool or spa on site, which is worth knowing if you are used to a resort. The house sits across from its sister property, so guests have a second set of rooms and bars a few steps away. Carnival and festival weeks book out far ahead and rates move accordingly. Dogs are accepted and families are welcome. Walk or take the streetcar rather than driving, since parking downtown is a valet proposition.