New Orleans: Omni Royal Orleans (September 2000)


My spouse and I stayed at the Omni Royal Orleans for four nights in late September 2000. We stayed in a Petite Room, which was a cozy 175 square feet and featured one queen bed. Our room was beautifully appointed with Creole and French accents and offered a view of the courtyard.

The Omni Royal Orleans is located in the French Quarter at the corner of St. Louis and Royal. The hotel has received the Four Diamond luxury award for the past 31 years. The hotel’s popular Zagat-rated Rib Room – Rotisserie Extraordinaire has been the haunt of literary greats and the politically infamous for more than 50 years. Omni Royal Orleans French Quarter hotel is just 12 miles from Louis Armstrong International Airport. The hotel features a rooftop outdoor swimming pool.

A few of those naming the hotel their “favorite” over the years include David Brinkley, Luciano Pavarotti, Muhamad Ali, Arthur Hailey,( who wrote the book Hotel based on his stays at the Royal Orleans), The Rolling Stones, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Charlton Heston, Louis Armstrong (whose last stay in the city was at the Royal Orleans) Richard Nixon, Three Dog Night, Patti LaBelle (who received the key to the city in the Josephine Bonaparte Salon) Bette Davis (while filming the classic Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte) Paul Newman, Mick Jagger, Don King, Lillian Carter, Chita Rivera (Broadway dance star), Aaron Neville, Rueben Stoddard (recent American Idol winner) and even Lassie the dog.