© Author Adventures

Hotel Monteleone

Many famous writers have stayed at Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, including Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Anne Rice, John Grisham, and Stephen Ambrose, inspiring its literary suites.

Hotel Monteleone is one of only three hotels in the United States designated as a literary landmark by the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations, within the American Library Association. It is a top-of-the-line hotel in the French Quarter that feels like a completely different world from the jazzy streets around it. We looked at many places to stay in the French Quarter area, but we found that Hotel Monteleone ranked second-to-none in ambiance and upscale Southern hospitality.

Though we did not stay in one of the literary suites, we found our room to be exquisitely decorated, from its Audubon prints to the soft guest robes awaiting us in the room closet to the famous Hotel Monteleone insignia throughout.

Where to Eat

Don’t skip the elegant restaurant on the first floor. Plan to relax and enjoy its grace at least once. The breads paired with three kinds of butter melt in your mouth and the menu is a delight to a wide range of appetites.

Parking

New to the French Quarter? Then, before you go, you might want to study up on parking as street spaces are difficult to come by and smart drivers take the pedestrian-filled streets very slowly. You can valet park at the hotel or park in any of the public garages nearby.

If you enjoy staying there and soaking up the literary air as much as we did, you might also like the Inn of the Turquoise Bear, an oasis for writers, actors, artists, and musicians of the early 20th century, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Former residents include D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Igor Stravinsky, Willa Cather, Ansel Adams, and Martha Graham.

Hotel Monteleone is the fourth stop on our Louisiana Author Adventures Trail.

Patricia Smart