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New Orleans' famed Hotel Roosevelt to re-open June 25
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After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans continues to rebuild its past and preen its feathers. The famed Roosevelt Hotel located at 123 Barone Street, is about to reopen after it was so badly damaged by Katrina that it closed indefinitely. The hotel opened its doors originally in 1893 as the Grunewald. Governor Huey Long kept a 12th floor suite in the hotel, which Long used as his headquarters during the 1930s.
In 1923, the hotel became the Roosevelt, named for President Theodore Roosevelt; in 1965 it was acquired by the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and renamed The Fairmont. For two years after Katrina, the old hotel lay dormant, but in 2007, it was sold again to become one of the Hilton’s premier hotels in the Waldorf Astoria Collection and re-named The Roosevelt.
According to the Times Picayune, the hotel is scheduled to re-open on June 25 with more elegance than ever. Many of the rooms have been converted into suites, and the rooftop tennis courts have been replaced with an outdoor courtyard. Plans are underway to reinstate the lavish traditional annual Christmas decorations in the hotel lobby.
When it was the Grunewald, the hotel opened “The Cave,” sometimes considered to be the first nightclub in the United States. It featured waterfalls and chorus girls. Later, in its incarnation as the Roosevelt, the Blue Room opened as a nightclub featuring national touring musical acts. The Blue Room will be back with the original chandeliers brightly shining, and with windows uncovered for the first time in 35 years. Local acts will play in the Blue Room once a month; and Sundays will see the return of the jazz brunch. Katrina did not damage the Paul Ninas murals in the art deco Sazerac Bar.
One innovation will be the installation of Domenica, a rustic Italian restaurant, which famed New Orleans chef John Besh will open later in the summer. John Besh is the chef/owner of August and John Besh Steak in New Orleans. Chef Besh has tapped Chef Alon Shaya, formerly of Besh Steak, to run the Domenica kitchen and has sent him to Italy for a year of training.
The past lives on in all its glory.
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