Fairmont New Orleans opens in the CBD as the brand’s 100th hotel

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has officially opened Fairmont New Orleans, a 250-room hotel in the city’s Central Business District that marks the brand’s return to the Crescent City after two decades and its 100th hotel worldwide. Announced on 2 November 2026, the opening gives travellers a new luxury base within walking distance of the French Quarter. A further set of facilities follows in early December: a rooftop pool, a cocktail bar, a spa and a Fairmont Gold lounge.

The setting is one of the city’s more distinctive pieces of modern architecture. The hotel occupies 17 floors of the former Bank of New Orleans building, a 31-storey landmark designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1970. The project has been developed by Kailas Companies, and the conversion gives the tower a new public life as a place to stay, dine and drink. Among the 250 guest rooms and suites are loft suites with double-height windows, a layout that makes the most of the building’s height and its outlook over the city.

Rockwell Group designed the interiors, taking the glamour and optimism of 1970s New Orleans as its starting point. The public spaces carry that idea through in a few signature gestures: a mirror-clad monumental stair, a chandelier inspired by magnolia and Spanish moss, and a Lobby Bar finished in Italian lava-stone tiles. The period reference suits the building, which dates from the same decade, and gives the hotel a clear identity within a city better known for its older architecture.

Local craftsmanship runs throughout. The artist Bruna Petalla produced hand-embellished wallcoverings, Triton Stone supplied slab stone and mosaics, and Bevolo, the New Orleans lantern maker, created the gas lanterns for the rooftop pool deck. For a guest, the effect is a hotel with a sense of where it stands, its finishes made by people who work in the city.

The rooms are built around floor-to-ceiling city views. Bathrooms are stocked with Le Labo Rose 31 amenities, and each room has a Nespresso machine and a minibar of locally sourced products. Select king rooms have ‘faux balconies’ set with café tables. Service follows the classic grand-hotel pattern, with twice-daily housekeeping and a 24-hour concierge.

Dining is led by Chef Emeril Lagasse, whose name is closely tied to the city’s modern restaurant scene. Delmonico Steakhouse, his first outside Las Vegas, opens for dinner with Creekstone Farms prime cuts dry-aged in-house, Japanese Wagyu and an oyster and caviar programme. Two pieces of theatre are served tableside: Chateaubriand and Bananas Foster, the latter a dessert with deep New Orleans roots. The Café by Emeril covers breakfast and lunch, with French-inspired classics given Creole accents and Southern influences.

The second phase arrives in early December. The rooftop pool will open with Bleu Perdu, a bistro serving the deck, and Third Measure, a cocktail bar created with Neal Bodenheimer of Cure, the New Orleans bar. The 10,000 sq ft spa will have three treatment rooms, a couples’ suite, saunas and a fitness studio. Also due in December is Fairmont Gold, the brand’s hotel-within-a-hotel, on floors 29 and 30, with a private lounge overlooking the Mississippi River.

Members of ALL, Accor’s loyalty programme, receive complimentary house car drop-off within one mile of the hotel and access to Nike Lending Gear. Fairmont’s Wellness Without Walls approach extends beyond the building, with self-guided art, kayaking and river-run experiences that use the city and the river as their setting.

We first covered the hotel when Fairmont New Orleans opened reservations in October. For planning purposes, the hotel is open now with its rooms, Delmonico Steakhouse and The Café by Emeril. Travellers who want the full picture, with the rooftop, spa and Fairmont Gold floors in operation, will find December onwards the better time to book. Either way, Fairmont New Orleans adds a design-led address to the Central Business District, a short walk from the French Quarter and well placed for a stay built around the city’s food and music.

Source: Accor