The Roosevelt New Orleans in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, is a 504-room hotel owned by AVR Realty Company and Dimension Development and managed by
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, formerly The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, is a luxury hotel and resort brand of Hilton Worldwide. It is positioned as the flagship brand within Hilton's portfolio, being used on hotels which offer the highest stan ...
. The hotel was originally built by Louis Grunewald, a German immigrant, and opened in 1893 as "The Hotel Grunewald."
Hotel Grunewald
The original hotel building was six stories tall and faced Baronne Street, encompassing street numbers 123 through 135. It was built after Grunewald's Music Hall was destroyed by fire in 1862. The building housed 200 rooms and opened in December 1893 to be ready for the 1894
New Orleans Mardi Gras
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western ...
season. The decision to build a hotel proved to be very sound as the other major hotel in the city, the
St. Charles Hotel, was destroyed by fire soon after the Grunewald opened.
Grunewald Annex
![The Forest Grill at the Hotel Grunewald](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/The_Forest_Grill_at_the_Hotel_Grunewald.jpg)
As early as 1900, Grunewald began plans and eventually construction of an 'Annex' tower on the University Place side of the block. The cost of the new tower was reportedly $2.5 million and was considered one of the finest in the country. The new tower was 14 stories tall and had 400 rooms. Its grand opening was at Midnight, January 1, 1908. This expansion was designed by the architectural firm, Toledano & Wogan. Louis Grunewald's son Theodore became the Director and Manager of the Hotel. The lobby of the Annex featured a large Italian Marble staircase which reached an overlooking mezzanine level of the hotel. The Annex Tower allowed the addition of several entertainment and dining facilities. Among the new options were the Forest Grill, The Lounge, The Fountain Grill and the most famous, The Cave. The Cave was designed to mimic a cavern complete with waterfalls, stalactites, glass topped tables and statues of gnomes and nymphs. Revues similar to the
Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...
were presented on a nightly basis.
In 1915, Theodore Grunewald became the sole owner of the hotel when his father died. He retained ownership of the hotel until early 1923 when, on his doctor's advice, he sold all of his business interests.
The first Roosevelt era
In 1923, Theodore Grunewald sold the hotel to a business group headed by Joseph, Felix, and Luca Vacarro. Immediately after the purchase the new owners put forth plans to tear down the original hotel building, build a new tower the same height as the Annex, and redesign the interior of the Annex. The Vacarro group spent $500,000 in the redesign alone, mainly redecorating and updating designs. The hotel was officially renamed the Roosevelt Hotel on October 31, 1923, in honor of President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, whose efforts building the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
had been tremendous for the city of
, financially. A ceremony was held in the Romanesque Room (now known as the Blue Room) to commemorate the name change.
On October 1, 1925, the new Baronne Street tower was opened. It was 16 stories tall and once again gave the hotel space to add even more amenities. The new tower added a barber shop, a coffee shop, and stores which faced the street. By the end of 1925, the Romanesque Room became the Venetian Room and was known as a premiere
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
venue. The hotel began a tradition of decorating its block-long lobby for Christmas. The tradition continues to this day and has become a local icon of the holiday season.
In 1933, the Hotel was operated by
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
businessman
Frank A. Dudley
Frank Alonzo Dudley (January 30, 1864 – September 21, 1945) was an American lawyer, politician, hotelier and business owner associated with Niagara Falls, New York. Dudley established the United Hotels Company of America and the "Lewiston He ...
and the
United Hotels Company
United Hotels Company of America, also known as United Hotels Company, was a chain of upscale hotels in the United States. The company was headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York, with administrative offices in New York City. The company was foun ...
. until a group named the New Orleans Roosevelt Corporation began an effort to acquire the hotel from the Vacarro Group. The group was headed by
Seymour Weiss
Seymour Weiss (September 13, 1896 – September 17, 1969) was a prominent hotel executive and civic leader from New Orleans, Louisiana, who was a close confidant of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr. Weiss, the most loyal of the Longit ...
who had started his career at the hotel as the barber shop manager. He was later promoted to the Head of Publicity and Conventions, Associate Manager, Assistant Manager, and eventually General Manager of the hotel. In 1931, he became the Vice President and Managing Director. The sale of the hotel to Weiss's group was finalized on December 12, 1934.
After the purchase by Weiss, major changes and upgrades began throughout the hotel. The marble staircase in the lobby was removed and a ceiling was installed. This allowed the hotel to create more meeting space on the mezzanine level. The Grand Ballroom that was created at this was the largest meeting room in the city. All of the hotel's guest rooms were completely refurbished, and the Tip Top Club on the 12th floor was converted into guest suites. The Venetian Room was closed and remodeled. On December 31, 1935, the Blue Room opened and was, for decades, the premiere music venue in the city. The performers in the earlier years of the Blue Room included
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
,
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
,
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...
, and
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer.
Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and othe ...
. On August 1, 1938, the Main Bar (now named the Sazerac Bar) opened. Its
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
bar, walnut-paneled walls, and
Paul Ninas mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s are still a focal point of the hotel. On September 1, 1938, the Fountain Lounge opened.
Weiss was a confidant of Louisiana Governor and later U.S. Senator
Huey P. Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
. During the 1930s, when he was a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
, Long used a 12th-floor suite at the hotel as his Louisiana headquarters and effective New Orleans residence. He was known to imbibe
Ramos gin fizz
A "fizz" is a mixed drink variation on the older sours family of cocktail. Its defining features are an acidic juice (such as lemon or lime) and carbonated water. It typically includes gin or rum as its alcoholic ingredient.
History
The first ...
es in the Main Bar and even had Sam Guarino, the head bartender, flown up to the New Yorker Hotel in New York City to teach the staff how to make them. His 'Deduct Box' was believed to be kept at the hotel. The 'Deduct Box' was where Long held all of the "contributions" from state employees and supporters. The box has never been found; a replica now stands in the lobby.
In 1949, Weiss purchased the rights to use the name "Sazerac Bar" from the
Sazerac Company
Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionair ...
. The bar had previously been on
Exchange Place before
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
and at 300
Carondelet Street Carondelet Street is a major street in New Orleans. It is one-way eastbound. It starts at Robert Street in the Uptown,_New_Orleans, Uptown neighborhood and continues to Josephine Street. One must turn left at this point, and then right. Carondelet c ...
afterward. He renovated a store front on Baronne Street which had previously held a wine-and-spirits store and opened the Sazerac Bar on September 26, 1949. As a sign of his marketing genius, Weiss announced through the news media that the new bar would abolish the previous 'men-only' house rule and admit women. Women from around the city flocked to the venue, and the event became known as Storming the Sazerac. The anniversary is celebrated every year at the hotel with vintage costumes and libations.
In 1954, the Shell Building was completed on Common Street, and Weiss negotiated to lease seven floors. The addition of this space allowed the hotel to increase to 900 rooms and to build the International Room, which could accommodate as many as 2,200 guests for one event. The International Room connected on the second floor with the other meeting rooms on the mezzanine level. With the increase in meeting space, a brand new banquet kitchen was built in 1955 on the same level. The kitchen to this day services all meetings and events in the hotel.
In 1959, the decision was made to close the Sazerac Bar on Baronne Street and transfer the name to the Main Bar. It is still named the Sazerac Bar today.
In 1964
Arthur Hailey resided at the hotel for two months. He went on to use it as the basis for his best selling novel
''Hotel'' (1965).
As Weiss grew older, he sought out a buyer for the hotel. The Swig family, owners of the
Fairmont San Francisco
The Fairmont San Francisco is a luxury hotel at 950 Mason Street, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The hotel was named after mining magnate and U.S. Senator James Graham Fair (1831–94), by his daughters, Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Vi ...
became the new owners in 1965.
The Fairmont New Orleans
The Roosevelt was acquired by Benjamin and Richard Swig on November 19, 1965. In an effort to ease the transition, the Swigs first changed the name to the Fairmont-Roosevelt and then eventually to the Fairmont New Orleans. The Swigs began to modernize the hotel over the years. The initial renovations cost $1.5 million and were mainly in the look and design of the hotel. Updates to the Blue Room, both entrances and Dining Rooms were made. Carpet was added in the lobby. The Fountain Lounge was renamed the Rendezvous Lounge.
In the following years the Rendezvous lounge was closed and renovated. The space was renamed the Sazerac Restaurant to tie it in with the bar. The restaurant featured Black Tie waiters and tableside preparations. The Sazerac Bar was updated with carpeting and modern furniture and new lighting. One of the store fronts on Baronne Street that originally housed the coffee shop became Bailey's. Bailey's was the hotel's casual dining room and was open 24 hours a day. The restaurant had the unique reputation of having quality upscale food at any hour of the night. It was very popular with its proximity to the theaters in the city. Another extensive renovation occurred in the late 1990s with all of the guest rooms being renovated.
The Fairmont New Orleans was damaged during
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
August, 2005 and closed indefinitely. While some repair work was done, work was suspended in an incomplete state in March 2007 after preliminary estimates of the damage were revealed to have been greatly underestimated.
The second Roosevelt era
![RooseveltMysteryLadyClockJuly09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/RooseveltMysteryLadyClockJuly09.JPG)
On August 24, 2007, Sam Friedman, a son of the late
Louisiana State Senator
The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees.
Composition
The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...
Sylvan Friedman of
Natchitoches Parish
Natchitoches Parish (french: Paroisse des Natchitoches or ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,566. The parish seat is Natchitoches. The parish was formed in 1805.
The Natchito ...
, of Dimension Development Company from Natchitoches, Louisiana, announced the purchase of the Fairmont Hotel by First Class Hotels for $17 million from the owners, Roosevelt Ventures, LLC. Also announced was the plan to spend $100 million to convert the hotel to one of Hilton's premium hotels in their Waldorf Astoria Collection chain.
The entire hotel was completely renovated with modern systems. The design of the hotel was a nod to the grand days of the hotel in the 1930s and 1940s. The lobby was restored to the look of that period. The carpeting in the lobby was removed and original floor was repaired. The Sazerac Bar was restored to its look of the 1940s. The space that housed Bailey's was renovated and now houses
John Besh’s Domenica Restaurant. The other store front on Baronne Street was converted into the Roosevelt Emporium, the hotel's Gift Shop. The Rooftop Tennis Courts that the Fairmont had were removed and a brand new Pool Deck was constructed with shower facilities, a bar and kitchen.
The new owners remodeled the hotel and selected
Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts to manage the property. On reopening of the hotel in 2009, the owners reverted the name of the hotel to the "Roosevelt" title it had held from 1923 to 1965.
[Theodore P. Mahne, "Grand old hotel holds happy memories" in ''Times-Picayune'', 1 July 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. A8 (web version ]
"Former employee recalls the glory days of the Roosevelt Hotel").
/ref> The Roosevelt Hotel reopened to the public at 3:00 PM on July 1, 2009 with a ribbon cutting in the main lobby by the ownership group represented by Alan Rose, Sam Friedman, Jack Guenther, Neil Freeman, and Lod Cook.
The current hotel holds 504 guest rooms of which 125 are suites. The total meeting space is over with multiple rooms across three floors of the hotel.
The Roosevelt underwent a renovation to each of its 23 ballrooms and meeting spaces in 2018, and a renovation of the rooftop pool and guest rooms in 2019.
See also
* List of tallest buildings in New Orleans
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, is the site of 106 completed high-rises, 45 of which stand taller than . The tallest building in the city is Hancock Whitney Center, which rises in the New Orleans Central Business District a ...
* List of tallest buildings in Louisiana
This lists ranks Louisiana skyscrapers that stand at least 250 feet (76 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates t ...
References
* ''Milwaukee Journal
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...
'', March 18, 1906
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans, The
German-American culture in Louisiana
Hotels in New Orleans
Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels
Hotels established in 1893
United Hotels Company of America
1893 establishments in Louisiana