Hotel Saint Vincent

Character and identity

Set in a converted 1861 orphanage in the Lower Garden District, Hotel Saint Vincent runs to 75 rooms across a property that feels more like a bohemian country club than a city hotel. The design language is bold and theatrical: velvet textures, pop-art colour, deep pink-tiled bathrooms, Art Deco hints, vintage art and rattan lounge chairs. Eating and drinking happen across San Lorenzo (coastal Italian via New Orleans, from Chef Laura Collins), the French-Vietnamese Elizabeth Street Café, the tropical-muralled Paradise Lounge, and the guest-only Chapel Club. A palm-shaded pool anchors it all, and the service register is confident, polished and unflappable.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're really paying for here is the interiors and the social choreography: few hotels in the city pull off this mix of sultry, ecumenical, tropical and Deco with such conviction, and the restaurants and bars genuinely hold up. Best for design-minded couples; book a suite over an entry category to get the full visual payoff, and time it for shoulder season when the pool and porches are at their most usable.