Mr & Mrs Smith

Loft 523

New Orleans, United States

Two blocks from the French Quarter, Loft 523 hotel’s open-plan pads are arty and design-driven. Fortuny lamps, high-ceilings and massive limestone-floored bathrooms with Agape spoon tubs up the luxe, whereas hand-hammered copper doors add texture and weightiness.

Need to know

• Rooms 18 suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $189.00, excluding tax at 13 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of $1.00 per room per night on check-out.
  The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency ($189) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
• More details Rates exclude Continental buffet breakfast (US$10-US$15).
• Facilities Gym, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, surround sound stereo with a CD/DVD player, iPod dock, mini-fridge, and Aveda bath products.
• Check-out Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Late check-outs will be charged half the nightly rate between noon to 3pm and the full nightly rate after 3pm. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
• Children Leave the little ones at home.
• Also Furry friends are welcome for a flat fee of US$200. In-room mani-pedis, facials and other spa treatments are available upon request.

Food and drink at Loft 523

• Hotel restaurant Hotel restaurant Loft 523 shares Rambla with its more trad sibling, International House Hotel. Lined with photos and communal tables, the dining room’s exposed beams, unadorned lights and exposed pipes telegraph downtown cool. Chef-cum-entrepreneur Kenneth LaCour (of Dakota restaurant) fuses Creole and Basque cuisine. Try Louisiana oysters encrusted in smoked cornmeal, pork meatballs lashed with sherry and steak-frites with chimichurri and romesco sauces: best with a bottle of French or Spanish wine from the carefully curated list.
  
• Dress code Take a cue from your clean-lined surroundings and rock a monochromatic grey sheath, dark denim, cream linen shirts and thick-framed Wayfarers.
• Top table Grab a quiet booth at the front for a passive, people-watching perch.
• Last orders Breakfast is available until 10am; lunch is 11.30am until 3pm; on weekdays dinner is available until 11pm, and midnight on weekends. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. Cocktail shakers are in motion until 2am.
• Room service Rambla’s full menu as well as candy, trail mix and cookies are available from 7am to 6pm every day except Sunday.
• Hotel bar Dark, moody and votive-lit, the Bar at Loft 523 feels like the cool kids' after work watering hole. Exposed brick walls, modular seating and low dark-wood tables make it feel after-hours loungey and hip.
  

Loft 523 523 Gravier St, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130