This Iconic New Orleans Bar Celebrates 75 Years
When you step into Hotel Monteleone 's Carousel Bar, it's evident why the famed spot tops many tourists' New Orleans itineraries. A merry-go-round for adults, the icon has been spinning for 75 years, celebrating its anniversary this month. Seated under a canopy decked out with 186 twinkling lights and jester carvings, you'll slowly revolve in circles while the bartender anchored in the middle pours you classic cocktails.
The Carousel Bar is whimsical, a good time and overflowing with history. It's this magical mix that has kept Hotel Monteleone, the city's first luxury hotel, at the forefront of New Orleans' hospitality scene for more than a century. While The Carousel Bar honors its storied past, the hotel continues to evolve, recently unveiling renovated rooms and more that promise to keep this classic French Quarter grande dame spinning into the future.
The New Accommodations
The Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel's story began with Antonio Monteleone, a cobbler from Sicily who opened the modest 64-room property in 1886. He made it a family business, with the fifth generation now at the helm. The hotel kept expanding over the years, and the latest chapter is the newly renovated Iberville Tower, a two-year, $50 million overhaul.
Dallas interior design firm Collins & Sweezey lightened up the tower's 160 rooms and 48 suites with a gray and white palette. The centerpiece of each room is a pale gray studded headboard, set against wallpaper that brings the outside in — delicate birds perch on branches while dragonflies and butterflies seem to dance across the wall.
The gray walls and white ceiling have classic wainscotting, while gleaming white stone adorns the desk, vanity and dresser. White marble fills the bathroom, from the brick walls in the glassed-in rain shower to the intricate basketweave flooring. The accommodation is a soothing respite from raucous Bourbon Street, just a block away.
But the Iberville Tower experience extends beyond aesthetics. Guests here enjoy an upgraded stay that blends luxury with authentic local flavor. A personal concierge is at your beck and call, ready to help you unlock the secrets of the city. And what better way to start your New Orleans adventure than with a generous praline, a sweet taste of local tradition that's waiting for you in the room?
But the best perk for Iberville Tower guests is The Carousel Bar Cocktail Experience. For a $100 fee, you receive access to the bar before it opens to the public, drinks and an hour full of stories.
The Iconic Bar
As the heart of Hotel Monteleone, The Carousel Bar is more than just a watering hole — it's a whirling stage where New Orleans history, celebrity lore and mixology converge. The scene is set daily: eager patrons line up early before it opens and then orbit the area like a satellite, poised to swoop in on one of the coveted 25 seats when they become available.
The daily private cocktail experience ensures your seat — it's limited to 24 revelers. When we went, we were the only attendees, which made it even more intimate.
Mike Dupree, the hotel's affable food and beverage manager and a certified tour guide, took us through the history of the hotel, bar and the city. He shared the mechanics of the bar (it completes a revolution every 15 minutes using 2,000 ball bearings and a bike chain) and little-known facts about its design. Each of the chairs, hand-carved and painted by a former Disney artist, features a different circus animal — a lion here, a zebra there — adding to the fanciful atmosphere.
He also revealed celebrity stories. Liberace was the inaugural performer when the bar debuted in 1949. Louis Prima, a local Italian American jazz singer, got his start at the bar (he went on to sing "I Wan'na Be Like You [The Monkey Song]" in The Jungle Book). Dupree said Prima was the Justin Bieber of his time, with women bringing pans of homemade lasagna in to woo the heartthrob (his daughter Lena assumed his mantle and still regularly performs there). During the city's popular Jazz Fest, Billy Joel sat down at the piano and gave an impromptu performance. "That's the magic of New Orleans and the magic of The Carousel Bar," Dupree said.
As Dupree regales you with stories, you'll be able to drink along. Sip on the bar's signature creation: the Vieux Carré. This celebrated cocktail, invented by bartender Walter Bergeron in 1938 when the space was known as the Swan Room, combines Sazerac rye whiskey, cognac, vermouth, Benedictine and a duet of Peychaud and Angostura bitters. It's a drink that captures the essence of New Orleans — bold, complex and unforgettable.
It's a heady drink for an experience that starts at 10 a.m., but it is New Orleans, after all, where bars stay open 24 hours a day and people enjoy cocktails in the streets. And when the bar opens to the public at 11 a.m. and visitors clamor for a spot, you'll already have your seat, ready for another round.
The Literary Heritage
This historic hotel and its bar are favorite haunts for illustrious writers. Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway all stayed at the property and used it as a setting in their works.
New Orleans' own literary vampire queen, Anne Rice, would sequester herself in one of the suites, embarking on marathon writing sessions fueled by room service and the energy of the French Quarter. Truman Capote, with his flair for the dramatic, often claimed he was born at Hotel Monteleone. While the truth is less romantic — his mother went into labor at the hotel but delivered at a nearby hospital — Capote's frequent visits and fondness for the place are undeniable. His connection to the hotel, like his prose, blurs the line between fact and fiction, adding another layer to the Monteleone mystique.
All of this helped the hotel earn a Literary Landmark designation in 1999 by the Friends of the Library Association (now known as United for Libraries) — only a handful of hotels to receive the accolade.
To pay homage to the great American authors with ties to the French Quarter hotel, the property created Literary Suites. Each classic accommodation is a love letter to a different author who found inspiration within its walls. The Eudora Welty Suite, for example, features photos of the Pulitzer Prize winner and encourages writers to craft their next novel in an office with an oversized desk. Welty herself wrote the short story "The Purple Hat" in The Carousel Bar.
The Food
As morning light filters through the French Quarter, Criollo Restaurant comes alive with the aroma of freshly brewed chicory coffee and buzzing guests. They fill the space for the lobster Benedict — a decadent twist on the classic with succulent lobster meat replacing Canadian bacon, all bathed in a velvety hollandaise sauce — and the irresistible beignets, served with a praline dipping sauce that balances sweet and nutty flavors.
At night, the lights dim and the atmosphere turns more intimate, even with the din of the nearby Carousel Bar. Start with the shrimp, crab and avocado stack, a popular dish with layers of spicy tomato coulis, chilled crab and creamy guacamole crowned with an oversized shrimp. Then move onto the pan-roasted striped bass with jumbo lump crabmeat and a caper beurre blanc or the Black Angus beef tenderloin in a pool of bordelaise sauce and bone butter melted on top. La Bombe is a lovely and refreshing way to end the meal — it's a mini-baked Alaska, with strawberry, chocolate and vanilla gelati on a chocolate biscuit, all encased in a singed meringue with a cherry topper.
For those wanting dinner and a show, Criollo offers Le Petit Chef. In a separate dining room, you are treated to either a three-course brunch or a five-course dinner, accompanied by a charming 3D animated experience that unfolds on and around your plate. It's the only restaurant in New Orleans to have this family friendly dining performance.
A Place to Cool Off
Tucked away on the 16th floor, the outdoor rooftop pool provides a year-round escape overlooking the city. It sits among cheerful peach walls and potted palms, and a bar serves icy daiquiris, refreshing Pimm's cups and other cocktails. When it's sweltering, you can sprawl on a lounger under a misting fan. And when the weather cools down, you can still swim comfortably in the heated water.
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