We stayed a week at The Old No. 77 Hotel and Chandlery, a boutique hotel in the CBD that’s a very short walk to Canal. It started out in 1854 as a warehouse for the Port and stored everything from coffee to the things ships needed when E.J. Hart and Company operated it as a chandlery — rope, paper, tobacco, medicines. Before the city renumbered addresses, this building was at 77 Tchoupitoulas, thus The Old No. 77.
There in the lobby is the entrance to Nina Compton’s Compere Lapin, which was fabulous (upcoming post).
Like a crazy person, when Av and the boys were checking in, I left my pink and red Kate Spade tote right here beside one of these chairs. It’s pretty bright, so I don’t know how I managed, but I left it there alone for about twenty minutes after we checked into the room. Shug asked me where his iPod was, and I had a terrible feeling. The boys went down to get it, and voila. Once we could laugh about it, I added up what could have so easily walked off — two iPads, an iPod, Av’s nice Canon. Yes, you have to be careful, but with dozens of people in the area with the check-in and restaurant, it was just sitting there waiting on us to come back. Thank you, kind world.
The room was fine. Well, actually our second room was fine. The first night, we were in a room with one of those window units and it just stayed warm — I can’t sleep hot. Maintenance said that’s just an issue with those rooms, and that I should ask for a room with a wall thermostat (planning a trip? keep that detail in mind.). Sure enough, they moved us and we stayed cool the rest of the week. Much better — plus a great ceiling fan.
The door placard sign read:
or:
Travel + Leisure named it the number 7 best hotel in the US
Take the Old 77 Hotel and Chandlery in Louisiana, for example. One of the coolest new hotels in the country debuted at the No. 7 spot this year in the No. 7 city in the world: New Orleans. The Old 77 has two galleries promoting local artists and a French-Caribbean restaurant (conch croquettes share the menu with black drum fish with beurre blanc and caviar). Inside the 167 rooms, guests will find custom vintage-inspired writing desks and exposed-brick walls.
