Description: The Columns Hotel could only be in New Orleans. Built in 1883, this is one of the grand old mansions lining St. Charles Street that visitors eye longingly as they tour the Garden District. Its wide veranda, whirring fans, and antique furnishing make you feel as if you’ve stepped into another, more elegant era. The Columns has that sumptuous, timeworn ambience that lures you into a dreamy mood—the perfect attitude from which to appreciate one of America’s loveliest and most sensual cities. It’s no wonder Louis Malle chose to use it as the set for his visually stunning film
Pretty Baby, starring a 12-year-old Brooke Shields as a young girl raised in a New Orleans brothel in the 1920s.
An imposing staircase leads to rooms that blessedly ignore the trend of generic blandness hotels so often succumb to. We were assigned Pretty Baby Suite, a charmingly idiosyncratic room that felt like a cozy attic hideaway. Its only real window is set in the ceiling and features a stained-glass representation of Brooke Shields as the young seductress. Getting the temperature of air and water just right sometimes took a bit of fiddling, but what the room lacked in creature comforts, it more than made up for in atmosphere, with an antique lover’s trove of ornate furniture. A dressing table alcove was a welcome amenity, as was a snug sitting area. Though the bar at street level is a hopping nightspot for a young New Orleans set, we were protected from noise by our third-floor location.
One of the best things about the Columns is the chance to sip a drink at tables set on the veranda as the streetcar glides by. Sunday’s jazz brunch, complete with champagne, is also recommended.
Close