New Orleans ยท French Quarter
Omni Royal Orleans
Opened in 1960 on the site of the 1843 St. Louis Hotel, designed by Samuel Wilson Jr. and Arthur Davis; 345 rooms on Royal Street.
- Built
- 1960Opened 1960 as the Royal Orleans, built on the site of the St. Louis Hotel (opened 1843, destroyed by the 1915 hurricane); a surviving wall with the faded 'CHANGE' inscription of the old City Exchange is preserved.
- Architect
- Samuel Wilson Jr. and Arthur Davis
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Rooms
- 345
- Area
- French Quarter
- Credentials
- Historic Hotels of America member; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
The site at St. Louis and Royal held the City Exchange, which Wikipedia notes was a slave auction site until the 1830s, and then the St. Louis Hotel, built by James Hewlett to designs by J.N.B. de Pouilly and opened in 1843. Union forces used it as a hospital in 1862 and it later served as the state capitol during Reconstruction; it closed in 1912 and the 1915 hurricane destroyed it. Edith and Edgar Stern led the project that opened the Royal Orleans in 1960, designed by Samuel Wilson Jr. and Arthur Davis, and Omni took over management in 1986.
Good to know
- Address: 621 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, LA 70140
Things to do
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Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.