---
title: "Hotel Monteleone"
description: "Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans\' French Quarter: a family-owned landmark since 1886 with the iconic Carousel Bar, literary history, and rumored hauntings."
url: "https://viatravelers.com/places/hotel-monteleone/"
published_at: "2025-01-07T03:00:45-06:00"
updated_at: "2026-09-04T01:47:40-06:00"
author: "Kyle Kroeger"
categories:
  - "Louisiana"
  - "North America"
  - "United States"
---

Standing regally at the gateway to [New Orleans](https://viatravelers.com/destinations/new-orleans/)‘ Royal Street antique district since 1886, Hotel Monteleone embodies the French Quarter’s blend of European elegance and Southern charm. This Beaux-Arts landmark, still family-owned after five generations, has earned its place in American literary history by hosting luminaries including Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote, who immortalized the hotel in their writings. The Monteleone’s crown jewel—the 25-seat revolving Carousel Bar—has served as both creative muse and sophisticated watering hole since 1949, completing one rotation every 15 minutes as bartenders craft classic Sazerac cocktails and Vieux Carrés (invented at the hotel itself). Beyond its literary associations, the hotel claims spectral residents as well, with reports of doors opening mysteriously and elevators stopping on wrong floors, earning it recognition among America’s most haunted hotels. With 570 guest rooms, including 55 suites named for famous patrons, the Monteleone offers modern luxury while preserving authentic New Orleans character through details like ornate crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and antique furnishings. More than accommodation, the Hotel Monteleone provides an immersion into the cultural heritage, creative spirit, and mystical undercurrent that defines the Crescent City experience.

### Cultural Context

Literary landmark and cultural cornerstone of New Orleans’ French Quarter, Hotel Monteleone represents the city’s tradition of hospitality and artistic inspiration. The hotel embodies New Orleans’ unique blend of Old World elegance and Southern charm, attracting writers, artists, and celebrities for over 135 years.

### Historical Context

Built in 1886 by Sicilian cobbler Antonio Monteleone who transformed his modest boarding house into grand hotel. Survived yellow fever epidemics, Civil War reconstruction, and Hurricane Katrina while maintaining family ownership through five generations, serving as witness to New Orleans’ economic and cultural evolution.