Gay New Orleans New Orleans City Guide

Curation by Yasmina Rodríguez, words by Fernando Nocedal

A decadently diverse mecca spurred by enduring myth and legacy in the realms of art, music, distinct cuisine and cross-cultural history, New Orleans is a Southern stunner. Layered in superstition, tradition and Cajun spice – the vestige of Spanish and French colonial roots as well as Creole, Irish and Italian immigrant influence – here you have the complex and intriguing birthplace of Jazz and the Po’boy sandwich. Driven by non-conformists and creative thinkers, New Orleans is a bright spot in the otherwise conservative Deep South, blazing the trail for social change and gay activism US-wide since the 70s. While gay and straight culture is wonderfully blurred, Lavender Line in the French Quarter is notable, not only as home to the oldest gay bar in the states, Café Lafitte’s in Exile, but also as the starting point of the annual Pride Parade. Other annual LGBT-embracing festivals include Mardi Gras, Jazz fest and Halloween. Wondering what to do in New Orleans year round? For your definitive New Orleans gay scene guide, look no further.

The best hotels in New Orleans

Begin in the Garden District, where The Chloe sets a quietly dazzling benchmark for boutique hospitality. This 19th-century Uptown mansion on St. Charles Avenue — that most cinematic of boulevards — has been transformed by local group LeBlanc + Smith into a fourteen-room retreat of considerable personality. Each room is singular: vintage turntables loaded with Fats Domino records, custom Italian linens, and armoires concealing tucked-away bathrooms. The pool patio draws the city’s creative set, the restaurant and bar pull in sharp-elbowed locals, and the whole spirit of the place — simultaneously grand and warmly eccentric — captures 21st-century Southern hospitality at its most compelling.

A short distance away, in the bohemian Faubourg Marigny, Hotel Peter and Paul occupies an entire city block of 19th-century sacred architecture: a church, rectory, schoolhouse, and convent, painstakingly restored by local visionary Nathalie Jordi in collaboration with design firm ASH NYC. Original cypress mouldings, stained glass windows, and marble fireplaces survive alongside French antiques and custom Indian-made rugs. Frenchmen Street — the spiritual heartbeat of the city’s LGBTQ+-friendly creative scene — is moments away on foot, and the property’s own Elysian Bar serves some of the most atmospheric cocktails in New Orleans.

For a more contemporary proposition, Virgin Hotels New Orleans brings its signature irreverence to the Warehouse District. Across 238 chambers and two penthouse suites, the property channels a playful luxury that takes nothing too seriously — except its drinks. The centrepiece is The Pool Club and Dreamboat on the 13th floor: a rooftop oasis with sweeping skyline views, resident DJs, and a casually sophisticated indoor lounge that feels like the most stylish private club in town.