New Orleans’ Chicest Hotel — Checking Out Hotel Saint Vincent and the Best Of Magazine Street

I hate being the last to a party. You know, the dreaded last person to discover something. For the past two years, I’ve heard mentions of Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans — and not in the jaded “been there, done that” tone. Instead, the vibe was: “Been there, and I can’t wait to go back. It’s where all the cool kids stay nowadays while in New Orleans.”

I was intrigued. Why haven’t I been there already? I made a reservation while planning a spontaneous road trip to visit my father in Tallahassee, Florida. New Orleans is the perfect midway spot between Dallas and the Florida capital.

First impression: Even the Hotel Saint Vincent website is chic, the home page a collage of vintage black-and-white photos of what I assumed was the main building, layered with wallpaper you’d find in a historic home, but not overly antiquish and cluttered. Mixed-in images of nuns and floral touches left me intrigued.

Any trip to the Big Easy has to include cocktail time with girl about town Jane Scott Hodges. I suggested lunch at Hotel Saint Vincent. We met at her gorgeous Leontine Linens on Magazine Street, repository for her heritage linens, then made our way to San Lorenzo, the Saint Vincent’s main restaurant, for lunch (sans reservation, BTW). As Miz Jane Scott is instantly recognizable among those who float in a certain rarefied ecosystem, the restaurant’s maître d’ showed us to a prime table to people-watch. Over the course of a Caesar salad with a side of truffle fries, I took in some fabulous action à la old-school New Orleans ladies convening for lunch.

Jane Scott proceeded to give me the Hollywood movie pitch, a 90-second background story on the hotel. A beloved, slightly eccentric philanthropist from the 19th century Margaret Haughery opened an orphanage and erected this building. In a page-turner summer-read way, Jane Scott pointed to a back door and said, “That’s where kids were left for a life at the orphanage.” Sotto voce, she added that the door is now part of a chic nightclub/lounge, Chapel Club.

That scratching of the surface led me to further digging. Haughery, an orphan herself, was born in Ireland in 1813 and made her way in 1835 to New Orleans, where she started a successful bakery, and was dubbed “Our Margaret” by the community due to her endless philanthropy. In 1861, she founded The Saint Vincent’s Infant Asylum, a refuge for newborns and older children, in the red brick building that was iconic even then. Two years after her death, a statue was erected in 1884 in Margaret Place, a park near the hotel in the Lower Garden District.

After a few weeks in Tallahassee, I made my way back for a girl’s weekend at Hotel Saint Vincent. There were so many impressions when checking in … there was that jet-set-insiders cool vibe that reminded me of how I felt, decades ago, when entering an elevator at one of the first boutique hotels (before that term was batted around with utter disregard for the holiness of the connotation). You likely had a similar experience in the ’90s at an Ian Schrager NYC outpost or when the Mercer Hotel opened in 1997 in SoHo and you found yourself in an elevator with some German-speaking art-world type in black Jil Sander, or a skate-rat young woman (actually the progeny of a Waspy family on the Upper East Side) wearing an X-Girl (Kim Gordon’s 1990s cult-label brand) T-shirt and well-worn Stan Smiths, perhaps on the arm of Spike Jonze, while Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” played on repeat without apology.

The Allure of Hotel Saint Vincent

The Saint Vincent building and grounds feel like the love child of an illicit affair between Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and The Colony in Palm Beach. The hotel was created and restored by Austin hospitality group McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality, whose founders are industry veterans Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman and Liz Lambert. The reimagination kept much of the original architecture but incorporated a thoughtful, elegant, modern design that complements the campus’ vintage character.

The Saint Vincent exterior boasts verandas with sky-blue ceilings, hanging ferns and looming palm trees on the balconies, an interior courtyard with a Saltillo-lined swimming pool, a quirky neon sign visible from the street announcing you’ve arrived, and dramatic wrought-iron gates to make an entrance to the property even more dramatic.

The 75 guest rooms, chic bars, two restaurants, and a boutique were designed by Lambert McGuire Design, the sister component of McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality. The 20th-century Italian design elements mix with mid-century furnishings, 1970s Murano glass chandeliers, artwork commissioned from local visionaries and covetable custom furniture.

I was fortunate to find myself in one of the largest guest rooms: the Superior Suite. As my bags were brought up in the elevator, I made my way to the second floor via the building’s original grand staircase; walls layered with paintings that might have starred in a Tim Burton movie, hung in a haphazard (yet intentional) salon style. Each floor has wide hallways painted in moody shades.

My suite was everything I could have hoped for. There was a parlor-like area with a bar and enough seating for four to six (if your guests are extremely slender and frail, or perhaps an Olsen sibling). Down the hall, I found a closet perfect for an extended stay, then the doorway to a sizable bath with vintage tub, shower, and enough room to host a friend or two for a flute of bubbles while primping for the evening.

The bedroom boasts high ceilings and doors leading to two separate balconies, one shared and the other private. The private balcony easily outsized my modest first apartment when I was in graduate school in New York City. Each room is unique in its layout, from corner Mary suites with a view of the Virgin Mary statue encased in her grotto in one of the entry gardens to the more intimate Sister Studios across the fourth floor.

Many of the rooms, mine included, incorporate deep-red mohair upholstery, red lacquer millwork, salmon-colored velvet curtains and Carrera marble juxtaposed with vintage art and objets (I adored my vintage phone, which seemed plucked from the set of a 1960s French New Wave film). The bathrooms are photo worthy, albeit a bit bright and dramatic at first, with red and pink tiles and vintage sinks updated with Waterworks fixtures. To cap it off, the bathrooms are lined in a custom psychedelic Voutsa wallpaper inspired by traditional Florentine marble book bindings found within Margaret Haughery’s ledgers.

If you’re in town for two to four days, you honestly don’t need to leave Hotel Saint Vincent. Located in the lobby is the By George New Orleans boutique with its well-curated selection of cashmere knits from Elder Statesman and swimming costumes from Haight, Dries Van Noten, and Oseree, plus handbags from Loewe and Rabanne. I gravitated toward the cases of chic jewelry and vintage Rolexes (I texted a friend in Dallas about one particularly unique one, likely dating back to the 1970s; she immediately called the store to purchase it).

Consider a souvenir from your stay in the form of a Hotel Saint Vincent by Far West garment, perhaps the striped cotton robe found in the bathrooms or a silk kimono in the same marble print sprinkled throughout the property. It’s all found in a jewel box of a space (read: extremely intimate in scale) designed with Italian luxury as the inspiration, with vintage Murano glass mirrors and chandeliers and playful one-of-a kind objets and works of art.

The pool scene is effortlessly chic, with a whiff of impending hedonism when the sun sets and a burger party pops up on Sundays. For my afternoon poolside, I grabbed the Hotel Saint Vincent-branded laundry bag that I found in my closet (which will likely become hard-to-score at some point, like the ones at Château Marmont that became the inspiration for a past Gucci collection) and filled it with European fashion mags, my iPhone and cigarettes. (I ended up taking the laundry bag home with me for a $40 charge. I’ve already used it again for an afternoon of shopping in San Francisco — it’s a good conversation starter.)

As for dining and drinking options … At the aforementioned San Lorenzo, which is named for the patron saint of cooks, I recommend one dinner and brunch (al fresco on the porch, if weather accommodates). The more casual Elizabeth Street Cafe is where I picked up caffeine and pastries most mornings. This brightly colored building adjacent to the hotel welcomes neighboring residents with its French-Vietnamese menu and atmosphere. The shaded garden courtyard has ample seating for a lunch of ginger-chili oil dumplings, banh mi, cha ca red fish, and an assortment of buns and pastries.

Of course, we can’t forget the cocktailing. Adjacent to the check-in area and across from the San Lorenzo is the Paradise Lounge — an ideal spot to land late in the afternoon after pool time or a walk through the enchanting neighborhood. The airy, sun-drenched lounge has mosaic-tiled floors (a riff on the original floors from the building’s former life as an orphanage) and a wall behind the bar hand-painted with flora-and-fauna by local artist Anne Marie Auricchio.

Post-dinner, head to your room to slip on something slinky for the Chapel Club, where you’ll feel effortlessly chic among the black-and-white marble, hot-pink velvet bar, and quirky vintage paintings. Trip hop or acid jazz plays in the background while the Sazeracs flow.

Prior to my journey to the Big Easy, Danielle Hunter sent a dossier of must-sees that she gives to friends visiting the city where she was raised. Next to the Hotel Saint Vincent, she noted in all caps: “This is the place to stay!” Now I understand why.

Adventures On New Orleans’ Magazine Street

The French Quarter will always be the go-to destination neighborhood in New Orleans. However, the sheer size and proliferation of gin joints only fuels adrenaline — and, for me, subsequent anxiety. That’s not my idea of a stress-relieving vacation.

If you take up my suggestion and stay at the Hotel Saint Vincent, the hotel rests at the intersection of Magazine and Race streets in the historic Lower Garden District — a neighborhood rich in 19th-century architecture, with stunning examples of Greek Revival and Italianate-style mansions (Sandra Bullock and John Goodman own homes here).

The district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is perfect for a leisurely stroll down oak-lined streets. Jane Scott Hodges’ home and gorgeous Leontine Linens showroom are on Magazine Street, so I asked her for an insider’s strolling tour. This six-mile road is packed with shopping, restaurants (both fine dining and grab-and-go), coffeehouses and bakeries — and, of course, lounges serving licentious libations.

Here are some more most-hit spots:

Leontine Linens

Your go-to for divine handcrafted linens. Jane Scott Hodges, who founded the company in 1996, has preserved and given a modern twist to the classic art form of monogramming, with oversized, deliciously hued initials. Her duvets, pillow shams, table coverings and napkins are made to be used and passed along for generations to come.

Century Girl

This carefully curated and exquisitely merchandised vintage boutique, manned by founder Leah Blake, is filled with rare, pristine pieces that span decades. On my recent visit, I scored a 1970s-era Gucci blazer with the floral print that has re-emerged as a leitmotif over the years. Delicate pearl necklaces from the last 10 years from Vivienne Westwood were spotted alongside an ephemeral mint-green slip dress overlaid with a playfully lurid print, perhaps from the Tom of Finland archives.

Aidan Gill for Men

The vintage storefront, as well as proprietor Aidan Gill, are straight out of central casting. A true character, Gill’s back story begins in Dublin, where he found his calling in barbering. Eventually he landed in New Orleans where he revived the classic male sanctuary where men go for a leisurely cut and shave. You’ll find antique barbershop chairs, vintage Playboy magazines, and clients who want conversation and relaxation. If you can’t make it to the shop, go online and find some of his namesake products such as sandalwood shave cream — as one reviewer chimes in, “a little goes a long, slick way.”

Miss Shirley’s Chinese Restaurant

The glossy black façade of Miss Shirley’s screams 1980s Miami nightclub. Inside, I found tasty Chinese dishes that eschew the overtly Americanized Kung Pao chicken. Side note: For long trips, I always pack a pair of Christofle silver-plated black chopsticks. Three reasons: (1) I crave Asian food after a few days away from home; (2) they’re chic and take up no room in your suitcase; and (3) they’re great conversation starters and give you an intriguing backstory the minute you whip them out at a restaurant.

Balzac Antiques and B. Viz Design

These two storefronts, which occupy the same footprint, complement one another beautifully. Balzac stocks an enviable assortment of antique European furnishings and art, while Rebecca Vizard of B. Viz Design is known for her sumptuous pillows in kaleidoscopic colors and vintage fabrics with fine gold and silver braiding, which have appeared in myriad design magazines. If you catch her on-site, she always has the dish on what’s happening around town.