As The Roosevelt New Orleans moves closer to its official opening, we’re interested in your stories and memories of the hotel. Please let us know about your connection with the famous hotel’s past. We might even want to put the news media in touch with you so you can share your personal memories.
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In 1976 there was a major exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The Tutankhamun exhibit was in the summer and my family was very interested in going. We came for three days to New Orleans–it was the first time for me and of course I fell in love with the city! We stayed at the Fairmount. They made us feel so welcome to the city. Since I had recently turned of drinking age, my first cocktail was at the Sazerac Bar and I had a Sazerac (of course!). My husband, however, had always wanted a Pousse Cafe. This is a layered drink made of different liqueurs of varying densities topped with brandy and flamed. The bartender was very gracious and asked if we could wait a bit as it took awhile to make. He made a 7 layer Pousse Cafe right before our eyes! As he made each layer, he discussed the liqueur, the taste and the density. It was stunning–all the different colors of liquers in perfect layers right up to the flaming brandy on top! Everyone at the bar was astonished and it was very much the talk of the bar afterwards. I think we paid $1 a layer…very expensive for the time, but well worth it. The bartender thanked US in the end because he did not get to make those very often…no wonder, it was really labor intensive. Thank you, Roosevelt, I will be there soon….
I am a proud former employee of The Fairmont. I worked the front desk in the early 1980′s — back when guests still received the golden brass keys to their rooms and left them at the desk when they went out. I also handed good old-fashioned paper messages to the likes of Buddy Rich and Joel McCrae. And the employee cafeteria — once the famous old Cave — had the best fare of any work place I’ve ever seen! I thrilled in taking my daughter to the last Teddy Bear Tea held there (though we didn’t know it at the time) and can’t wait to take her to the Christmas lobby again!
I cannot wait for this hotel to reopen. Besides returning commerce to a neglected area, this hotel will recapture the historic grandeur no hotel in New Orleans currently has. I hope it will also spur the restoration of the historic Orpheum Theater, which has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina.
My grandmother (who’s turning 80 this October) worked as the manager’s assistant in her late teens. She met my grandfather there back in the day. I believe he was a bellboy. While her memory isn’t the best, she certainly remembers those “good ole days.” She loves talking about them, and she’d love to tell her story about working there.
I just am so excited about the re-opening this June,2009 of this marvelious hotel. When I was a young girl we went through the the Grandeur Christmas Lobby to go to the spectacular Teddy Bear Tea. I remember walking through seeing the the ceiling with the angel hair, with the lights shining through. It was like the heaven each child experiences in their mind. I am anxious to bring my two granddaughters this Christmas for their very first Teddy Bear Tea. My girlfriend is also taking her Grandson for his first time. My expectation are high with such fond memories to back them up. My parents took me and drank the Sazerac’s & the Ramos Gin Fizz I always was given the Shirley Temple.
My grandfather, Elvin Dumas, worked at the Roosevelt in the forties and fifties. My grandparents have thousands of stories about encounters with celebrities like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, and Tommy Dorsey. They live in Gretna now and are very excited about the Hotel’s reopening.
One of my favorite photos of my parents back in the day is the two of them in The Blue Room. My mom told me that htey used to have a photographer working the room and taking photos of people to sell them or what have you. I hope that is a service that returns because I would love to be able to have the same sort of photos to give my children.
And the Christmas decorations…I can’t wait for Christmas. The lobby is one thing I really miss from Christmas.
My grandfather, Louis Chenevert was maitre’d of the Blue Room for many years in it’s heyday(late 40s to 60′s I believe). His nick name was “Slim” and I have his name plate with the name on it. I also have menus and countless pictures of my family in the Blue Room. One is of my family and Jerry Vale who was performing. Jerry Vale was kind enough to take a second picture with my family as my grandmother had her eyes closed for the first. The picture is also autographed by Jerry Vale. My grandfather was well known during his years there and catered to the needs of many stars. Sophie Tucker gave my grandfather a 14K gold lapel pin of the rear end of a horse! I still have it today. I also remember him telling me that Earl Long used to frequent the Blue Room and happened to use potted plants in the lobby as a “urinal”. The Blue Room is very special to me and my sister. I am planning a Jazz Brunch this August to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday. She would have been 99 this year. Can’t wait to go!
I am extremely excited about the reopening of the Roosevelt Hotel and how the owners are going to refurbish it to its once luxurious décor. I have many memories, when I was a child, of roaming the halls or sitting in the lobby watching the people go by as I waited for my father, Jimmy, who was in a meeting with Seymour Weiss going over ad campaigns.
With the strength of its majestic walls, we stayed in the Roosevelt during many hurricanes, with Mr. Seymour watching over everything and making sure everyone was alright.
During Christmas time I always begged my father to take me to the hotel to look at the elaborate decorations which were by far the most gorgeous of any other establishment around.
Dining was an experience like none other!
Thank you for bringing back such a magnificent icon to our city and I cannot wait until I may once again walk through its grand structure and enjoy the ambience that I am sure will bring back such wonderful memories.
I’m writing this email for my father, Elvin Dumas. He was employed by the Roosevelt in the 1950-60′s. He has wonderful stories about some of the celebrities and his fellow workers during his employment at the hotel. We also have photos of the lobby during christmas and people who worked there. He was a Bellhop. If you would like to get in touch with him his phone # is 5043675545.
The Roosevelt was where so many of our family’s special occasions took place but the best was when I asked my wife to marry me 16 years ago.
I had made arrangements with the desk clerk while pretending to go the the restroom to get a room for the evening. I told the clerk my intentions and she gave us the Governor’s Suite. It was an unbelievable night. Just the two of us in this huge suite. We called some of our friends to celebrate with us long into the night. Thanks Roosevelt!
Alexander
All of my life I have loved taking a stroll through the grand lobby. But, perhaps my favorite thing was the grand enterance on the front side. I loved the fancy script lettering on the awning and the array of international flags on display.
So please forgive me if I am a little dissappointed in the print lettering going up on the new front awning.
I would have much prefered to see the script letter logo with the eagle crest (as pictured at the top of this webpage) at the grand enterance on the front side. Unfortunately, the script letter logo and eagle crest are nowhere to be seen on the entire hotel! Please correct this!
Also, please fly all of the international flags.
I’m 27 years old now, and am lucky enough to get to play music all over the world with Cowboy Mouth. But on my 7th birthday, I was privileged to attend my first ever concert, B.B. King at the Blue Room.
It was my first time going to the Roosevelt, and I can remember how lush and gorgeous everything was. It was unlike any place I’d ever seen. B.B. King was the first in a long line of musical obsessions for me, and I couldn’t believe I was going to see him in person. B.B. killed it that night, and the staff at the Roosevelt were able to pull a few strings to let a 7 year old into the club for the show, and also to meet the King of the Blues after the show.
B,B, sat in the kitchen of the hotel restaurant, with a beer in one hand, a towel in the other. Talked to my whole family. Said he didn’t usually have fans as young as I was. Signed an 8×10, took some pictures with me, gave my whole family picks and pins.
A pretty great first trip to the Roosevelt in my opinion.
Even though I have never stepped foot inside the Roosevelt, it brings a smile to my face that it is reopening and has been restored to its grand splendor it once graced our beloved city with.
My family holds a small piece of Roosevelt history. Some how, some way my grandparents had an entire set of plates, saucers, cups, etc from the Roosevelt…as a young girl, they were my favorite dishes to enjoy my grandmother’s mouth savoring meals upon. Not too long ago, while visiting my Nannie, who now lives in my grandmother’s home, I “snuck” the last Roosevelt plate out of my grandmother’s cupboard and it now sits in mine… had to.. it’s a childhood memory I am not ready to let go of.
I cannot wait to take my first footsteps into the Roosevelt, just because it reminds me of under the bridge (my grandmother’s home is under the des allemands overpass)……
My father, Obie O’Bannon, was the assistant manager of
the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi. My
father used to fly the hotel mail from Biloxi to new
orleans and deliver it to the Roosevelt, Ponchartrain,
Jung and several other hotels in the group. My father
met my mother on the golf course at the Edgewater Beach.
A short time later, my dad was asked to take the helm
of the Roosevelt Hotel. My father and mother moved to New Orleans and were living at the Roosevelt. My
mom found out she was going to have a baby, so they
moved into the french quarter. They also went to the
grave of Maria LaVeaux and asked her for a girl. I
guess they got their wish, I was born in November at
Touro Infirmary.
I also remember eating many meals in the Blue Room
when I was little, as my dad worked at the hotel. I
remember, I must have been around 5 or 6, and we
were eating a sunday meal. My parents ordered and
then asked me what I wanted. “A hamburger with french fries was my order.” A little while later, a
couple of waiters arrived to serve our meal. The meals came out in covered trays with covers to keep
them hot. The a waiter put this large tray in front
of me, with the large silver cover, he took the cover
off and there was a picture to behold, certainly for
a little girl like me. THe waiter took the cover
off the burger with great pride. He bent over and
said, “this is for the little madam”. I looked up
in a puzzled look. There sat my burger with a frilly decorated white paper, with roses all around
the bun, meat and so on. I didn’t know what to make
of it.
My mom said, “oh, how beautiful it looked!” I looked over to her and said, “Well, mom, it isn’t
fit for a dog!” I said, I’ve never seen a burger
like this before, i wanted a Castle Burger.
Needless to say, as I grew up, we danced many a night in the Blue Room to all the beautiful music.
There sat this hamburger
(meat on the bun) with the tomatoes, lettice, pickles
on the side, in the middle of green parsley and d
any meals in the blue room with my parents. I
My husband and I stayed at the hotel 5 years ago to celebrate our 25th anniversary when it was the Fairmont. It was our first trip to New Orleans. We were treated so well and the classic nature of the hotel was evident. They even made us an elegant platter of chocolate tuxedo covered strawberries as a surprise! They were beautiful and delicious. We just booked a reservation to celebrate our 30th and return to New Orleans and the Roosevelt in March 2010.
As a New Orleans native…I am thrilled..so excited..that we have the Grande Dame back..who has been for us over so many years and in so many ways the eptitome of the best of New Orleans elegance..
She has served to introduce and body out to the younger ones the nature..experience and joyful possibilities of elegance and high style..She has given the ambience for the art of leisurely conversationr so long preserved and practiced by New Orleanians along that great Sazerac Bar..with its Ramos Gin Fizz (my favorite and the most elegant cocktail ever conceived in my view) and The Sazerac..
such a combination of subtle heartiness..another New Orleans trait…
Well…with all my heart..this New Orleanian thanks you ..for what you have done ….beyond the many words we normally are able to muster as a New Orleanians..you have returned to us and to all who have the imagination to understand…an image of our cultural “soul” …from ruin…
I can not wait to get myself down there for a Ramos!
Hugs and Kisses..to the Waldorf Astoria group and to locals who have made this possible.
I for one am forever grateful!
I remember, as a little chid, peeking into the Blue Room watching Mom and Dad dance as the orchestra played something enchanting. I felt like Dorthy peeking through the door to The Emerald City. We were there for a Louisiana Press Association meeting and I was given strict orders not to leave the room. I think that is the frist time I ran into Marcelle Bienvenu. Our fathers were newspaper editors- publishers and I do believe her orders were the same as mine…. we were invited in for one dance , then back up to the room for sweet dreams. Thank you all for restoring not only our wonderful hotel, but our grand memories of a genteel time that was the Blue Room.
I remember, as a little child, peeking into the Blue Room watching Mom and Dad dance as the orchestra played something enchanting. I felt like Dorthy peeking through the door to The Emerald City. We were there for a Louisiana Press Association meeting and I was given strict orders not to leave the room. I think that was the frist time I ran into Marcelle Bienvenu. Our fathers were newspaper editors-publishers and I do believe her orders were the same as mine…. we were invited in for one dance , then back up to the room for sweet dreams. Thank you all for restoring not only our wonderful hotel, but our grand memories of a genteel time that was the Blue Room.