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Tl;dr: New Orleans has been in the news lately, with the recent traumatic attack in the early hours of New Year’s Day and its role as host to a few sporting events to start the year. Keep the upcoming Fairmont New Orleans on your radar for those traveling to New Orleans in the second half of 2025, as it looks to be the first new luxury hotel to hit the city in a few years.
Evidently, there’s some big game coming to New Orleans in a few weeks.
As such, I wanted to spin out a few articles dedicated to the Big Easy this week, a city I love and know well. Today’s piece highlights a new luxury hotel opening—The Fairmont New Orleans. This upcoming debut will serve as one of the few true luxury properties to open, at least since the Four Seasons New Orleans opened during the early days of the pandemic. Let’s dive into the details.Â
The Fairmont New Orleans – What We Know
The Fairmont New Orleans hotel is projected to open in the summer of 2025 and will be the first Accor property in the city. If you’re unfamiliar, Fairmont is one of Accor’s luxury brands, alongside brands like Raffles, Banyan Tree, M Gallery, Sofitel, Emblems, and Orient Express – the last two of which first properties are expected this year. Details are sparse; most information comes from Accor’s press release in early 2024, but we know it will be a 250-key operation, including at least 40 suites.Â
There will be a rather spacious 10,000-ft spa, which, from my personal knowledge of the New Orleans hotel scene, has a chance to immediately be the best spa in the city. Continuing the trend of rooftop bars and pool clubs, the Fairmont’s rooftop will feature both a view-centric swimming pool and a speakeasy—jeepers.Â
Guests can also enjoy a flagship all-day dining restaurant and a lobby lounge. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s space reserved for a few other dining outlets helmed by one of the latest up-and-coming New Orleans chefs, particularly if the property’s initial debut proves to be a success.Â
Accor knows the name of the game in New Orleans well, as evidenced by the hotel’s expected “20,000 square feet of function space divided between ballrooms, meeting rooms, and a library and business center.” The Fairmont New Orleans will undoubtedly be a popular convention and wedding destination.Â
The building, 1010 Common Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is just around the corner from the Roosevelt New Orleans, about a block and a half off Canal Street, opposite the French Quarter. If a sporting event or concert brings you to town, you will be within easy walking distance of the Superdome and Smoothie King Center. 
I was surprised to find that I had a small personal connection to the lead developer on the property—Kailas Companies. Kailas Companies is a regular player in Southern Louisiana real estate development, specializing in refurbishing historical properties for use as hotels or hybrid residences. One of the GMs was my classmate in graduate school.
Ok – What Does it Look Like?
There aren’t many photos available, but the renderings we do have look promising. Take a look for yourself.
Renderings of the Fairmont New Orleans – Source: Accor
My initial thoughts are that the decor is very reminiscent of a few other recent New Orleans hotels, the Kimpton, the Hotel Saint Vincent, and the former Ace-turned-Hyatt properties – Maison MĂ©tier and The Barnett. Not bad though!
Why is this Exciting?
I’m intimately familiar with New Orleans, having lived there twice. Thus, for a city built on tourism – it’s great to see another higher-end option for folks coming to town. The central business district, in particular, like the downtowns of several other mid-major cities, has gone through ebbs and flows of development. 1010 Common Street is a property that used to house many different types of businesses – law firms, investment firms, construction firms, oil and gas companies – but has largely sat vacant for the last several years. Accordingly, it’s good to see the building being used and even better to see it become a higher-end brand that can encourage and entice the residency of another stellar restaurant in the Crescent City.
Conclusion
The Fairmont New Orleans is scheduled for the summer of 2025 – I’ll keep you updated if there are any changes to its debut. Additionally, if you’re planning any sort of travel to New Orleans, be sure to subscribe to the blog and comment “Gumbo,” and I’ll send you the best recommendation list you’ll come across for all the food, art, music, culture, and hidden to-dos in the Big Easy.
