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LOFT 523 |
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NEW ORLEANS, USA
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While most new hotels and restaurants in New Orleans open with the kind of fanfare the Big Easy adores, Loft 523 doesn't even have a street sign and the dignified, old dry-goods warehouse (circa 1880) barely hints at what lies within. The small lobby is low key, enlivened only by edgy artwork and the young, engaging staff, who know where to find the best late-night jazz venues and restaurants. The enormous (about 600sq ft) bedrooms are furnished sparingly with a bed, chair, table and bathtub. But each item - custom-made Italian desks, Fortuny lamps, king-size beds, bathrooms with spoon tubs for two, walk-in showers with double showerheads - is selected with a discerning eye for fabrics, colour and texture and set against a muted palate of creams, copper, terracotta and white. The overall effect is highly evolved hedonism. On the practical side, Loft 523 is the first hotel in New Orleans to offer wireless Internet access and its bar is one of the hottest watering holes for locals and in-the-know visitors. Jazz and Latin bands play at the weekends.
WHEN TO GO
For the Jazz Festival in late April but New Orleans is at its very best in early May
WHICH ROOM TO BOOK
Penthouse One has a private terrace with a beautiful, small pool, plasma-screen TV and a spoon bathtub strategically placed in front of a six-foot-square window
CONTACT
Loft 523, 523 Gravier Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (00 1 504 200 6523; fax: 200 6522; www.loft523.com). Loft studios $225-$950
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