Before its changing hands between the French and Spanish from the late-17th century until the U.S. bought the Louisiana Territory in 1803, the Native American Choctaw named the area we know as New Orleans “Bulbancha,” which translates to Land of Many Tongues, on account of its multi-tribal nature. The city’s European influence can still be felt throughout the city through its architecture, cuisine and joie de vivre, or joy of living. Bulbancha still thrives, too, where the residents of New Orleans represent nearly every walk of life, belief and experience, and where everyone is welcome.
Why New Orleans
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More than 50 nonstop flights arrive at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport from across the U.S., Mexico, Honduras and England.
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More than 1,400 enticing restaurants ensure everyone’s appetites are satiated.
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The city is included in The New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2025.”
What’s New in New Orleans
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The $1 billion world-class, 972,000-square-foot terminal complex at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport features three concourses and 35 gates.
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Vue Orleans boasts the only 360-degree views of the city and Mississippi River.
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The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has earned its first LEED Gold certification.
There are plenty of options when it comes to things to see and do in the Crescent City, as well as places to grab a bite to eat, or host a power lunch or dinner. Here, are at a few spots to pique your interest and help ensure your clients will laissez les bon temps rouler, or let the good times roll, in New Orleans.
SEE
The Garden District
Hop an historic streetcar and take a ride to New Orleans’ Garden District, filled with sprawling, stately homes, art galleries and boutiques, restaurants and bars. For more than 150 years, the St. Charles Streetcar has rambled down the “neutral ground,” or middle, of St. Charles and Carrollton avenues – it’s the oldest continuously-operating streetcar line in the world.
Preservation Hall
New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz, “a meeting, a mixing, a melding of many cultures, many emotions and many skills.” Treat your guests to a live musical performance at Preservation Hall in the heart of the French Quarter. Here you’ll find intimate, acoustic New Orleans Jazz concerts more than 360 nights a year featuring ensembles comprised of more than 50 local master musicians. Preservation Hall is available for private events, too.
Mardi Gras World
No visit to New Orleans is complete without a taste of Mardi Gras, regardless of the time of year. Fortunately, it’s always time to laissez les bon temps rouler at Mardi Gras World. Invite your guests to step inside the unassuming warehouse for a behind the scenes look at the world of Mardi Gras, where more than 500 parade floats are built and decorated each year. They can get in on the action, too, with hands-on teambuilding activities like Mini-Float Building and Mask Making Workshops.
For more activities and ideas, ask your ALHI GSO about working with Hosts Global Destination Services and Hosts New Orleans, a Hosts Global Member.
DO
Go For a Ride
One of the best ways to see New Orleans is from the saddle of a bicycle. Arrange a group outing with a local tour company and follow the Mardi Gras parade route with a ride down St. Charles Avenue to Audubon Park with its sprawling oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Or take a four-mile ride around New Orleans City Park, stopping to walk amongst the art at Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden and refueling with beignets at Café du Monde.
Create a Culinary Sensation
From po’boys to gumbo, jambalaya to beignets, Creole to Cajun, not to mention numerous James Beard and Michelin award-winning restaurants, it’s all about food in New Orleans. Enhance your event with a cooking class from a local world-class chef so your guests can take the flavors of the Big Easy with them to impress their friends and family in their own kitchens and dining rooms at home.
Live the Swamp Life
A short drive from the city limits – away from the first lines, fine dining restaurants and year-round festivities – lies a variety of swamps and bayous. Explore this real side of Louisiana with a swamp tour on a 20-passenger swamp boat, an exhilarating airboat or paddling kayaks. Whichever you and your group choose, you’ll learn about the local flora and fauna, not to mention the area’s history, and you’ll probably spot some ‘local residents,’ too.
For more activities and ideas, ask your ALHI GSO about working with Hosts Global Destination Services and Hosts New Orleans, a Hosts Global Member.
EAT
Cochon
Find some of the city’s best Cajun and southern style eats at Cochon, with Chef Donald Link and Chef/Co-owner Stephen Stryjewski at the helm. Here, locally sourced pork and seafood along with produce are prepared using traditional methods to create authentic Cajun flavors in every dish they serve. Housed in a renovated warehouse, Cochon is available for large parties and private events in addition to its dining room and patio.
Jewel of the South
In the French Quarter, Jewel of the South is all about hospitality and creating memorable experiences, not to mention serving some of the best cuisine in all of New Orleans. With a regularly changing menu to highlight the freshest local ingredients, dishes may include the likes of Gulf Shrimp Raviolo with lobster bisque, Duck Neck Sausage with charred green onion, or Hamachi with smoked trout roe, pomegranate and radish. Four private dining spaces are available for groups of 19 to 130.
34 Restaurant & Bar
Chef Emeril Lagasse turns his attention to his Portuguese heritage with 34 Restaurant & Bar, complete with a jamon bar and a tiled DJ booth. The tapas-style menu is all about sharing flavors inspired by Lagasse’s travels to Portugal, including Bacalhau à Brás, salt cod with crispy potatoes and olives; Paella with black rice, Gulf shrimp, squid, chourico and saffron; and Piri Piri Chicken with kumquat and vegetable salad. Vegetarian dishes are also available, as are two private dining rooms for exclusive events.
For more activities and ideas, ask your ALHI GSO about working with Hosts Global Destination Services and Hosts New Orleans, a Hosts Global Member.
STAY
Just as New Orleans has something for every meeting planner and attendee, so does ALHI. The historic Hotel Monteleone has welcomed guests for nearly 140 years, while The Eliza Jane is an homage to Eliza Jane Nicholson, the first woman publisher of a major metropolitan newspaper in the U.S. The Pontchartrain Hotel, celebrating 100 years in 1927, exudes the glamour of 1930s New Orleans, and The Royal Sonesta New Orleans invites your guests to stay on Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter. Go ahead, let the good times roll in the Big Easy!
Hotel Monteleone
Arrive at the Beaux-Arts-style Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans’ French Quarter and you know you’re in for an experience. Since opening its doors in 1886, the iconic hotel has not only been a place to stay, but a place to see and be seen in its whimsical Carousel Bar & Lounge. With 523 guest rooms and suites, and 25 meeting rooms encompassing 26,000 square feet of event space, there’s plenty of room for your guests to spread out and make the most of their time together.
The Eliza Jane
Housed in The Daily Picayune newspaper’s former headquarters where Eliza Jane Nicholson became the first woman publisher of a major metro newspaper in the 19th century, The Eliza Jane is a 196-room hotel that’s ready to inspire your guests. Within proximity of the French Quarter and New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, The Eliza Jane is ready to host intimate meetings and events in its three meeting rooms covering more than 3,300 square feet.
The Pontchartrain Hotel
Originally a luxury apartment building that opened in 1927 in New Orleans’ Garden District, the building was reimagined and re-opened as The Pontchartrain Hotel in the 1940s. Today the hotel welcomes its guest to chic and unique retreats in its 106 classically appointed, luxurious guest rooms and suites featuring antiques and textures from the South, with a European flair. The 2,790-squre-foot Parlor serves as The Pontchartrain’s event space, decked out in French toile wallpaper, historic brick walls, muted concrete floors and crystal chandeliers.
The Royal Sonesta New Orleans
Host your guest on world-famous Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter when you host your next meeting or event at The Royal Sonesta New Orleans. Choose from a variety of versatile spaces in which to host your guests, from traditional meeting rooms to inspiring settings like the Fleur-de-Lis Suite and courtyard that can accommodate up to 160 guests, or opt for a front row seat to the action in one of the hotel’s three Bourbon Balcony Suites that can accommodate up to 175. Afterwards, your guests can rest and recharge in one of the hotel’s 483 elegantly appointed guest rooms and suites.
For more activities and ideas, ask your ALHI GSO about working with Hosts Global Destination Services and Hosts New Orleans, a Hosts Global Member.