Known as the grand dame of Royal Street, Hotel Monteleone is one of the last great family owned and operated hotels in New Orleans. Since 1886, five generations of Monteleones have dedicated themselves to making their hotel what it was, and still is, a sparkling jewel in the heart of the French Quarter.
Relax in any of the luxurious rooms with easy access to iconic amenities like the Carousel Bar & Lounge, in-house Criollo Restaurant, our on-site Spa Aria, and exclusive rooftop pool.

Carousel Bar and Lounge
The Carousel Bar opened inside the historic Hotel Monteleone in 1949, becoming New Orleans’ first and only rotating bar.
Its carousel theme and unique design is a treat you won’t find anywhere else, offering guests a pleasant, subtle rotation around a world-class cocktail bar every 15 minutes.
Ghost of little Maurice
Hotel Monteleone had developed a reputation over the years as being one of the most haunted places in New Orleans. The most famous of these tales involves that of a young boy named Maurice Begere, who stayed at the hotel with his family during the 1890s. The child’s parents—Jacques and Josephine—were avid theatergoers and regularly visited the French Opera House located along Bourbon Street. But since Maurice was just a toddler at the time, the two often left him in the care of a nurse whenever they went out. On one such night, the Begeres decided to stay at the Hotel Monteleone before departing for the French Opera House.
Entrusted in a nanny’s care, Maurice – who was just a toddler at the time – developed a fever one evening while his parents were at the opera. Although he received care, it was not enough. Maurice had a convulsion and died in his room.
Jacques and Josephine were mortified to discover the fate of their child. Grief-stricken, they returned to the hotel every year in hopes of spotting the spirit of their beloved Maurice.

The grief his parents felt upon their return is hard to comprehend. Josephine Begere could not bear to leave her son behind. She and Jacques returned to the hotel year in and year out in hopes that the spirit of Maurice might visit them. Eventually, he did.
On the 14th floor (which is really the 13th floor), Maurice appeared to his mother near the room where he died. In a striped shirt typical for children of that era, Maurice told his mother, “Mommy, don’t cry. I’m fine.” The encounter left Josephine in tears, overjoyed at having a loving moment with her young, departed son.
Maurice’s parents weren’t the only ones who saw the boy. To this day, guests report seeing the ghost of a friendly toddler on the 14th floor. A visitor provided an especially chilling tale, in which she spotted Maurice passing by the foot of her bed early in the morning. Surprised, she shot up to see if her husband was around, only to discover that he had already left the room. Realizing that she was completely alone, the guest determined that it must have been the ghost of Maurice.
A quirky elevator
Some believe Maurice is responsible for unexplained problems with the elevator. Two parents were staying at the hotel with their school-aged daughters in 2014. If the adults were in the elevator it ran normally but if the children were present the elevator always made an unexplained stop at the 14th floor.
The 14th floor, which is really the 13th
One night a couple entered the elevator on the lobby of the hotel. They pressed the number for their appropriate floor and found themselves in a tight embrace.

They were so otherwise preoccupied that they didn’t realize the elevator had stopped on the wrong floor, the 14th floor. The door pinged open, and the couple stepped out, eager to head back to their hotel suite. But the moment that the elevator door closed behind them, the surrounding air grew cold, the skin on their arms prickling as an inkling of awareness edged out the passion. Holding hands, they slowly made their way down the hallway; with each foot planted on the ground, the already cool air grew that much colder and a chill shuddered down their spines. They rounded the bend in the corridor, and nearly released a scream at the ghostly scene before them.
Although the couple hightailed it back to the elevator with record speed, what they saw was imprinted in their memory. Apparitions of children playing in the middle of the hall; children not wearing present-day clothing, but clothing of a bygone era. Of child-like giggles. Then, one by one, each child’s apparition stopped to stare at the couple, before vanishing from sight.
Other ghosts
Other ghosts have been spotted as well. A phantom child reaches for visitor’s hands and some hear the unexplained sound of jazz singers in the lobby. A ghostly clockmaker’s face sometimes appears in a grandfather clock. Today the Hotel Monteleone still thrives as a popular and elegant place for visitors to stay in New Orleans. The ghosts make it unique.
Downstairs in the lobby, the restaurant door was always reported by guests and employees alike of opening and shutting on its own volition. The moving door was on account of two ghosts of previous employees, one who had been a chef and the other who had been a buss-boy or waiter. Apparently, one of the spirits prefers to have the door open, which results in an ongoing, paranormal feud of door open/door shut politics.
The hotel today

Whether you come to stay the night at the Hotel Monteleone because of its ghosts and hauntings or because it is such a part of New Orleans’ history, and one of the only surviving family-owned hotels in the country, there is no doubt that the Hotel Monteleone offers some of the best hotel experiences in the French Quarter.
Hmmm . . . I’d like to stay there, would you?