Hotel Monteleone

Hotel Monteleone has occupied a place in New Orleans hospitality since 1886, growing from a small Royal Street hotel into one of the French Quarter's most recognizable landmarks.

Antonio Monteleone, a Sicilian immigrant who established himself in New Orleans as a cobbler and businessman, purchased the Hotel Victor at Royal and Iberville streets in 1886. He expanded the three-story property to five stories in 1896 and renamed it the Commercial Hotel.

A much larger transformation began in 1908. The expansion added an ornamental Beaux-Arts facade, 220 guest rooms, electric lighting, telephones, and private bathrooms in many rooms, with the main building and lobby designed by Wogen & Toledano.

The renovated property became the Hotel Monteleone in 1909. The ornate grandfather clock still displayed in the lobby also dates to this period and was carved by sculptor Antonio Puccio in the hotel's cabinet shop.

The hotel continued growing under later generations of the Monteleone family. Major additions during the 1920s and 1950s expanded its footprint and room count, while the rooftop gained new facilities in the 1960s.

The Carousel Bar arrived in 1949 and remains the hotel's signature public space. The circular bar rotates around a stationary center, completing a revolution approximately every 15 minutes.

Hotel Monteleone also developed unusually strong literary associations. Writers connected with the hotel include Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Ernest Hemingway, Anne Rice, and Truman Capote, and the hotel created Literary Author Suites honoring several of those names.

In 1999, Hotel Monteleone was designated a National Literary Landmark. The property remains family-owned and marked its 140th anniversary in 2026.

Hotel Monteleone openly acknowledges its haunted reputation, but its ghost stories should be understood as paranormal reports and hotel lore rather than proof of supernatural activity.

The hotel describes generations of stories involving doors that appear to open without explanation, elevators stopping at unintended floors, and shadows resembling children. Its best-known legend centers on a young boy named Maurice Begere.

According to the account preserved by Hotel Monteleone and Historic Hotels of America, Maurice stayed at the hotel with his parents in the late 19th century. While his parents were attending the French Opera House and Maurice remained with a nurse, the child became ill with a fever and died.

The story continues that his grieving parents returned to the hotel hoping to encounter him. According to legend, Maurice eventually appeared to his mother and reassured her, and later guests have reported seeing a young boy associated with him on the 14th floor.

These later encounters are reports, not independently established events. The details of Maurice's supposed apparition belong to the hotel's paranormal tradition and should not be treated as documented evidence that his spirit remains at the property.

Hotel Monteleone's modern haunted reputation was reinforced in March 2003 when the International Society of Paranormal Research spent several days investigating the property. The hotel says the investigators believed they made contact with more than a dozen entities, including former employees and Maurice.

That investigation is part of the property's paranormal history, but its conclusions remain paranormal claims rather than scientific confirmation.

The 14th Floor

The 14th floor is the location most consistently associated with Hotel Monteleone's paranormal reputation. Historic Hotels of America places the Maurice Begere legend on this floor and records later reports from guests who believed they encountered the child there.

The hotel's own history also says guests continue to report seeing Maurice near the room associated with his death. Because available authoritative sources do not consistently establish a specific room number, travelers should be cautious about online claims identifying one particular room as the definitive haunted room.

For travelers specifically booking Hotel Monteleone because of its ghost stories, the 14th floor is the most historically established location within the hotel's paranormal tradition.

The Elevators

Unexplained elevator behavior is another recurring part of Hotel Monteleone lore. The hotel itself describes elevators that appear to insist on stopping at the wrong floor.

Stories connecting those stops specifically with ghosts remain anecdotal. Still, the elevator reports have become one of the property's most recognizable paranormal motifs because they frequently intersect with stories about the 14th floor.

Hallways Near the 14th Floor

Reports involving children or childlike shadows are often associated with the hotel's corridors. Historic Hotels of America records accounts of guests believing they saw Maurice on the 14th floor, while Hotel Monteleone refers more broadly to playful shadows of children.

Travelers should treat these as reported experiences rather than promises of activity. There is no guarantee that staying on any particular floor will produce a paranormal encounter.

Hotel Monteleone is first and foremost an upscale historic French Quarter hotel, not a paranormal attraction. Travelers should expect conventional hotel service and amenities alongside the property's history and ghost lore.

Current amenities include:

• Carousel Bar & Lounge
• Criollo Restaurant
• Rooftop pool
• Spa Aria
• 24-hour fitness center
• Concierge service
• Valet parking
• Pet-friendly accommodations
• Business and meeting facilities

The location is one of the property's strongest practical advantages. Royal Street puts guests inside the French Quarter and within walking distance of restaurants, galleries, bars, historic sites, and many of the neighborhood's best-known attractions.

The tradeoff is that this is an active urban neighborhood. Travelers who are highly sensitive to noise should consider requesting a quieter room location rather than assuming every room in a historic French Quarter hotel will be silent.

The Carousel Bar is also a destination in its own right and can become busy. Staying at Hotel Monteleone does not necessarily mean a seat at the rotating bar will be immediately available during popular periods.

Hotel Monteleone's Royal Street address makes it an especially convenient base for exploring the historic French Quarter on foot.

Bourbon Street is nearby, while Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the Mississippi riverfront, French Market, and numerous historic buildings are accessible within the surrounding French Quarter.

Travelers interested in New Orleans history can also use the hotel as a base for museums, historic houses, cemetery tours, architecture walks, and guided French Quarter tours. Many ghost tours operate in the neighborhood as well, although individual routes and operators change over time.

Royal Street itself offers a different atmosphere from nearby Bourbon Street, with galleries, antiques, architecture, shops, and restaurants contributing to the immediate streetscape.

The central location makes a short stay practical. Two nights gives most travelers enough time to experience the hotel itself while also exploring a substantial portion of the French Quarter without relying heavily on a car.

Hotel Monteleone is a particularly strong choice for travelers who want their haunted-hotel experience to come with significant documented history and full-service accommodations.

It is best suited to:

• Travelers interested in historic hotels
• Couples planning a French Quarter stay
• Literary-history travelers
• Visitors curious about paranormal reports without wanting a horror-themed property
• First-time New Orleans visitors prioritizing a walkable location
• Travelers who value an on-site restaurant, bar, spa, and rooftop pool

Dedicated paranormal travelers may be drawn to the 14th-floor stories, but Hotel Monteleone does not operate like a ghost-hunting attraction. The appeal is the combination of history, hospitality, location, and reported hauntings.

Travelers seeking a quiet retreat far from nightlife may prefer another New Orleans neighborhood. The French Quarter location is a major advantage for sightseeing, but it also places guests close to one of the city's busiest visitor districts.

Hotel Monteleone is worth considering even if you never experience anything paranormal. Its combination of French Quarter location, family ownership, architectural history, literary associations, Carousel Bar, and full-service amenities gives the property an identity independent of its ghost stories.

For haunted-travel readers, that distinction matters. You are booking a historic New Orleans hotel that happens to have a long paranormal reputation, rather than paying primarily for a staged haunted experience.

The strongest reason to choose it over a less expensive French Quarter hotel is the property itself. Guests can spend time at the Carousel Bar, rooftop pool, restaurant, and historic public spaces without treating the room as merely a place to sleep.

The main consideration is price. Rates vary widely with demand and New Orleans' event calendar, so compare your exact dates before deciding whether the historical setting and hotel amenities justify the premium.