A Review of The Elysian Bar
Once upon a time, about two weeks ago, I wrote a review of The Elysian Bar on our other blog. You may not read that one. It is more about the New Orleans State of Mind than it is about La Belle Esplanade. If you want to double your pleasure, you’ll regularly read both. I’m not a big fan of hanging out in hotel bars unless I happen to be staying at that hotel. Since I’m a New Orleans hotelier to begin with, I’m not a big fan of hanging out in New Orleans hotel bars. I live here. While I enjoy talking to the little old lady from Pasadena, when I go out, I really go out to catch up on the news in the city. There are very few locals in hotel bars.
The Elysian Bar is part of the Peter and Paul Hotel in Faubourg Marigny. [The Marigny is a neighborhood in New Orleans.]. Frau Schmitt and I don’t spend a lot of time in the Marigny, ourselves. See what I was saying at the end of the first paragraph. There are nice bars and fine restaurants, but, this is New Orleans—– there are great bars and excellent restaurants everywhere.
The Peter and Paul has been named the best hotel in America recently by a magazine. I think it was Time. Not to digress, but La Belle Esplanade has been ranked the #1 inn in New Orleans since April 2014 on TripAdvisor. The Peter and Paul Hotel has about 70 rooms. La Belle Esplanade has five.
A REVIEW OF THE ELYSIAN BAR.
The Elysian Bar is nice. It’s a cocktail bar. They have a good wine selection. Nothing is rotgut. They have a wine selection that might give you sticker shock if you’re from Nebraska. They have canned beer, and I think they have some beer in bottles. They cocktail menu is extensive and it has a special section for spritzes.
There is a lot of yellow in The Elysian Bar. The building that houses it used to be the rectory of Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church. The parish had been closed since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still missing about a fifth of its pre-Katrina population, and the archbishop opted to sell the church, the rectory, the convent, and the school buildings to a hotel developer. Thus, the Peter and Paul Hotel. They did a respectful secular job of restoring and repurposing the property.
I’ve read a lot of reviews about The Elysian Bar. They have all been good. My review of The Elysian Bar isn’t going to contradict them. I like it there. It’s got its share of swank in a new millennium 21st-century-New-Orleans kinda way. The drinks are good.
There is a lot of yellow in The Elysian Bar:
The bar itself is orange, for whatever reason. The room that shares the bar is bright yellow and the dining room you have to walk through to get to the bar is bright yellow—-really bright yellow. Whoever picked the paint at The Elysian Bar had a fondness for yellow.
Here is what the orange bar looks like:
As I say, the drinks are very good. If you are in the neighborhood, I recommend popping in if it isn’t too busy. The Peter and Paul Hotel has been getting a lot of press recently. I’m sure they’re going to be a full hotel for the foreseeable future.
If you want to stay at a tiny hotel, we only have five suites, think about staying at La Belle Esplanade. We offer an artisanal hospitality experience. As New Orleans goodwill ambassadors, we’re happy to share everything we know about what it is like to live in this wonderful city we call home and we can make personalized recommendations off the usual tourist radar. Visit New Orleans like you belong here. You can go to The Elysian Bar while you’re here but there are plenty of other equally nice or better places, depending on what you are looking for. We know where they are.
If you want to read my full, original review, and the reason why I really, really, really like The Esplanade Bar, click here for our other blog post about it. You won’t regret it.
Check our calendar for availability. Make a reservation early. We only have five suites so we tend to fill up during the busy season.
Saturday, 07 September, 2019: There are no strangers in New Orleans. There are only friends you haven’t yet met. The best New Orleans memories are made on Esplanade Avenue.