Pontchartrain Hotel

The Pontchartrain Hotel is a historic hotel building on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. (History, 2006) Named after Count de Pontchartrain of the court of Louis XVI, the Pontchartrain Hotel commenced operations in March, 1927. The grade elevation of the hotel was four feet above mean sea level as of the year 1990 according to a survey by Earth Metrics, while the elevation of the Mississippi River stood at 14 feet above mean sea level. (Hogan, 1990) An earlier hotel was in operation as early as 1825 as reported by Bernard; this predecessor structure was described as "behind the old fort". (Bernhard, 1828) Noted guests of the Hotel Ponchartrain include Tennessee Williams, (Staggs, 2005) Jose Ferrer, Rita Hayworth (Frommer, 2007) and George H. Bush. Williams worked on his classic play "Streetcar Named Desire" while staying at the Pontchartrain Hotel. (Staggs, 2005)

The hotel has also had restaurants, producing such notable original dishes as "mile high pie". Pianists with long time gigs at the hotel have included Tuts Washington and Philip Melancon. Despite some damage from Hurricane Katrina, the hotel reopened afterwards. There was more damage from looting and vandalism than from weather related factors. (Frommer, 2007)

The 80 year old hotel building closed for extensive renovations in July 2007, expected to take about a year. However in July 2008, it was reported that the building would be converted into a residence for retirees. [ cite news | last = LaRose | first = Greg
title = Pontchartrain Hotel being converted into senior apartments
publisher = New Orleans City Business | date = July 8, 2008
url = http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/UpToTheMinute.cfm?recID=18428
accessdate = 2008-07-17 ] [ cite news | last = Moran | first = Kate
title = The Ponchartrain Hotel to return to its roots
publisher = The Times-Picayune | date = July 16, 2008
url = http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/07/the_ponchartrain_hotel_to_retu.html
accessdate = 2008-07-11 ]

Notes

ee also

* Garden District, New Orleans

Reference notes

* [http://www.pontchartrainhotel.com/history.html History of the Pontchartrain Hotel, New Orleans, La.(2006)]
* Hogan, C. Michael and Marc Papineau, Earth Metrics Incorporated, "Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for the Pontchartrain Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana", Report Number 10456, March 19, 1990
* Bernhard, "Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826", p 53, G. & C. Carvill, New York (1828)
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=Vbs2JeSNOUEC&pg=PA13&dq=%22Ponchartrain+hotel%22&ei=l8LZRtL1CqHApgKCq92SCw&sig=jSgGJCtZdqFz8jV3KpuIX_k8K5o Staggs, Sam, "When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire", p 13, St Martins Press, New York, (2005)]
* Frommer, "New Orleans Travel Guide" (2007)