New Orleans is naturally a great fall and winter destination – the beautiful weather and mild climate create the perfect setting for dining and listening to live music outdoors, delicious seasonal dishes like gumbo and oysters are at the top of menus and the city celebrates the holidays like nowhere else. Hotels, attractions, restaurants and retailers are safely welcoming travelers and offering great value when booking accommodations, dining deals with COOLinary Encore and Reveillon Dinners for the holidays, and discounted attractions.  

And despite the impacts the travel and tourism industry has faced this year, there are new hotels, restaurants and attractions opening in New Orleans including the first hotel to open in the French Quarter in 50 years. 

Fall in Love with the Culture 
The only in New Orleans experiences at attractions like the Steamboat Natchez, National WWII Museum, and Sazerac House cocktail experience and more are open safely and ready to welcome guests.  

  • Hotels throughout the city are providing discounts and deals for visitors, with value adds like breakfast, parking and cocktails. A full list of deals can be found here.
  • In the fall New Orleans restaurants feature signature seasonal dishes but this year they are also featuring COOLinary Encore, an extension of the annual summer promotion until November 22. These special menus available in more than 60 restaurants feature a 2-course prix fixe lunches for $22 or less and 3-course prix fixe dinners and brunches priced at $40 or less. 
  • For more visit our Ultimate New Orleans Fall Travel Guide. 

Holidays New Orleans Style 
The holidays are a magical time in New Orleans and throughout December visitors to dine out, shop and experience festive celebrations and attractions.  

  • Hotels are offering Papa Noel Rates and restaurants will feature Réveillon Dinners, a Creole dining tradition for the holidays that dates to the mid-1800s that our restaurants now celebrate with multi-course prix fixe dinner menus.  
  • Local retailers along Magazine Street, throughout the French Quarter and all around the city offer unique gift ideas and holiday lights will twinkle from the Mississippi River to City Park, where the famous oaks are swathed in over a million twinkling lights and breathtaking light displays for the annual Celebration in Oaks.  
  • For more visit holiday.neworleans.com  

What’s New in New Orleans 
Despite the challenges of Covid-19, new hotels, attractions and restaurants have opened in the past few months, with more to come before the end of the year. 

Hotels 

  • The French Quarter is welcoming its first new hotel in 50 years this December with the opening of the One11 Hotel. A former sugar warehouse, the 83-room property is located adjacent to the luxury shopping of Canal Place and provides expansive views of the Mississippi River from its rooftop bar. Batture Bistro + Bar opens in mid-November, providing Creole-influenced small plates for anyone looking to relax on their porch or alongside the pool. 
  • The Chloe opened on tree-lined St. Charles Avenue in early October. The 14-room boutique hotel is renovated a historic mansion developed by local hospitality group, LeBlanc + Smith and features a great restaurant and intimate spaces to enjoy a drink at the bar, salon, pool or on the front porch with the streetcar passing by.  

Attractions 

  • JAMNOLA, New Orleans’ first experiential pop-up opened Aug 1st and is 5,400 square feet of Joy-Art-Music. With art curated by Where Y’Art, a New Orleans-based artist collective, 20 local artists have crafter unexpected, interactive exhibits in a love letter to New Orleans’ cultural gems.  
  • The ARTmazing Gallery is a larger-than-life pop art exhibition and events space occupying 6,000 square feet of space in the midst of the French Quarter. The gallery houses thirteen Instagrammable rooms filled with the wildest experiences and guests are invited to paint on canvases which will be auctioned off and proceeds will be donated to help local charities. 

Restaurants 

  • BRG Hospitality has opened Cho Thai in partnership with Jimmy Cho from long-time local favorite Banana Blossom. Mixing classic Thai dishes with homestyle and street food standards, this is the latest concept from the restaurant group that includes August, Shaya, and Willa Jean.
  • Val’s, the newest project from the acclaimed bar and restaurant group CureCo, opened down the street from their flagship bar, Cure. Featuring a Latin American menu, the space was developed in a vintage service station and was designed with outdoor seating in mind. 

For more on upcoming developments, visit https://www.neworleans.com/developingnola/  

Safely Enjoying New Orleans 
The City is currently in Phase 3 which means that restaurants and attractions are open at 75% and bars are open at limited capacity, mainly offering outdoor seating and to go drinks. Live music is limited but as always New Orleans business owners and musicians have gotten creative with outdoor shows and expanded outdoor seating for dining with our nice fall weather. Our community and the hospitality industry are taking the situation very seriously and striving to make New Orleans as safe as possible for all, especially our guests. We have instituted a NOLA Hospitality Safe Program through which hotels, restaurants, musicians, and others have taken a pledge to follow COVID-19 reopening guidelines and guests are asked to do the same.  

New Orleans & Company is a nationally accredited, 1,100-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. New Orleans & Company and its members and partners influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding, visitor services and local advocacy initiatives at our New Orleans headquarters. Consistently recognized as one of the top five destination marketing organizations in the country, New Orleans & Company celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2020. For more information, please visit NewOrleans.com/about. 

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