High Life at the Higgins

A day spent amongst the immersive exhibits of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans’ Arts and Warehouse District can be a draining experience, heavy with the weight of battle at one moment and enlightened by tales of valor in the next. With more than 800,000 visits in a year, and with all the sights and sounds of contemporary New Orleans waiting just outside the doors, the museum campus had long lacked a place of repose where guests and galavanters could rest or rally at their leisure. Now, with the recent opening of the new Higgins Hotel & Conference Center on Magazine, such possibilities await—quite literally—around the corner. 

Named for Andrew Jackson Higgins, the founder of New Orleans-based Higgins Industries which oversaw the production of more than 20,000 “Higgins boats” used in every major amphibious battle of World War II, the hotel and its 230 guest rooms abut some of the best views the city has to offer, the whole venue swathed in 1940s Art Deco swag most evident in the building’s architecture and brilliant front lobby. Each room—whether a simple queen bed for a weekend away or a gleaming guest suite whose bathtub overlooks the city below—touts vintage glamour from photographs selected from the museum’s collection, but with a touch of tenderness courtesy of members of the public. In exchange for museum donations, patrons have been invited to name each room in memory of WWII veterans, Home Front workers, Holocaust victims or survivors, Blue/Gold Star Families, or any other individuals connected to World War II. The prominent tributes will be placed inside the rooms with a photo and a short narrative about the honoree’s service, along with a special plaque on the exterior of the doors. These will be seen by visitors from all over the world, with proceeds to benefit the Museum’s educational mission.

[Read this: The National WWII Museum—How the story of one day, 75 years ago, grew to encompass all of World War II]

Fan-favorite restaurants Pêche and La Boca sit only a coin’s toss away, as do the dozens of galleries that populate the Arts District, alongside institutions like the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Arts Center, but the Higgins Hotel also anchors culinary and style landscapes of its own, hosting four eateries that range from casual take-out at Provisions (serving Louisiana’s own Community Coffee) to fine dining at Café Normandie. Rosie’s on the Roof, the Rosie the Riveter-themed bar looking out over Magazine, maintains a particularly hipster edge, where guests can snap photos against the Superdome skyline while drinking to décor that celebrates women’s wartime contributions on the American Home Front. Listen closely—you might even hear the ghost-notes of General George S. Patton’s piano coming from its home in the downstairs lounge.