Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans

It has been said that "the French Quarter begins in the lobby of the Hotel Monteleone", indeed, with its positioning at the head of Royal Street just a block away from Bourbon Street, the Monteleone stands as a historical landmark in itself. Built in 1886 by a successful Sicilian shoemaker, this striking "Beaux Arts" styled hotel takes pride in its hard earned reputation for excellence which is reflected by its host of awards, the result of four generations of the Monteleone family ownership. With its award winning restaurants, tranquil rooftop pool and famous Carousel Piano Bar - a slow revolving cocktail bar with a wild circus design it is little wonder that the hotel was a regular haunt for American authors such as William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams and Ernest Hemingway who immortalised the hotel in his story "Night before Battle".