After more than five years of planning and 18 months of construction, the Rubenstein Hotel is open for business atop the Rubenstein family’s century-old clothing store at the intersection of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.
The hotel is carved out of the second and third floors of five interconnected buildings that previously housed offices and storage space for Rubensteins. Now, those spaces have been converted into 40 boutique rooms with big picture windows, a contemporary décor and vintage Rubensteins newspaper ads hanging from the walls.
Brothers David and Andre Rubenstein, who continue to run the family retail business, partnered on the project with Joe Jaeger, who will operate the hotel as part of his J Collection of boutique hotels.
The Rubenstein Hotel is open for business atop the Rubenstein familyÕs century-old clothing store at the intersection of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
The Rubenstein Hotel, which opened at the beginning of the year, joins a growing number of boutique hotels around New Orleans aimed at travelers looking for unique properties with local touches. Many, including the 71-room Hotel Peter and Paul in the Bywater and the 75-room Hotel St. Vincent on Magazine Street, are renovations of historic buildings.
Hotel occupancy rates downtown remain well below its pre-COVID levels of around 75%. In 2023, 61.5% of downtown and French Quarter hotel rooms were occupied, up from 60% the year before, according to New Orleans and Co. But David Rubenstein, a tireless advocate of Canal Street, said he believes the numbers are trending in the right direction and that his hotel’s location is a strategic advantage.
Brothers David and Andre Rubenstein are seen at the Rubenstein Hotel in New Orleans on Wednesday, January