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The year was 1928, and a local New Orleans jazz trumpeter named Louis Armstrong croaked what would become a classic blues number: "I went down to St. James Infirmary/Saw my baby there,/Set down on a long white table/So sweet, so cold, so fair . . . "
Now what does that classic blues song have to do with hotels? Legend has it that a previous incarnation of the St. James Hotel - described as "one of the grandest hotels in the Confederate States" -- was the infirmary immortalized in New Orleans' blues history. Another incarnation was a coffee roasting building and the first-floor guest rooms were where the Texas Revolution was plotted. Today, the latest version, which opened in 1999, is one of the city's finest luxury boutique hotels and the international airport is named after that jazz trumpeter.
On a quiet street in the central business district, the four-story St. James sits just two blocks from the historic French Quarter and trendy shops along the Riverwalk, not far from the Superdome, Harrah's Casino, the Morial Convention Center and the 19th-century St. Charles Avenue streetcar.
Complete with rooftop terraces and charming courtyards, the St. James is home to the celebrated French bistro Cuvee, which serves nouveau New Orleans cuisine, from jumbo lump crab cake and shrimp remoulade to rabbit confit and seafood bouillabaisse.
The 86 guest rooms feature elegant "French Quarter style" accentuated by two-post beds and antique-style teak furniture. Modern amenities include wireless Internet access, 25- inch TVs, data ports, coffee makers, safes, movies and video games.
With the convention center less than a half-mile away, the St. James Hotel is a fav of business travelers and conventioneers, but draws vacationers who want a taste of the "real New Orleans."
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