The New Orleans Marriott has completed a full renovation of all 1,333 guest rooms and suites at its 555 Canal Street address, the property's most extensive physical transformation in recent memory. The project also includes a fully redesigned M Club lounge and targeted upgrades across five on-site food and beverage outlets, with the finished product aimed squarely at the convention and group travel segment that defines much of the hotel's business.
Room Changes That Matter
The guest room upgrades go beyond cosmetic refreshes and introduce meaningful layout shifts with direct implications for group and family travelers. Double/Double configurations have been converted to Queen/Queen accommodations, and King room chaise lounges now convert to full-size beds — a practical change for families and small groups sharing space. Most rooms gained walk-in showers, marble vanities, illuminated mirrors, and space-saving sliding barn doors on bathrooms. In suites, chaise lounges in Crescent City and Tower units similarly convert to double beds, and five new Queen/Queen Crescent City suites have been added to widen group booking options. Signature suites — including the Presidential, Mayor's, Governor's, and two-bedroom General Manager's Suite — received expanded residential-style amenities and entertaining-focused living areas.
"This comprehensive renovation represents a significant investment in the guest experience and reinforces our commitment to serving both leisure and group travelers with modern accommodations, enhanced amenities, and the hospitality for which New Orleans is known," said Frank Zumbo, General Manager of the New Orleans Marriott.
F&B and Lounge Highlights
For operators tracking restaurant and bar programming within full-service hotels, the New Orleans Marriott's five on-site outlets are central to the property's value proposition. The lineup includes 5Fifty5 Restaurant, positioned around authentic New Orleans cuisine; Canal Street Burger Bar; 55 Fahrenheit, a handcrafted cocktail bar; Canal Street Pantry, offering pastries, sandwiches, salads, and housemade pizza; and Canal Street Pantry Café, serving Starbucks coffee. The redesigned M Club — reserved for Marriott Bonvoy Elite members and qualifying guests — adds a further beverage and lounge touchpoint, featuring a neutral palette with teal accents, flexible seating, and a glass-orb chandelier with gold accents. That lounge tier is increasingly a battleground for loyalty program differentiation across major hospitality brands competing for convention business.
The hotel's meeting infrastructure — more than 86,000 square feet of flexible event space, including venues on the 41st floor overlooking the Mississippi River — keeps it in contention as one of the larger convention hotels in the Gulf South. Its location places it within walking distance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and Caesars Superdome, two of the region's biggest group-demand generators.
To mark the renovation's completion, the property launched several rate packages, including a bourbon-themed escape that bundles a four-barrel tasting, a 15% discount to an immersive class at The Sazerac House, late checkout, and M Club access — a signal that experiential F&B programming is being woven directly into room packages, not treated as a separate upsell.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
