As a Travel Journalist, The Chloe Is My Favorite Design Hotel for a Taste of the South

When you think of The Crescent City of New Orleans, you think music, Creole fare, and art. The Chloe captures all of it in a 14-room boutique hotel housed in a restored 19th-century mansion in Uptown. It's just three miles from the French Quarter district, which means you can easily access your music fix.

The menu features Chef Ben Triola’s fresh take on modern Creole cuisine, like the local favorite, smoked chicken and alligator sausage gumbo, and the famous shrimp and grits. When it's time to relax, grab a cocktail and enjoy a dip in the saltwater pool.

If you're seeking out the best hotels and fancy a trip to to the South, see why The Chloe won the honor of Best Design Hotel in the 2026 Men's Journal Travel Awards.

Why The Chloe Is the Best Design Hotel of 2026

In a city that practically oozes with character and charm, The Chloe manages to match that energy with a distinct visual language of its own. It starts with the building itself, originally designed by American architect Thomas Sully in 1891 for a merchant and his family. It’s the building’s bones—tall ceilings, plaster moldings, a tiled front porch—that provided the canvas for the transformative design vision of New Orleans-native Sara Ruffin Costello. Drawing on a storytelling narrative of the city as a port town, Costello turned the space into what feels less like a well-collected home: a lush red carpet with the illustration of an alligator lines the main staircase; and the lobby bar is embellished with coffered ceilings, original wainscoting, and a mahogany parlor built by a local woodworker.

The 14 distinct rooms, by contrast, are meant to feel lighter and brighter, with features such as four poster beds, soaking tubs, printed robes, and record players. Step outside into the backyard and find yet another design facet of the hotel, one that reads distinctly bohemian. A checkered pool deck is lined with sun loungers, palmetto trees, and shaded private cabanas.

The space beckons guests for an afternoon of leisure, bolstered by the al fresco bar serving frozen cocktails. Design lovers will also love an afternoon spent meandering the Uptown neighborhood surrounding The Chloe, renowned for its oak-shaded 19th-century mansions. Recently, The Chloe opened a Nashville location in Hillsboro Village, which also looks to be a design-lover's dream.

Why You Should Trust Me

As a travel journalist with nearly a decade of experience, I’ve stayed at hotels of all kinds, from intimate boutique inns to expansive resorts run by major hotel brands. Along the way, I’ve developed a keen eye for what makes a hotel stand out—and what makes one fall short.