Naturally, a city that’s "Built to Host" would have two international events and multiple fams ongoing simultaneously, executed without a hitch.
I visited New Orleans May 25-29 courtesy of New Orleans & Company—the DMO championed its “Built to Host” mantra as it hosted a trade media group for two headline events: North America’s 50 Best Restaurants and Sail250.
If I’m painting this picture properly, you can imagine the DMO took the literal meaning of hosting to a whole new level. Throughout the week, I met many members of the DMO staff, all on brand with pins firmly attached to blazers, scarves, purses, T-shirts and more.
They proudly represented New Orleans from head to toe, emphasizing the significance of welcoming 454,000 visitors to the French Quarter across a four-day period. And the DMO’s guests were able to experience firsthand how New Orleans shines for large events on the world stage.
But before I experienced world-renowned events in New Orleans, I immersed myself in the iconic city for the very first time.
Maddie’s Mini Fam
New Orleans’ ”Built to Host” mentality echoed throughout the city, beginning with my arrival experience and carrying over into the host hotel, Kimpton Hotel Fontenot. The staff regularly checked in with me throughout my stay, ensuring my accommodations were extraordinary.
During my first full day, I tried beignets for the very first time at Cafe Beignet, checked out the French Quarter and St. Louis Cathedral, and took a morning stroll around Jackson Square.
Then I was off to Magazine Street, where we kicked off a walking tour of the Garden District.
New Orleans’ Garden District was previously a wealthy, Protestant, Antebellum neighborhood, in contrast to the Catholic, Creole society that dominated the older French Quarter north of Canal Street. The neighborhood became known as the Garden District because its larger lots created space for extra landscaping such as live oak, jasmine and magnolia trees, and Honeysuckle plants.
The Greek Revival and Italianate homes with iron lattice work have housed celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Coolidge and Nicholas Cage.
As I tried to collect “print worthy” photos of the Garden District homes, their architecture just didn’t shine through the lush greenery, and I realized that was the whole point. The historic homes were lavish, but the sprawling blocks of greenery gave them a degree of privacy.
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After my tour, I spent some time exploring the shops along Magazine Street. One thing I try to take home from all my trips is a print of some sort, which led me to Mystic Blue Signs. The store’s blue sign read “art, illustration, design.”
At the register, I got to talking with the store owner, Eve Rutledge. Rutledge told me she liked to think of New Orleans as “a celebration city, not a party city.”
That’s indeed what brought me to the Crescent City; the Sestercentennial fete and a celebration honoring culinary professionals from across the country.
My evening closed with a cultural celebration; in fact, it was a celebration of culture so rich that president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, Walt Leger III, said the experience couldn’t be replicated anywhere else.
“Preservation Hall is a really truly spiritual experience,” he said. “It is a deeply intimate historic setting for music that I think is mind blowing.”
So, there I sat, front row at Preservation Hall, a live music institution that originated in 1961. The venue was just as Leger described: intimate and historic. Phones were not allowed during the show to maintain the authenticity of the venue’s original performances—in 1961; no one was worried about collecting video footage for their Instagram stories!
During the set, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band led the room in a chorus of “Amens” during “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.” As a Gen Z employed to do social media, this was surely an Instagrammable moment if ever there was one.
The current band leader has been with the house band for 10 years, which doesn’t hold a candle to the pianist’s longevity, who has owned the bench for 61 years, dating back to when he was an understudy for Sweet Emma Barrett, a member of the original touring band.
One-of-a-Kind, World-Class Museums
The next day I toured two museums: Mardi Gras World and the National WWII Museum.
Mardi Gras World is one of 14 Kern Studios warehouses across the city. The fully operating warehouse creates 400 parade floats in-house each year. Kern Studios was also one of the first external organizations to make props for Disney.
My tour guide, Lee Curran, led me through the warehouse’s 250,000-square-foot float den which featured more than 4,000 props from not only Mardi Gras, bult also relics from the Superbowl and a gold throne that had to be enlarged for a special guest: Shaquille O'Neal.
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Curran said 70% of the props in-house are renewed and repurposed. Groups can also take advantage of Mardi Gras World’s event spaces and teambuilding opportunities including mask making and float decorating.
More group offerings at Mardi Gras World include 230,000 square feet of space across nine meeting and event rooms. The Float Den is the venue’s largest space, for up to 4,000, but other spaces include a ballroom, outdoor plaza and the Grand Oaks Mansion, which reflects an outdoor New Orleans estate indoors.
Mardi Gras World is home to artists working year-round on floats and props for the epic parade, and its creative capabilities can also help enhance event design.
The venue’s tagline reads, “If you can dream it, we’ve probably built it.”
Next, I visited the National WWII museum, and the special exhibit—Come Back Fighting: USS New Orleans at War—couldn't have been more pertinent.
“The reason we have the National WWII Museum is because Andrew Higgins innovated some vessels here that helped us to win the war in Normandy,” Leger said.
I learned about the more than 430,000 miles the ship logged in 17 major combat campaigns, enduring nearly the whole war from start to finish. Then, thanks to Sail250 and the Port of New Orleans, I was able to step foot on the USS Farragut.
Sail250
New Orleans’ top three revenue-generating industries are tourism, cinema and the city’s ports; Sail250 married two of these by inviting visitors to the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world.
As part of this Sestercentennial celebration, I was able to tour a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Farragut, a 510-foot battleship weighing in at more than 8,000 tons.
Of the 350 crew members that work on the ship, we were able to chat with a few during our tour. One of which said he had traveled many seas to different locations across the globe including Algeria, Spain, Cuba, Greece, to list but a few.
I also had the opportunity to speak with another crew member, Chase Flato, electromagnetic warfare officer. Being aboard the ship is everyday life for Flato, but a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, so I couldn’t help but ask him about the significance of being part of the celebration.
Flato said the biggest benefit is awareness, sharing that his involvement in Sail250 was important in furthering motivation to join the Navy, since it’s the first line of defense.
The first line of defense made its mark in New Orleans as the first of five port stops for Sail250. From the South, the maritime celebration will travel to the Northeast, visiting Norfolk, Virginia; Baltimore and New York City, and wrapping in Boston July 11-16.
For his part, Leger emphasized the importance of the Mississippi River in the building of both New Orleans and the U.S.
“The Mississippi River is the most important waterway in North America,” Leger said. “It is the reason why the city of New Orleans was founded in many ways.
“It opened up the United States to major expansion,” he continued. “It allowed us to become a major military power. It connects us to 31 different United States and two Canadian Provinces. By tonnage, it’s a larger port than any of the other four represented in the Sail250 celebration.
“We’re honored to kick it off, but we feel like it’s appropriate that it kicks off here,” he summed up.
[Related: New Orleans Is Using the Super Bowl as a Springboard to Meetings Success]
North America’s 50 Best Restaurants
North America’s 50 Best Restaurants’ award ceremony and red-carpet experience was hosted at the Sheraton New Orleans. The reception featured activations courtesy of New Orleans & Company that included tarot cards, curated typewriter poems and palm readings.
I got my palm read and learned my longevity line is indeed long, running across my whole right hand from the top right corner to the wrist bone. The palmist also noticed my empathy and creativity.
The reception space was surrounded by different food and drink stations, including jamón from Cinco Jotas, dry-aged salmon handrolls from Ōra King and mandarin braised short rib with a steamed bao buns from Lee Kum Kee. I was also excited to see that this event’s “bottle service” was small glass bottles of Sanpellegrino and Acqua Panna.
During the award ceremony held in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom, New Orleans restaurants took three spots on the Top 50 List: Acamaya, a new entry, came in at No. 30; local dining institution Emeril’s was No. 20, with Emeril Lagasse awarded the SevenRooms Icon Award 2026. Topping the charts for New Orleans, Senegalese standout Dakar NOLA came in at No. 4.
The evening closed with the 50 Best After Party and take-home bags of jambalaya mix thanks to New Orleans and Company.
“These events reflect the diversity, scale and operational excellence New Orleans delivers for meetings, conventions and global gatherings of every kind,” Leger and Stephanie Turner, senior vice president of convention sales and strategies, New Orleans & Company, wrote in our welcome card.
NEW Orleans
The Trade Media Experience was my first visit to New Orleans, so while everything in Crescent City was a new experience for me, here’s what’s truly new in New Orleans.
In 2025, New Orleans was recognized as a UNESCO Creative City of Music. The city’s food scene was highlighted in the 2025 Michelin Guide to the American South, and more specifically, Emeril’s earned two Michelin stars, making 23-year-old chef E.J. Lagesse (son of Emeril) the youngest chef to receive two stars. Lagesse also earned the Michelin Young Chef/Culinary Professional Award.
In May, Booking.com ranked New Orleans the No.1 bleisure destination in the U.S. The ranking highlighted the city’s culture, food, walkable downtown and music as an enhancement to attendee engagement and experience.
Hospitality investments can be seen across the city, including $1 billion in hotel renovations and three eagerly anticipated hotel openings.
- Hilton New Orleans Riverside is scheduled to wrap a renovation of the 1,622-room property by the end of the year.
- Marriott New Orleans will complete a renovation to its 1,333 rooms in July.
- JW Marriott New Orleans renovated its 24,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space.
- New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District recently completed a renovation to its 332 guest rooms.
- The 216-room Element by Marriott New Orleans Downtown opened earlier this year. The hotel offers one meeting room for up to 60 guests.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is expected to open in Q3. The hotel will offer 253 guest accommodations, three dining options, a 10,000-square-foot spa and 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
Omni New Orleans Convention Center rendering
New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will break ground on a new HQ hotel this year; the 1,000-room Omni New Orleans Convention Center is expected to open near the end of 2030. The hotel will be located directly across from the convention center’s Hall C.
Another major renovation is in progress at Louis Armstrong International Airport. The airport is on track to conclude a $1 billion renovation by 2031. The new and expanded airport and air service will feature a new entrance roadway, the addition of a new terminal and 15 gates across the West and East concourses.
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is in the midst of $763 million in upgrades to its ballroom, theater, grand foyer entrance, exterior facility and general campus renovations, among other improvements. The renovation, expected to be completed by 2027, will also welcome the installation of local artwork throughout the center.
