It seems strange to me that there has never been a condo-hotel in New Orleans but New Orleans developers Angelo Farrell and Lee Laporte have announced plans for the Louisiana's first condominium hotel. They plan to restore the Cosmopolitan Hotel in the French Quarter, turning it into the Royal Cosmopolitan. They plan to restore the original interior and facade of the Cosmopolitan and then add on a 26 floor tower which will be set back from Royal Street in order not to blight the architectural integrity of the French Quarter streetscape. There will be 107 condominium suites and the 24 guest rooms in the hotel and it will now have a rooftop Infinity swimming pool, a lounge and restaurant on the 26th floor with panoramic views of the city and a signature restaurant and bar on the lobby level. Condos will range in price from $349,000 for a studio suite to $875,000 for a penthouse suite. Construction is expected to begin in 2008 and it is scheduled to open for business in the fall of 2009.

Need a French Quarter escape? Soniat House, an elegant New Orleans hotel is offering a $1,000 getaway package that includes a three-night stay in a premier room, breakfast each day, dinner for two at Gautreau's restaurant and champagne on arrival. The grand lady of a hotel is comprised of three townhouses built in the 1830s and is filled with antiques. Each room has its own distinctive style and the boutique hotel has received all sorts of accolades from travel magazines for providing the quintessential New Orleans experience.

A charming hotel in Louisiana which closed in 2004 will soon be restored to its former glory. The historic Hotel Bentley in Alexandria, Louisiana is being bought by Centreniks Hospitality Group LLC, which plans to spend $14 million to buy and restore the Louisiana landmark. The hotel has a long history and once played host to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for an extended stay during military training. The four-star hotel, which was built in 1908, will have a formal reopening in August but may have a soft open in the spring. The eight-story hotel has a balconied lobby, crystal chandeliers and antiques. The once-bustling small town had fallen on hard times and is now in the process of revitalization.

The Bocage Plantation in Louisiana was one of the first major plantation homes we covered on Luxist way back in January of 2005. Now the antebellum home, which is located along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is back on the market for the same $5.5 million list price. The property had been taken off the market for a while but they are now pitching the home to buyers from Baton Rouge or New Orleans. The home and the 110 acres surrounding it will be sold as one package which could be turned into a small development. The home has quite a history it was built in 1801 by Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier, a successful planter, as a wedding present for his 14 year old daughter, Francoise and her husband Christoph Colomb, a French relative of Christopher Columbus. You can check out the gorgeous interior at the Bocage website.

[via Greater Baton Rouge Business Report]

It's been less than a year since a series of hurricanes devastated the South. Now, we are seeing the second major announcement of a casino in less than two weeks.  Trump is headed to Mississippi and Pinnacle Entertainment, which we have written about before regarding their plans for the St. Louis waterfront, will build a new $350 million casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The new resort will replace the Harrah's Lake Charles which was destroyed during Hurricane Rita and is located adjacent to  L'Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino. The new project, Sugarcane Bay will have a Caribbean theme. L'Auberge and Sugarcane Bay will be connected and the new project will have a riverboat casino with a poker room. Construction will begin in  2007 with plans for a 2009 opening. You can watch video coverage of the announcement here.