SBE’s HQ Hotels & Residences to debut The Monarch hotel in New Orleans

Dive Brief:

HQ Hotels & Residences, the “smart lifestyle” brand from Sam Nazarian’s SBE Entertainment Group, is opening The Monarch hotel in New Orleans on April 15, per a Friday news release.
The 34-key boutique hotel is situated in a mid-19th-century, four-story building on St. Charles Avenue and is “positioned to deliver an elevated, high-touch guest experience,” per the release. Developed by Reno, Nevada-based Bates Development, the property will also feature a lounge-style lobby bar called S Bar catering to guests and locals with “craft mixology, shareable light bites, and sbe’s signature vibe.”
The Monarch opening expands the HQ Hotels, formerly Project HQ, brand, which launched in 2024 in partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. The lifestyle concept is aimed at “the tidal wave of consumers coming into the marketplace from the Millennial, Gen Z and Latino audience,” Nazarian said at the 2024 International Hospitality Investment Conference in New York City. HQ Hotels plans to open 50 hotels globally by 2031, according to a 2025 release.

Dive Insight:

The New Orleans hotel builds upon SBE’s goal of bringing an approachable lifestyle hotel experience to consumers who have traditionally been priced out of the market, the company previously said.

Mike Metcalf, president of HQ Hotels, also previously told Hotel Dive that partnering with Wyndham allows the brand to have a wider reach and capitalize on its loyalty program, which has about 122 million members.

Designed by New Orleans-based Terrell Fabacher Architects, the hotel blends Art Deco features with contemporary touches, per the release. Interiors from Lisambiance Interior Design include a mix of artwork and architectural details, “creating a boutique environment where style and substance meet.”

Guest rooms boast 13-foot ceilings, king-size beds and large bathrooms. Some rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, while others include balconies overlooking the historic, oak-tree-lined St. Charles Avenue.

The site played an integral part in the city’s music history and was home to Dixie’s Bar of Music in the 1940s.

SBE, which is also behind the luxury SLS, Mondrian, Katsuya and Hyde brands, announced plans in June 2024 to open HQ Hotels in Montreux, Switzerland, and in Detroit. Both hotels are conversion properties, and 80% of HQ Hotels are projected to be conversions, a spokesperson with SBE previously told Hotel Dive.