Two bars, one address, and a courtyard pool in between. The Paradise Lounge handles the daytime spritz crowd; the Chapel Club runs the late Sazeracs.
Hotel Saint Vincent sits at 1507 Magazine Street, on the corner of Race Street in the Lower Garden District. The building dates to 1861 and reopened in 2021 as a 75-room hotel from the team behind Austin's Saint Cecilia, restored with custom mosaic floors and emerald velvet. Per Country Roads Magazine, the property keeps two distinct bars rather than one.
The rooms
The Paradise Lounge is the lobby bar, open to the public, with tall windows, bird of paradise murals, and an outdoor patio that runs onto the pool. UrbanDaddy describes the property as a hotel with two restaurants, multiple bars, and a fine pool, and the lounge is where most non-guests start.
The Chapel Club is the smaller, darker room, black and white marble with a hot pink velvet bar and vintage paintings. It runs guests-first and leans nightcap, with trip hop and acid jazz on the speakers. Reviews on Tripadvisor repeatedly call it the room that stays busy late.
What to order
The Chapel Club pours New Orleans classics done straight, the Sazerac and the Absinthe Frappe among them, per the hotel's own dining page. The Paradise Lounge leans lighter, a spritz list and classic cocktails for the pool and patio hours. San Lorenzo, the coastal Italian restaurant off the lobby, covers dinner if a drink turns into a longer night.
Who it is for
It is for a polished night that does not need the French Quarter. Start at the Paradise Lounge for a spritz in daylight, then move to the Chapel Club for a Sazerac after dinner. Skip it if you came for a loud, late dance floor; this is a hotel-bar register, not a club. It reads as one of the city's stronger date rooms, which is why it lands on our best cocktail bars in New Orleans shortlist.
What regulars say
The repeated notes across reviews stay consistent. Guests on Tripadvisor call the Chapel Club the room that stays full late, and credit the Paradise Lounge and the pool as the daytime draw. PaperCity Magazine framed the hotel as the chicest address on Magazine Street when it opened, and the design, the mosaic floors, the velvet, the murals, is the most-photographed thing about it. The common complaint is the guests-first policy at the Chapel Club, which means the late room is easiest if you have a key. Country Roads Magazine notes the same split, a public lobby bar and a more private club room, as the point of the place rather than a flaw.
The neighbourhood
The Lower Garden District sits upriver from the French Quarter, walkable along Magazine Street's run of shops and kitchens. The hotel anchors a quieter, residential stretch, which is the trade against the Quarter's noise. San Lorenzo handles coastal Italian off the lobby, so the address can carry a full evening without a cab. Drinkers who want the Quarter after can reach it in a short ride, but the draw here is staying put.
Good to know
The Paradise Lounge is the room to aim for if you are not a hotel guest, since the Chapel Club runs guests-first. Both bars sit inside a working hotel, so the pool and patio can be busy with guests on weekends. Parking on Magazine Street is limited, and a short ride from the French Quarter is the easier approach. The address pairs well with a Magazine Street dinner, and San Lorenzo handles that without leaving the building. Drinkers chasing a Sazerac with less of a velvet-rope feel can compare it against Cure a few blocks up the street.
Best time to go
Afternoons by the pool and the hour after dinner are the two windows that work. For the wider city, start with the New Orleans bar guide and our best bars in New Orleans roundup.
Sources: Hotel Saint Vincent official site (2026); Country Roads Magazine; UrbanDaddy; PaperCity Magazine; Tripadvisor reviews.
