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The Name Says it All – RITZ

By Kim Wright Wiley

Few have mastered the art of decadence as well as the French, and nowhere in this country is the French influence felt more strongly than in steamy New Orleans. The AAA Five-Diamond Ritz-Carlton New Orleans is a lush and evocative locale for your next meeting.

The entire second level of the hotel is allocated as meeting space, a 20,000-square-foot area that includes one boardroom, two ballrooms and 12 meeting rooms. Meeting space in the two-year-old hotel offers high-tech facilities but is decorated in pure New Orleans style, with gold and jewel tones, crystal chandeliers and European floral carpets.

Catering and conference services begin to work with event planners the minute the contract is signed. The average-size group requires 100 to 150 rooms, but the hotel has had 350-room events. Although the hotel offers several party themes, most planners can’t resist the Old World Mardi Gras balls and jazz nights. “In New Orleans the food is a rich part of the culture,” says Scott Berglund, director of catering and conference services, “and of course jazz and Zydeco music are also a big aspect of that experience.”

For a high-level group, the Ritz is prepared to pull out all the stops. Warren Vickers with Pinnacle Golf Events took 53 incentive contest winners to New Orleans during the Final Four tournament. “Our initial concern was that the destination might not be upscale enough,” says Vickers. “The client was spending five figures per person on the trip, and this was a group that had been everywhere and was hard to impress. The pressure was on to come up with something unique.”

Vickers was pleased with the food, the accommodations and the personalized attention the Ritz-Carlton offered his finicky clients, but the piece de la resistance came in the form of a local tradition called a “Second Line.” Following a reception in a gallery of shops, attendees were ushered into a parade that included a marching band and drill team, Mardi Gras-style revelers, floats and a police escort. The group was marched in high-spirited style all the way down Canal Street, stopping traffic as they progressed, and the parade ended in a hospitality suite on Bourbon Street. “It’s hard to get a ‘wow’ out of these people,” Vickers laughs, “but my spoiled guests were completely blown away. They’d never seen anything quite like it.”

Because of the hotel’s proximity to the French Quarter, world-class restaurants and a wide variety of entertainment are mere steps away. Attendees can sign up for a Creole cooking class, visit a string of jazz clubs, or take an after-dark voodoo tour. There are also plenty of ways to indulge yourself at the Ritz-Carlton itself, such as dinner at Victor’s, the only AAA 5-Diamond restaurant in the city, or an afternoon in the opulent 20,000-square-foot spa.

Ah…the spa. If you’ve ever wondered how Marie Antoinette kept her looks or Napoleon stayed battle-ready, the spa can answer your questions with Southern-influenced, French-themed, absolutely over-the-top treatments such as a Multi-Colored Masquerade Facial or an Essence of Magnolia massage. Marie’s massages were administered by teams of eunuchs who were sent to her by a sultan who was smitten by the queen – a level of decadence that’s a bit hard to match in modern times. But if you sign up for a Four Hand Royal Massage, a modern equivalent in which two therapists work on your body in perfect tandem, we promise you’ll temporarily lose your own head.

For more information, call 504/524-1331or 1-800-241-3333, or visit www.ritzcarlton.com.