The historic Cotton Exchange Hotel, bought for $17.8 million by Dallas-based NewcrestImage, is being rebranded under the brand AC Hotels by Marriott.

NewcrestImage said that the eight-story hotel will stay open during the six-month, $10 million renovation expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014.

AC Hotels by Marriott operates almost 80 properties in Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. It was launched in 2011 as a joint venture between Marriott International and the Spanish group AC Hotels.

Marriott describes the European brand as focused on design “inspired by the runways and fashion houses of Milan” with “a distinctly urban feel.” In June, the company announced it would bring AC Hotels into the United States.

The Cotton Exchange is one of the first three AC Hotels being developed in the United States, along with properties in Chicago and Miami.

After the repositioning, the Cotton Exchange Hotel will offer 220 rooms, 3,000 square feet of meeting space, a rooftop pool and a lounge serving a full breakfast in the morning and small plates and cocktails later in the day.

NewcrestImage owns and operates 38 hotels.

The building at 221 Carondelet St. was once a bustling center for cotton merchants.  The New Orleans Cotton Exchange was founded in 1871 to standardize trade in the  cash crop business. It first operated out of a few rented rooms and later built its own five-story building at the Carondelet Street site in 1883.   The exchange dissolved in the 1960s as the cotton futures market evaporated, and the building was sold in 1962.

One Response to Cotton Exchange Hotel to Launch under This European Flag

1. Cotton Exchange To Be Rebranded as AC Hotel After $12 Million Renovation | Canal Street Beat says:

   September 19, 2014 at 8:47 AM

   […] we reported back in 2013, the Cotton Exchange will be rebranded as an AC Hotels by Marriott hotel in October, marking the European brand’s entry into the U.S. hotel market.  New Orleans was a […]

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