202-Key Former Wyndham Rebrands as Omni Riverfront Hotel

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Omni Riverfront Hotel

The New Orleans hospitality market continues to stay white-hot, as yet another hotel switches between giants’ flags, proving the allure of owning a Big Easy lodging asset.

The hotel, at 701 Convention Center Blvd. and known as the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans only a few days ago, has become the Omni Riverfront Hotel. Omni Hotels & Resorts was contracted by Riverfront Lodging LLC to take over the management contract of the 202-unit luxury asset.

“We are excited about the rebranding of the Riverfront New Orleans as an Omni,” said Joe Jaeger, owner of Riverfront Lodging. “This is our second property to join the Omni family, and we look forward to a longstanding and productive relationship,” he added. According to The Times-Picayune, Jaeger, through Riverfront Lodging, has partial ownership of the rebranded property. He is also in the run for a long-term lease for a vacant site near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where convention center officials envision a hotel-anchored mixed-use project. As previously reported, Jaeger partially or outright owns several New Orleans hotels, including the 93-key historic Whitney Hotel, which he picked up earlier this year for $10.5 million. Financial details of Omni’s contract have not been disclosed.

Omni Royal Crescent Hotel

Omni’s rebranding of the former Wyndham property comes after an $8 million, six-month, full-property renovation. The process included a complete overhaul of guest rooms, which now feature high-end touches such as 42-inch flat-screen TVs. The hotel bar has been flipped 180 degrees, and the hotel restaurant, formerly known as 7 on Fulton, has rebranded as Fulton St. Bistro | Bar. While the hotel has been extensively refreshed, the property’s New Orleans style and vintage past have been preserved. The Warehouse District hotel features a 24-hour fitness center as well as in-room fitness kits, four meeting rooms totaling 3,325 square feet of meeting and event space, with the largest facility clocking in at 1,700 square feet.

Omni Riverfront is the brand’s third New Orleans asset. Other holdings include the Warehouse District’s 97-key boutique Omni Royal Crescent and the French Quarter’s 345-key Omni Royal Orleans.

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Images courtesy of Omni Hotels & Resorts