If these walls could talk...was never more true than at the Marquee Resort in the Theatre District of New Orleans. The 17 story edifice that looks out over the Crescent City is Bluegreen Vacations’ second resort in the district. The other, La Pension, a smaller boutique hotel with its own ghostly nostalgia, might have walls that talk in spirit, however, the Marquee utilizes technology and history to bring life to the walls of this time share resort.
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Bluegreen Vacations operates a flexible point-based system in which owners enjoy the choice of different vacations from the more than 40 destinations across the US and the Caribbean. Through an alliance with RCI and Choice Hotels, Bluegreen Vacations can offer owners additional opportunities for travel and vacation experiences around the world. The Marquee, itself, offers owners the option to “purchase” from its 90+ 1 or 2 bedroom villas, each with all the comforts of home.
The property features an owner’s lounge, equipped with a kitchenette stocked with beverages, a pool table, a “speakeasy-style” side room, and TV and music options. The rooftop pool, with a depth of 3.5 feet, has a 360 degree view of the Big Easy, and a comfortable, covered lounging area. The fitness room is equipped with all the latest state-of-the-art exercise devices, and augmented reality takes on an all too different meaning.
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The voices from the past begin in the lobby of the Marquee Resort where a 3D metal structure of Story Val (a pun on Storyville, the name of the last “vice district” in New Orleans) seems larger than life, occupying a full wall in the iconic resort lobby, and assuming the role as patron saint of the resort. Story Val appears on marketing merchandise, napkins, Instagram posts, and other trademark augmented reality and video technology around the resort. In fact, the resort is rich with augmented reality and audio/visual displays.
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The experience that started in the lobby with a video loop of resort advertising and clips from black and white cinema from the 20s and 30s continues in the elevator where the honored guests are greeted by images, like a panoramic wallpaper, of a theater audience. The elevator “star” is gazed upon by a standing room only crowd beaming smiles of appreciation as he or she rises within the ranks of the resort.
With each ascending floor, the colors and lighting of the hallways become more bold and dramatic. The consistency is the unique experience once the guest steps out of the elevator of praise. At the end of the short hallway adjacent to the elevators, a portrait in a large frame depicts a young woman from the chest up, partially hidden behind a velvet curtain (her counterpart gazes from an identical frame down the opposite hallway). Upon approaching the portrait, the images come to life with a variety of programmed pantomimes. While one woman brings a coy finger to her lips to denote a clandestine silence, a private moment, the other peeks out from behind the curtain, you and she, an intimate encounter, what the burlesque show audience will never know.
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The suites are roomy, and decorated in the same classic style as the rest of the property, the glamour of chic designs, the black and white mystery of the silver screen. In one corner, a Fender guitar is eager to provide the musical accompaniment to the New Orleans Theater District streets outside the large bay windows. Yet, even if it remains silent, the walls continue to talk through the use of an app one can download which allows the guest to fit within the frame of a cellphone camera the wall-size picture that looms above the headboard in the bedroom. As if a director in a beret and argyle vest were to shout, “Action,” a cinema-esque scene begins on the phone, as the image from the wall comes to life in the theater of your palm.
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On June 29th, The Marquee enjoyed its grand opening in big New Orleans style. A gala was held in which the specially invited guests enjoyed a tour of the property, a cocktail reception with classic New Orleans fare, and live music, from R&B to the Blues, and even personalized tarot card readings by lovely ladies in classy, Burlesque-style attire.
On hand at the gala were execs from the resort, media personnel, and celebs from shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Pretty Little Liars. Sasha Pieterse, who starred as Alison DiLaurentis in ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, helped to keep the party energy high with her beaming smile and magnetic personality. Accompanied by long-time boyfriend and new husband, Hudson Shaeffer, the pair brought a modern spin to the classic celebrity couples of the past whose spirit echoes through the mystique and glitz of the resort’s thoughtfully curated decor.
Sasha Pieterse, star of Pretty Little Liars, with husband Hudson Sheaffer.
If these walls could talk...and as the black and white past meets the techno future...they can.
