NEW ORLEANS-A boutique hotel in the French Quarter has reopenedafter a $7.5 million renovation and name change to reflect itstransformation. The Hotel Le Marais, formerly the St. Anne Hotel,is aiming for a four diamond/four star status, according to MarcBecker, area director of sales and marketing for the New OrleansHotel Collection.

Located one-half block from Bourbon and Royal Streets at 717Conti St., Hotel Le Marais is part of the New Orleans HotelCollection, a group of seven hotels in the New Orleans metropolitanregion owned by local investors. Becker tells GlobeSt.com this isthe first renovation the 66-room hotel has received since it openedin the 1970s.

“The hotel was in dire need of a renovation, and it has beencompletely transformed,” Becker says, pointing out that theinterior was gutted to the studs to make way for the newcontemporary d