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Royal Insider orchestrates gorgeous trips for<br>discerning individual travelers and groups who want to savor the life-enriching experiences of being <i>inside</i> the cultures they visit, while knowing that their travels help to sustain<br>and nourish those cultures.
We're considered one<br>of the best companies of our kind in the world<br>by people whose job it is to know.
Our mission has two sides: to afford our guests authentic, participatory experiences of the local culture and people; and to channel tourism resources to nurture that which is<br>truly authentic in the culture.
We accomplish this by arranging for our guests to be hosted by the people who actually drive the culture.
It's an innovation that's been noticed.
We impeccably orchestrate every detail from arrival<br>to departure (hotel, transport, restaurants, Royal Insider outings, etc.), yet leave you time to explore on your own ...<br>so you're set free to revel in the wonder of it all.
We confess that we're not cheap.<br>But travel with us and you'll learn what some of the world's most discerning travelers already know: the extraordinary value of Royal Insider experiences.
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It's a fact. No one individual in New Orleans<br>has personal access to all of the experiences that<br>Royal Insider makes possible for our guests.<br>How do we do it? We combine a 'neural network' of Royal Insider<br>Members whose strivings sound out the heartbeat of the<br>culture with a world-class trip planning company<br>dedicated to sustaining that culture.
For individuals or groups,<br>we orchestrate visits to New Orleans<br>with penetrating native insights and the<br>discernment of world travelers.
From hotel accommodations and a single Royal<br>Insider outing for one couple on a weekend getaway;<br>to an unforgettable multi-generational family trip;<br>to a breathtaking arrival-to-departure<br>itinerary for a group of 250.
Browse our<br>e-brochures for ideas.<br>Dream grand dreams. Then<br>have your travel agent arrange<br>a brainstorming session with us<br>(’cause we promise you can’t<br>even dream up some of the<br>stuff we can do)...
...and come be embraced inside a culture<br>so rich and intriguing you may<br>never want to leave.<br><br><br><br>
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The ultimate New Orleans trip for a museum group or any<br>collection of 20 to 40 art-and-culture-loving travelers. You'll be hosted by charming museum curators and engaging private collectors who can gain you privileged access inside the very best of the New Orleans art scene: museums, private collections, alternative spaces and artist's studios. NOLA's fabled food & music scenes, too. Each night, you'll ease into the embracing elegance of the Windsor Court Hotel.
Created by a prominent New Orleans family with British royal connections, Windsor Court Hotel is an oasis of relaxed refinement with just over 300 suites and a multi-million dollar art collection.
The Windsor Court experience unfolds<br>in layers of sophistication, taste and warmth.
Windsor Court has garnered countless awards,<br>including the Condé Nast Traveler 1998 '#1 Hotel in the World.'
You'll enjoy 4 nights in a beautiful Windsor Court Full Suite,<br>with complimentary continental breakfast served daily<br>in your suite or in the dining room.
New Orleans’ vibrant and intriguing Warehouse Arts District<br>is just blocks away from your hotel. Accompanied there by your<br>Royal Insider Member Host, a top curator, you’ll be received by one of the district’s prominent private collector/artists for cocktails & hors d'oeuvres. Then it’s off to the superb Restaurant Cuvée for dinner. Chef Kristin Olsen uses the finest local ingredients to compose superb meals in an international haute cuisine language—<br>with a discernible French-Louisiana accent.
The French Quarter is the very soul of New Orleans— the<br>original old town where it all started. Elegant, decadent, ethereally beautiful and sometimes coarse, the Vieux Carré is a fascinating world unto itself, a world that is best explored on foot. Hosted by a well-known resident, you’ll step past envious tourists and through the carriageway gates to be welcomed into the innermost heart of the French Quarter. One of your stops: an intriguing private collection.
Perhaps THE quintessential New Orleans neighborhood<br>restaurant, Liuzza’s By The Track is renowned among locals<br>for serving what some believe to be the best gumbo on the planet.<br>Their barbecue shrimp po-boy is equally famous (nothing to do with American barbecue sauce; everything to do with butter and pepper).<br>Officially, Liuzza's does not accept reservations. Royal Insider has<br>managed to arrange an unofficial 'setting of tables' for you.
Your prominent curator host will accompany you on this afternoon’s outing, stopping first at the New Orleans Museum of Art. NOMA is a regionally important museum with certain collections—and touring exhibitions—of international significance. And with the 2004 opening of its spectacular Besthoff Sculpture Garden, the museum has been garnering acclaim throughout the world. After NOMA, you’ll be<br>received by one of our most prominent private collectors.
There's no better way to experience the soul of<br>New Orleans than dinner and great live music at what<br>some consider the center of the jazz universe. Let’s be straight: Donna’s Bar & Grill is a dive. But it’s the kind of New Orleans dive<br>where jazz music was born a hundred years ago. And it’s here, today,<br>that some of the city’s finest jazz musicians will come to listen,<br>eat Charlie Simms’ down home cooking—and sometimes<br>even sit in with whatever band is on stage that night.
New Orleans is in the throes of a most amazing renaissance. The world watched in horror in 2005 as Hurricane Katrina left some parts of the city in utter ruins. Today, the spirit of renewal can be evidenced everywhere. On this outing to one of the most devastated areas, your host will provide the sensitive cultural and emotional context<br>that only a local insider can, as you see for yourself.
Evergreen the most complete plantation complex still standing<br>along the Mississippi, and the private country residence of a prominent New Orleans family. A visit around the grounds reveals an astonishing tree-canopied alley of original slave quarters set amidst fields of sugar cane. The main house is a filled with period antiques—a collection assembled under the guidance of NOMA’s Curator of Decorative Arts. On the veranda of that main house is where luncheon will be served.
Setting out away from the river, farmland gives way<br>to a dramatically different ecosystem of swamps and bayous.<br>Houses on stilts. Alligator traps. Crawfish farms. Boats necessary to everyday life. A slow boat is the best way to experience this world.<br>Gliding along the dark waters, Spanish moss draping from<br>towering cypress trees all around, it’s easy to feel swept up in the primordial majesty—and the mystery—of this place.
From her renowned Bayona Restaurant nestled in a créole<br>cottage in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Susan Spicer has risen from one of Food & Wine’s 1989 Best New Chefs to the James Beard 1993 Best Chef in the Southeast to features in every major culinary publication in America and numerous national television appearances, most recently on Bravo's popular series, Top Chef. Susan is creating a special menu for you tonight, with expertly paired wines.
The pulsing heart of the warehouse arts district can be felt at the Contemporary Arts Center, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Julia Street contemporary art galleries. Your curator host<br>will gain you privileged access into all three.
Declared 'Best Chef in the South' by the James Beard Foundation in 2008, chef Donald Link of Herbsaint Restaurant has risen to star status on the New Orleans contemporary cuisine stage. His 'French-American bistro' menu is filled with wide-ranging artisanal ingredients joined confidently into inspired and resonant dishes—<br>which you'll savor for lunch, today.
This afternoon you and your curator host will be<br>welcomed inaide the studio of one of New Orleans'<br>most prominent contemporary artists, followed by a visit<br>to another of the city's finest private collections.
The culmination of your trip is a farewell dinner/art happening<br>at the Life Is Art compound in the St. Roch neighborhood. The six previously abandoned structures (four 19th century homes, a former bakery and a storefront) house site-specific installations by local and international artists. A moveable feast for the eyes, the palate and the soul, this event features dinner prepared with herbs grown on the inner city farm operated by the non-profit—with proceeds fueling the foundation’s mission to uplift and advance its community.
After breakfast, it's off to the airport for the flight home.<br><br>Farewell!
Join us in New Orleans!
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A superb sampling of the inner soul of this intriguing city.<br>Experience the authentic <i>locals’</i> music scene, hosted by a top<br>jazz singer. Gain privileged access behind the carriageway gates into the living heart of the French Quarter, hosted by a prominent local.<br>Savor a Chef’s Table dinner created for you by one of the great chefs of New Orleans—and the nation. Each night, ease into the<br>embracing elegance of the Windsor Court Hotel.
Created by a prominent New Orleans family with British royal connections, Windsor Court Hotel is an oasis of relaxed refinement with just over 300 suites and a multi-million dollar art collection."
The Windsor Court experience unfolds<br>in layers of sophistication, taste and warmth."
Windsor Court has garnered countless awards,<br>including the Condé Nast Traveler 1998 '#1 Hotel in the World.'"
You'll enjoy 3 nights in a beautiful Windsor Court Full Suite,<br>with complimentary continental breakfast served daily<br>in your suite or in the dining room."
The French Quarter is the very soul of New Orleans—the<br>original old town where it all started. Elegant, decadent, ethereally beautiful and sometimes coarse, the Vieux Carré is a fascinating world unto itself, a world that is best explored on foot. Hosted by a well-known resident, you’ll step past envious tourists and through the carriageway gates to be welcomed into the innermost heart of the French Quarter—by the owners of two beautiful homes."
You don't find the real jazz in tourist traps. It's happening on the edge of the Quarter and over in the Faubourg Marigny and the Bywater and down in the Tremé and even Uptown. And there's no better way to experience the authentic scene than with a top jazz singer as your host for the evening. It's like entering a palace in the company of royalty. Meeting owners and other musicians. Being welcomed<br>behind the scenes in the birthplace of jazz to discover<br>that the music here is more exciting than ever."
A day of freedom to explore on your own, relax...<br>or we can arrange another amazing Royal Insider outing for you!"
From her renowned Bayona Restaurant nestled in a créole<br>cottage in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Susan Spicer has risen from one of Food & Wine’s 1989 Best New Chefs to the James Beard 1993 Best Chef in the Southeast to features in every major culinary publication in America and numerous national television appearances, most recently on Bravo's popular series, Top Chef. Susan is creating a special menu for you tonight, with expertly paired wines, to be served at a specially designated Chef’s Table where she can pop out for visits."
After breakfast, it's off to the airport for the flight home.<br><br>Farewell!"
Join us in New Orleans!
