Named after the Higgins Industries shipbuilder Andrew Higgins, the 230-room Higgins Hotel & Conference Center is scheduled to be completed in 2019 by exclusive Curio Collection by Hilton, which is one of Hilton’s 14 market-leading brands. As the first Curio Collection hotel in Louisiana, The National WWII Museum and its Board of Trustees will be supporting and expanding educational programs while offering guests the unique experience of full-service hotel accommodations.
The property will be inspired by the war era and feature art deco style designed and renowned by architects Nichols Brosch Wolfe & Associates from Coral Gables, Florida and interior design firm Kay Lang & Associates from Los Angeles. In addition to 230 rooms, there will be a second-floor conference center with more than 18,000 square feet of meeting space.
Recently ranked as the No. 1 museum in the world and No. 2 in the country by the 2017 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards, the National WWII Museum’s popularity has rocketed sky high. Due to the need for meeting space and its increase in reputation, the Board of Trustees established a World War II Theatre Inc., wholly purposed to manage a hotel and conference center that will support the Museum’s mission and growth.
“We fundamentally believe that a dedicated space to host educational programs for students, teachers, enthusiasts, corporate groups, reunion groups, and military is a core component of what we should have here at the Museum,” said Stephen J. Watson, President & CEO of the Museum. “When we looked at our last undeveloped piece of land, we wanted to ensure that we created a property that would economically support the Museum’s educational mission, while also enhancing our visitor experience. When you pair that with our increasing visitation, a hotel and conference center is a natural choice.”
In 2017, the Museum welcomed 700,000 visitors- 85 percent of those visitors being from out of state and just about half of them stated that their primary reason for traveling to New Orleans was to check out the Museum.
“In 2017, the Museum is driving more than 300,000 room nights at hotels throughout New Orleans, ” said Brandon Berger, World War II Theatre, Inc. Board Chairman. “A hotel will give us the opportunity to offer our visitors convenient accommodations in the ever-expanding Warehouse District neighborhood. But the development will also be geared toward furthering the Museum’s educational and research resources for students and scholars alike. With this additional space, we can host more lectures, Meet the Author receptions, conferences and symposia right here on the Museum’s main campus.”
The cost of The Higgins Hotel & Conference Center is $66.5 million. Hotel profits will be distributed to the Museum in order to build its endowment and educational mission. In addition to this, the Hotel will be offering a built-in loyalty program for the Museum’s Membership based of more than 156,000.
