As Staver Gray and Christie Ward wandered through New Orleans, the founders and principals of Ward + Gray were struck by the architecture, particularly the pastel-tinted Creole cottages, which informed their design of the guestrooms in the Warehouse District’s Hotel Perle.

“The jewel tones in the living rooms and public spaces are also an homage to New Orleans and its opulent history as a center of trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. We love the juxtaposition of super luxurious textiles—richly hued velvets and tassels—in the context of a coastal city with Caribbean, Spanish, and Creole influences,” explains Gray.

Most of the furnishings are custom, taking cues from French antiques, as is the wallpaper dressing the bedroom ceilings. It showcases “a séance-like dance incorporating both spiritual and ritualistic objects inspired by voodoo art but drawn in a loose French expressionist style,” adds Gray. “The idea we wanted to celebrate is that New Orleans isn’t a singular design movement.”

Hovering between a boutique hotel and a serviced apartment, Hotel Perle caters to group travelers with its 10 units featuring between two and seven guestrooms.

Crossing over into residential territory, Ward + Gray balanced full kitchens and oversize living room minibars with intimate bedrooms flaunting wall-to-wall carpeting emblazoned “with a swirled illustration that complements the ceiling without feeling repetitive,” says Ward.

Clever interventions are found in the hotel, too, like the long, dark corridor reimagined as a lounge with full-height drapery. “We designed the furniture to feel like an outdoor terrace,” adds Ward, “bringing in plantings and mirrors to reflect light from the mezzanine above.”

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