Big Freedia, the New Orleans superstar, has announced that construction on Hotel Freedia, a new entertainment venue on Decatur and Frenchmen streets, has begun.
The new project will include a restaurant, a music club, a pool, and a micro boutique hotel.
“This dream of mine has been in the works for a long time, I’ll be one of the first Black hotel owners in New Orleans,” wrote Big Freedia via Twitter. “Will keep y’all posted on the official opening date, can’t wait to see y’all at Hotel Freedia.”
This dream of mine has been in the works for a long time, I’ll be one of the first black hotel owners in New Orleans 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 will keep y’all posted on the official opening date, can’t wait to see y’all at Hotel Freedia ❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/TofAi0rXHT
— Big Freedia 💋 (@bigfreedia) February 1, 2023
According to Nola.com, the idea for the venue came to Freedia during the pandemic.
“Because I couldn’t go out and work during the pandemic, cooking brought so much light and creativity that it just really got me interested in doing a restaurant,” Freedia explained to the outlet. “And I’d always wanted to open a hotel, so it just kind of fell together that way.”
According to Freedia’s business partner Reid Martin, the establishment will be officially a hotel, but the main focus will be on entertainment.
“The hotel is not the economic driver of it,” said Martin. “It’s primarily a music venue and a pool party spot. Think of a country club with a music venue.”
The venue will not only feature local talent, but it also plans to expand beyond that.
“Obviously, Frenchmen Street is all about local music, so we want to have a lot of local music going on, but we’re also interested in bringing in some national music,” Martin explained.
While no official launch date has been set for Big Freedia, construction is set to begin this spring with the goal of opening by Mardi Gras 2024.