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host a friend or two for a flute of bubbles while primping for the evening. The bedroom had high ceilings and doors leading to two separate balconies, one shared and the other private. The private balcony easily outsized my modest first apartment when I was in graduate school in NYC. Each room is unique in its layout, from corner Mary suites with a view of the Virgin Mary statue encased in her grotto in one of the entry gardens to the more intimate Sister Studios across the fourth floor. Many of the rooms, mine included, incorporate deep-red mohair upholstery, red lacquer millwork, salmon-colored velvet curtains, and Carrara marble juxtaposed with vintage art and objets (I adored my vintage phone, which seemed plucked from the set of a '60s French New Wave film). The bathrooms are photo worthy, albeit a bit bright and dramatic at first, with red and pink tiles and vintage sinks updated with Waterworks fixtures; to cap it off, the bathrooms are lined in a custom psychedelic Voutsa wallpaper inspired by traditional Florentine marble book bindings found within Margaret Haughery's ledgers. If you're in town for two to four days, you honestly don't need to leave Hotel Saint Vincent. Located in the lobby is the ByGeorge New Orleans boutique with its well-curated selection of cashmere knits from The Elder Statesman and swimming costumes from Haight, Dries Van Noten, and Oseree, plus handbags from Loewe and Rabanne. I gravitated toward the cases of chic jewelry and vintage Rolexes (I texted a friend in Dallas about one particularly unique one, likely dating back to the 1970s; she immediately called the store to purchase it). Consider a souvenir from your stay in the form of a Hotel Saint Vincent by Far West garment, perhaps the striped cotton robe found in the bathrooms or a silk kimono in a marble print. It's all found in a jewel box of a lobby boutique with vintage Murano glass mirrors and chandeliers. The pool scene is effortlessly chic, with a whiff of impending hedonism when the sun sets and a burger party pops up on Sundays. For my afternoon poolside, I grabbed the Hotel Saint Vincent- branded laundry bag that I found in my closet (which will likely become hard-to-score at some point, like the 50 ones at Château Marmont that became the inspiration for a past Gucci collection) and filled it with European fashion mags, my iPhone, and cigarettes. (I ended up taking the laundry bag home with me for a $40 charge. I've already used it again for an afternoon of shopping in San Francisco.) As for dining and drinking options … At the aforementioned San Lorenzo, which is named for the patron saint of cooks, I recommend one dinner and brunch (al fresco on the porch, if weather accommodates). The more casual Elizabeth Street Café is where I picked up caffeine and pastries most mornings. This brightly colored building adjacent to the hotel welcomes neighboring residents with its French-Vietnamese menu and atmosphere. The shaded garden courtyard has ample seating for a lunch of ginger-chili oil dumplings, banh mi, cha ca red fish, and an assortment of buns and pastries. Of course, we can't forget the cocktailing. Adjacent to the check-in area and across from the San Lorenzo is the Paradise Lounge — an ideal spot to land late in the afternoon after pool time or a walk through the enchanting neighborhood. The airy, sun-drenched lounge has mosaic-tiled floors (a riff on the original floors from the building's former life as an orphanage) and a wall behind the bar hand- painted with flora-and-fauna by local artist Anne Marie Auricchio. Post-dinner, head to your room to slip on something slinky for the Chapel Club, where you'll feel effortlessly chic among the black-and-white marble, hot-pink velvet bar, and quirky vintage paintings. Trip hop or acid jazz plays in the background while the Sazeracs flow. Hotel Saint Vincent, 1507 Magazine St., New Orleans, saintvincentnola.com. Crescent King room with mosaic-tile floor Front porch of Hotel Saint Vincent