Source: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty
Big Freedia is adding another achievement, as she announced her plans to open a hotel in her hometown of New Orleans.
The “Best Beleevah” rapper took to social media last Wednesday (Feb. 1st) to announce her latest venture. “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.” she wrote on Twitter.
The “Queen of Bounce” said to the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the idea to have her own hotel came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Not being able to go out and work during the pandemic, cooking brought so much light and creativity it just really got me interested in doing a restaurant,” Freedia said. “And I always had a dream of opening a hotel, so it just kind of came together that way.”
According to reports, the hotel is a result of a partnership with developer Zach Kupperman & her manager Reid Martin. The “Hotel Freedia”, located on Decatur Street near Frenchman Street in the Marigny neighborhood, will be constructed as a micro-boutique hotel with just five rooms atop a 60-seat restaurant and music venue with an outdoor courtyard with a pool and clubhouse. The unnamed restaurant is expected to feature some of Freedia’s signature recipes.
The musical venue is slated to be Big Freedia’s home base for performances in addition to hosting local and nationally-known artists and bands. “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 having some national music coming in,” Martin said.
Groundbreaking is set to take place in the spring, with a goal of opening for Mardi Gras in 2024. Big Freedia elaborated on the details at a meeting of The Nieux, an NFT-based community space for artists. There, she offered attendees a discounted membership of $750 in the cryptocurrency Ethereum which gives them access to her events and the pool and clubhouse. “We’re experimenting right now,” Martin said. “For now, it’s the only way to buy a membership, but eventually we might sell using traditional currency.”
