Roommates, we just caught wind of a hotel down in New Orleans that’s dripping in #BlackExcellence!! It’s called The Moor and, I mean, the name pretty much says it all! According to the founder of #HomageHospitality, Damon Lawrence, The Moor “pays homage to black culture’s finest moments both past and present.”
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He continued, “At The Moor, we decided to pay homage to Moorish culture mainly based on the architecture. The property naturally has beautiful archways and carved wood work that we really wanted to play up with our design aesthetic. Thus the name felt fitting for us. When we think about the Moors we think about their impact globally and it coincides with the multi-cultural history of New Orleans perfectly.” If y’all don’t know who Moors are then y’all should do your research! ????
Anywho, Lawrence first got into the hotel industry while attending #HowardUniversity and later began working at The Donovan House. “It was my first job ever and I told myself that I wanted to have my own brand one day, but I wanted it to pay homage to black culture as I had never seen it in the industry before. Black culture leads American culture and American culture leads global culture, so we think it’s time a hotel property reflected the best of black culture.” Yasss!
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So what’s next for Homage Hospitality? Well, they just opened up The Moor and are preparing to open more locations!
“We just opened our first location The Moor and it will be followed up by another 10 room property in New Orleans called The Freeman that pays homage to the Treme neighborhood, known as the first place in America that freed people of color were able to purchase property. We also have a 102 room property called The Town Hotel in Downtown Oakland that will begin redevelopment late this year.”
Homage is also looking forward to opening locations in Washington D.C., Brooklyn and Detroit. “We want to go everywhere that culture exists and thrives, so there’s plenty on the plate”, Lawrence says!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on IG
