Antonio Monteleone was an industrious nobleman who was operating a very successful shoe factory in Sicily when he heard great things about America. The call of adventure motivated him to pack the tools of his trade and head for "the land of opportunity." Antonio arrived in New Orleans circa 1880 and opened a cobbler shop on Royal Street, the busy thoroughfare of commerce and banking in America's most European city. At the time Royal Street was indeed the grand street of the "Vieux Carre," as the French Colonials sometimes called the new town.

In 1886, Mr. Monteleone bought a 64-room hotel on the corner of Royal and Iberville streets in New Orleans' world famous French Quarter. The setting was ripe for Antonio to spread his entrepreneurial wings when the nearby Commercial Hotel became available for purchase. That was only the beginning of an amazing historical landmark that is one of the last great family-owned and operated hotels in the city. Since 1886, four generations of Monteleones have dedicated themselves to making their hotel what it was and still is-a sparkling jewel in the heart of the French Quarter.