The Ritz Hotel is a luxurious, expensive hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans, positioned between the city’s broad, shabby thoroughfare and the French Quarter. During the events surrounding Mona’s removal from Blackwood Manor, it becomes a temporary refuge and the place where Rowan discovers that Lestat has taken her cousin away.

Setting and Location

The hotel stands on Canal Street, which Lestat describes as a great, shabby divide, while its rear entrance opens onto the French Quarter, the part of the city he prefers. Its address thus places it between a prominent city street and the smaller district associated with his chosen surroundings.

The hotel is new and luxurious, and its expense and central location mark it as conspicuous lodging for Lestat, Quinn, and Mona. They arrive by car with Clem, who lets them out in front of the building.

A Temporary Base

Mona is in a trance when the group arrives, and Lestat and Quinn support her on either side as they guide her through the lobby and to the elevator. Their presence draws attention from other guests, who see a strikingly dressed trio; they do not know that the three are immortals intent on confronting two of their kind on the fifteenth floor.

The party heads to a suite. Lestat pushes the door open quietly, intending to close it again, and enters to find a scene that astonishes him. The hotel therefore functions not simply as a place to stay but as the threshold to the confrontation that brought the group there.

Rowan’s Search and Confrontation

Rowan retraces the group’s route after learning that Mona has been taken from Blackwood Manor. She says she went to the Medical Center as soon as she could get away, then went to the Ritz Hotel after learning that Clem had driven Lestat, Quinn, and Mona there the previous night. She finds neither Mona nor Quinn at the hotel.

Rowan identifies Lestat through his signature in Aunt Queen’s funeral book, recognizing the name and his distinctive handwriting. When she later confronts him, she demands to know where Mona is and accuses him of taking her. Her account establishes the hotel as a crucial stop in the route that allows Rowan to connect Lestat to Mona’s disappearance, even though she arrives too late to find the group there.