A New Experience Inspired by Elizabeth Taylor
An old Hollywood icon, a storied French Quarter hideaway, and a new way to experience the New Orleans retreat she returned to again and again.
NEW ORLEANS, LA — Long before “violet eyes” became the title of a Taylor Swift song, they were famously associated with one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons and one of Audubon Cottages’ most storied guests.
J Collection Hotels introduces Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré, a new experience at Audubon Cottages inspired by Elizabeth Taylor and the New Orleans retreat she chose time and again.
Tucked behind the walls of Dauphine Street in the heart of the French Quarter, Audubon Cottages has always offered a rare kind of privacy. For Elizabeth Taylor, that sense of seclusion became part of the appeal. The Academy Award-winning actress stayed at the property more than two dozen times throughout her career, often returning to Cottage No. 3. The two-bedroom cottage, complete with its own private courtyard, became something of a home away from home.
That history has recently found its way back into the spotlight. In April 2026, WGNO revisited Taylor’s relationship with the property, reporting that she stayed at Audubon Cottages more than 27 times and favored Cottage No. 3, including visits during the 1970s with Richard Burton. Decades earlier, the Los Angeles Times also described the cottages as a hideaway Taylor chose while appearing in New Orleans.
That history is the starting point for Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré. Rather than recreating Taylor’s life, the experience draws inspiration from the privacy, glamour and sense of occasion surrounding the place she chose to return to.
Two Taylors, One Enduring Fascination
The timing feels especially fitting. After bringing The Eras Tour to New Orleans in 2024, Taylor Swift paid tribute to the Hollywood icon with her 2025 song “Elizabeth Taylor” from *The Life of a Showgirl." Exploring fame, romance, and life in the spotlight, the song introduced the legendary actress and her famous violet eyes to a new generation.
At Audubon Cottages, however, she never really left.
Step Inside Elizabeth Taylor’s New Orleans Escape
The experience begins where Taylor’s own New Orleans story did: with the feeling of stepping away from the French Quarter without ever really leaving it.
At the center of the experience is Cottage No. 3.
Today, the cottage still offers the privacy that helped make Audubon Cottages so distinctive. Two king bedrooms open into a gracious living space, and just beyond it is a private courtyard with a fountain. Bourbon Street is only moments away, but the cottage can feel a world removed.
It is easy to understand why the setting appealed to a woman whose life was so public. Here, she could disappear behind a courtyard gate and have a corner of New Orleans to herself.
Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré invites guests to experience that story through a two-night midweek stay in Cottage No. 3, paired with a collection of New Orleans touches: daily breakfast for two, a Violet Eyes collector's postcard sharing Taylor’s connection to the cottage, discounted overnight parking, late checkout when available, and a privately arranged jewelry experience with Mignon Faget.
A Private Mignon Faget Experience
As part of Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré, J Collection Hotels is partnering with iconic New Orleans design house Mignon Faget for a private jewelry styling experience created especially for the package.
For more than 55 years, Mignon Faget has translated Louisiana into jewelry, drawing inspiration from the forms and textures of the place itself. Its pieces are designed in New Orleans and brought to life through a combination of traditional craftmanships and contemporary technique.
Guests will receive a privately arranged styling appointment with the opportunity to explore and try on select pieces from Mignon Faget’s Legacy Collection. There is no required purchase; instead, the experience offers a closer look at the work of one of New Orleans’ best-known design houses.
The partnership feels particularly fitting for an experience inspired by Elizabeth Taylor. Few stars are as closely associated with jewelry as she is; her personal collection became nearly as famous as some of her films.
The point, though, is not to recreate Hollywood. It is to interpret Taylor’s sense of glamour through New Orleans itself — through history, local craftsmanship and the kind of personal experience that feels genuinely of this place.
A New Chapter in a Storied Cottage
For Audubon Cottages, Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré is also a chance to tell a story that has always been part of the property.
The seven historic cottages have been part of the French Quarter landscape for generations. Naturalist and artist John James Audubon once lived and worked here. Elizabeth Taylor later returned to Cottage No. 3 as a place of escape. Today, guests still enter through an understated Dauphine Street doorway and find a quieter world on the other side. Shaded courtyards and the property’s secluded saltwater pool create the same sense of separation that has long made the cottages special.
New Orleans has always understood that glamour does not need to announce itself. Sometimes it is found behind a courtyard gate, in a place with history, where the city feels close enough to touch and somehow far away.
Elizabeth Taylor understood that.
And now, Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré offers guests the opportunity to experience a little of that story for themselves.
Experience Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré
Book a two-night stay in Audubon Cottage No. 3 and experience Elizabeth Taylor’s New Orleans retreat through a stay created around the privacy, glamour and local character that drew her back again and again.
The package includes daily breakfast for two, a private Mignon Faget jewelry styling experience, an Elizabeth Taylor keepsake book, discounted overnight parking and late checkout, subject to availability. The experience is available for two-night stays with eligible stays Monday through Thursday and must be reserved at least seven days before arrival.
Book Violet Eyes in the Vieux Carré
About Audubon Cottages
Located on Dauphine Street in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, Audubon Cottages features seven private one- and two-bedroom retreats set around intimate courtyards and a secluded saltwater pool. Its history includes namesake John James Audubon and Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor, who repeatedly chose Cottage No. 3 as her New Orleans retreat.
About the Author
Ryan Sheckart is an Area Sales Manager with J Collection Hotels, working with guests, groups and organizations planning stays and experiences across the J Collection portfolio in New Orleans.
Interested in planning a group stay or learning more about J Collection Hotels? Connect with Ryan and the J Collection Sales team to explore accommodations and options for your next New Orleans visit.