But over the summer, relations between the hotel and residents were also strained.
After spending time with some of the homeless hotel residents, it's clear many are at a loss about what to do.
In late 2000 Murren went to the board with the idea of building condos that residents could lend back to the hotel when not in use.
All residents, both in the apartments and the hotel, have access to the Cowshed Spa and gym, rooftop pool, Cookhouse restaurant, House Tonic bar and a screening room, but the apartments offer extra amenities such as grocery delivery and a fully stocked kitchen, as well as reduced rates for longer stays.
It is rumoured that one of the original residents, a little girl called Mary Masters who died of cholera in 1791, roams the hotel corridors.
There's a dedicated gym, movie theater, library and billiard room, and residents have access to the rooftop pool and cabanas and hotel spa.
This demand has created a dilemma for many hotel managers throughout New Orleans: Kick out residents who are the soul of the city or turn back tourists whose money will help regenerate the Big Easy.
From the Ritz Carlton Residences at LA Live to the up-and-coming One57 in New York to the planned Faena project at the Saxony Hotel in Miami, developers have incorporated hotels into their new towers that allow residents to enjoy year-round travel amenities like fitness and spa services, room service, and housekeeping.
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Jim McNickle, president of the Manhattan Plaza Tenants Association, said the hotel has generally been sensitive to the earlier complaints and even at one point offered residents free dinner vouchers.
Local residents suspect Stryker board member Ronda Stryker and her husband, Bill Johnston, owner of the Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo, are among the Promise donors.
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The project includes a hotel, restaurants and shops on site as well as a private club for residents with a spa, sports facilities, a cinema, a yoga studio and a library.
Singer weaves that history through drawings, photographs, residents' letters, travel writing, newspaper advertisements, his own text and even a 1932 menu from the Strand Hotel.
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