The company's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, and a Facebook representative were among those given the chance to make their case to White House Chief of Staff William Daley in December, helping to prompt the recent White House statement nodding to Google's concerns about excessive regulation of the Internet.

WSJ: The Web's Growing Muscle

After Hurricane Katrina forced it to close in 2005, the hotel reopened in 2009, completely renovated with a long walnut bar, elegant tile floor and white coat-wearing wait staff, nodding to the former opulence of old New Orleans.

BBC: The sazerac goes from cure-all to New Orleans cocktail