Hotel Recommendation New Orleans

Nothing to do in New Orleans??????

Hope the Saints don't have my luck - I posted one of my longest and most heartfelt ever yesterday and it accidentally got wiped out. Well, here goes again. First of all, I apologize to the person who posted saying she wasn't sure if she should spend more than 2 days in NOLA, as friends had told her 2 days was plenty now. Contrary to popular belief, ALMOST ALL TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ARE OPEN AND AWAITING YOU NOW!!!! Yes, the city itself is still devastated, but almost everything a tourist would see and do is back. Because of lack of business, hours aren't necessarily as long as they used to be, so you need to check with the places near your trip time. Don't go by old brochures. So here goes, recreating as best I remember, what I wrote yesterday: One tourist attraction which is not back yet is the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, but if you have a rental car you can drive it and tour the Garden District at your leisure. The Canal St. and Riverfront Streetcars are both online, and that will take you out to City Park, the Art Museum, and some cemeteries. You could take a Grayline Tour of the Garden District. Grayline has many tours, including one called Paddle and Wheel, which is a city bus tour in the AM and a ride on the NATCHEZ in the PM. Grayline does a Plantation Tour, which takes all day, and also a devastation tour led by a guide whose home had been destroyed. There are also the FQ buggy rides, the evening Haunted Ghost tours(bs, but very popular), free National Park tours of the FQ. So you could take 2 days doing nothing but organized tours alone. Now here are things you can do on your own: ride the NATCHEZ; visit the Aquarium of the Americas; do the Audubon Zoo; walk the 2 mile circuit through Audubon Park under the huge beautiful live oak trees; walk the French Quarter to view the Spanish architecture and balconies; walk the FQ to shop; antique along Royal St.; do whatever on Bourbon St.; visit the French Market; get beignets at Cafe du Monde; get breakfast/lunch at Croissant d'Or on Ursulines; dine at one of the many fine FQ restaurants, too numerous to list here; tour the Beauregard Keyes Patsch House 1113 Chartres 10-3; tour the Ursuline Convent 1100 Chartres; tour the Gallier House 1100s Royal; (all three are within a block of each other) buy a muffaletta at Central Grocery and eat it on the Moonwalk while watching the ships and river traffic negotiate Algiers Bend, the deepest part of the Mississippi River; drive down to Chalmette Battlefield, the site of the Battle of New Orleans; take the Canal St. Ferry on a free round trip to see the city skyline, or get off on the West Bank and catch a shuttle to Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World and walk among the MG parade floats - this is a year round business so there is always much to see; visit the Wax Museum on Conti St.; tour the old US Mint on Decatur - Jazz and Mardi Gras exhibits there; visit the La. State Museums in the Cabildo and Presbytere on Jackson Square; tour the National World War II Museum(orginally named D-DAy Museum) - this is an all day event for those historically minded; pass a good time at Mulate's Cajun Restaurant and dance hall. Drive up River Road to Donaldsonville and work your way downstream stopping at the plantations beginning with Nottoway. You can either stay on one side of the river or cross back and forth via the ferries. Do lunch at the Cabin Restaurant near Houmas House. This is an all day trip since the plantations are 30 miles and more away from the city... Now if you can get all this accomplished in two days, Wow! As to hotels, I always recommend LeRichelieu on Chartres. Its not the high class sister of Royal Sonesta, which the original poster mentioned, but it is family owned and unique. Omni Bourbon Orleans, LeProvencial, Ritz Carlton, and DeLaPoste would be FQ hotels of the higher class. But the 5 star hotel is just across Canal St.: Windsor Court. A very high class b&b, where Paul Newman always stays is the Soniat House 1133 Chartres. Pete Sisak also posted an excellent suggestion if you go up River Road, about Chef John Folse's restaurant. Hopefully he will repost that info. And thank you Bill Judd for your nice complimentary posting - I did see it before it went to cyperspace heaven! David Dewey, you said you printed my original posting, would you check to see if I've left anything out, thanks. Finally, to the person who posed the original question: I apologize for going on and on, but my friends in NOLA, the NATCHEZ, my house, and all the tourism business are hanging on by a thread, just waiting and hoping for more visitors. They know what is being said, like your friend told you, and it just isn't true - New Orleans is open for business and its welcome is as warm as it ever was. Please go down there and boost both their spirits and their bottom line! Written from snowy Rock Island, Bears Country, but wishing I was in the Big Easy and Saintsville...

LOTS to do in NOLA 🙂

Carmen and Judy,
WOW! Thank you so much for all your information. I ordered a tourist guide from the New Orleans Tourist Board so that we could map out our days but I think you just did it for us and I thank you.

Our original plan was to leave our west coast home of Vancouver mid week - have a day of flying before arriving in NO in the evening and spending 4 nights and 3 days in this wonderful city. My husband has been before but not I so he said that there was so much to see and do and it would be a great premble before our MQ (The Great Steamboat Race) on June 24th. So, in sharing our plans with others, we got the naysayers which was truly a disappointment to us. BUT, I knew by asking the experts on this website, I would get the information that would help us make our decision and I really do appreciate your taking the time to write this detailed outline.

I haven't had the opportunity to check out your hotel recommendations but I will. Our intention is to be located within 'reasonable' walking distance of most things so want a hotel that would allow us to do that. We did hear, however, that The Royal Sonesta could be rather noisy so that is my hesitation - hence, I will check out your recommendations. We were looking for something under $200 CDN per night and it appears that the upscale hotels are offering these rates - even The Ritz at $195 CDN. Windsor Court is quite pricey but we also heard that Place D'Armes and Maison Dupuy were lovely. Basically, we'd like a clean hotel with New Orleans charm and with it being in June.....a pool 'cause I'm sure we'll use it 🙂 So, any other comments would be gratiously accepted.

So again, thank you so much. We will definitely be staying the 4 nights and 3 FULL days 🙂 in this wonderful city. We are finalizing our flight arrangements and getting very excited about our MQ cruise. So, our time in New Orleans will set the stage for a great 11 day journey from New Orleans to St. Louis.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Place D´Armes is a great location right on Jackson Square but they do have inside rooms meaning no window! Be sure to check if you got an "outside" room. Bienville House is also a great location. Nice hotel, we stayed there prior to the Great Steamboat Race in 2005. But this hotel got inside rooms too and you can guess what we got! I don´t know if this is common in New Orleans. It would be totally unthinkable in Germany. An inside room has no emergency exit other than the door. If the aisle is blocked by fire you can´t leave. I didn´t feel very comfortable although the room itself was nice (large bathroom, walk-in closet).

Regarding the location any place in the FQ is within walking distance. So are the hotels on Canal Street (and one or two blocks into the Central Business District). Personally I wouldn´t book a room on Bourbon Street or north of it (the later because of security reasons, it´s totally o.k. to walk there on daylight but I wouldn´t walk north of Bourbon by night).

Carmen

Echoing Carmen's comments, you really don't want to be walking out of the tourist area at night if you are only a few people, and obviously tourists. Maison Dupuy is on the corner of Toulouse and Burgundy, and is a couple of blocks off the beaten path. But its only a block away from N. Rampart, which is the end of the FQ, so I'd cab it at night. LeRichelieu is down at the lower end of the FQ, but we have a lot of foot traffic through there. Its a block from Decatur, which I always recommend taking rather than Chartres if coming from upriver, because its always busy. Also, the Riverfront Streetcar is a block from LeRichelieu and this takes you all the way through the FQ and on up Canal St. if you want. Bienville House is nice and does have a nice location - near the House of Blues, which I had forgotten to mention earlier. If you'd like to check further with me, email me [email protected]. If you haven't read the board much, let me point out I'm not associated with any hotels. I've been a crew member on the NATCHEZ and have a vacation apartment in the BK House in the FQ, but I live in Illinois.

Once again, Carmen and Judy, thanks for this valuable information.

I have to agree with Carmen, an inside room would not do for us so I will be sure to inquire when making reservations. I just checked Le Richelieu on the internet and it does look quite pleasant. I will check out Bienville House as well.

Judy, I may take you up on your offer to email you if we have any questions and I thank you for that.

kathy

Here's Judy's lost post (I saved it for reference, and she asked me to repost it) Enjoy!--Oh, and MANY thanks to Judy for her wonderful suggestions!
S'
David Dewey

I don't know who those people are who say 2 days in NOLA is plenty - I can never be there long enough. ALMOST ALL THE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ARE OPEN!!!! Yes, the city is still devastated, but what most people come to see and do is just waiting for you! Because of the lack of business, hours are often curtailed, so you need to check on that close to your time there, don't go by old brochures. One popular thing that isn't running is the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, but the Canal St. and Riverfront Lines are operational. If you have a rental car, you can drive the route of the ST. Charles car and view the Garden District. Or you could take a Grayline Tour of it, as well as of many other things. There is a daylong combo called Paddle and Wheel, which gives you a pretty comprehensive city tour followed by a ride on the NATCHEZ. There are also plantation tours, which take up a full day, as the plantations are up River Road some 30 miles and more. Grayline also has the bus tour of the devastated areas. There are walking tours in the French Quarter, nightly walking Ghost Tours(bunch of bs, but very popular), the buggy rides through the FQ. So you could take up 2 days or more just doing tours. Now for things open to do on your own:
ride the NATCHEZ; walk the FQ and admire the Spanish architecture and balconies; walk the FQ for the shops; walk Bourbon St. for whatever; visit the Aquarium of the Americas; do the Audubon Zoo; walk through beautiful Audubon Park, a 2 mile circle under the live oak trees; visit the French Market; eat beignets at Cafe du Monde; get breakfast or lunch at Croissant d'Or on Ursulines; dine at one of the many fine restaurants in the FQ, too numerous to name, or out in the Garden District at Commanders Palace; listen to the Preservation Hall Band after 8PM; ride the Canal St. ferry and catch the shuttle to Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World and walk among the floats in various stages of readiness(yearround); tour the Beauregard Keyes(Patsch) House 1113 Chartres 10-3; tour the Gallier House 1100s Royal St.; tour the Ursuline Convent 1100 Chartres - all 3 within a block of each other in the FQ; the Wax Museum on Conti; the National World War II Museum(formerly the D-Day Museum), a day in itself for history buffs; drive up the River Road on your own, start up by Nottoway at Donaldsonville and work your way back visiting one plantation after another(lunch at the Cabin Restaurant near Houmas House), cross over the river via ferry or stay on one side all the way back; drive down to Chalmette to tour the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans; pass a good time at Mulate's Cajun Restaurant and Dance Hall; buy a muffaletta at Central Grocery and eat it on a bench on the Moonwalk while watching the ships and river traffic negotiate the deepest part of the whole Mississippi River... yeah, I guess they needed only 2 days for this! As to hotels, the one that I send my friends to is LeRichelieu, 1224 Chartres. Its a family run place, about 70 rooms, with a special charm. Its not the high end like you mentioned with Royal Sonesta. Omni Bourbon Orleans, LeProvencial, DeLaPoste would be high end FQ places. The 5 star hotel is across Canal St.: Windsor Court. There are so many new places that I'm not familiar with, but if you'd go to www.nola.com , there is a hotel guide on that site. As long as you don't hit Mardi Gras, Jazzfest, or a huge convention, you should be able to get decent rates. One other high end b&B hotel - Paul Newman always stays there, is the Soniat House 1133 Chartres. Hope this gives you a bit of guidance... The NATCHEZ and other attractions are ready and eager to serve you, and are fighting desperately to dismiss this notion that there is nothing to see and do now in NOLA...