Stay in the Quarter and be very careful every time you leave. Have you hotel give you a street map showing you where NOT to go.

(Yes, there are areas near the quarter that are dangerous - but IN it there are usually people around. You can go to other parts of the city that are not bad areas - but are deserted at night - and I would;t touch with a barge pole.)

We stayed in the Warehouse/Arts district, which we really liked (wanted to stay in a quieter area), BUT one night we walked FROM the French Qtr to the hotel and I was not comfortable -- I have a feeling we were walking where we shouldn't have been, and should have taken a taxi. (but I'm here to tell the story ). The thing about New Orleans is that bad neighborhoods are not clustered together -- you can easily go right from a safe neighborhood to an unsafe one, so you need to know where you're walking (which I found out AFTER my trip).

Stay in the Quarter - there are quieter areas within it to stay.

Now you have got me worried, we are staying at Quality Inns & Suites 210 O'Keefe St. It was recommended by a Fodorite and has high ratings on Trip Advisor so hopefully it is okay.

Great responses - what are a couple hotels in the Quarter that you would specifically recommend for location?

We've always been happy at the Dauphine Orleans. On a quiet street but convenient to everything in the Quarter.

Will Travel - we are locals (suburbs of NOLA) but sometimes stay in New Orleans hotels for different reasons. Personally, I would MUCH prefer to stay in a hotel either smack in the French Quarter or no further than Canal Street, which borders the French Quarter. Anything too far past Canal Street is too far to walk at night. The top 2 hotels on Canal Street in regards to location (to give a frame of reference)for me would be the Sheraton or Marriott. Since Canal St. borders the French Quarter, you would either walk down Bourbon, Royal, Chartes or Decatur from Canal, all safe areas to walk, mostly tourisy, not homes.
Also, Harrah's and the Hilton on Poydras are very good locations with an easy walk to the French Quarter, well lit with no back streets to walk when getting to the French Quarter.
Another GREAT location is where the Place d' Armes hotel is. I have never stayed there but the location has to be one of the best for exploring the French Quarter. You are not in a noisy area, you are less than a minutes walk to the beautiful Jackson Square and Cathedral and a 2 minute walk from Cafe du Monde.

Brian - Dauphine Orleans is also a good location. In my opinion, to get the real feel of New Orleans, anything withing blocks of Jackson Square is great.

I like the Place d'Armes a lot. It is just off Jackson Square - great location close to everything in the FQ. I also like the Hotel Provencial - also a really good location, esspecially if you want to check out the clubs on Frenchman Street. There are some great clubs on Frenchman with great music and a very low-key atmosphere - good counter point to the craziness on Bourbon (which I also enjoy).

My favorite part of the FQ is the lower quarter - between Jackson Square and Esplanade, so I always stay closer to that end if I can. This area is more residential and further away from the high rises - I like the smaller shops and bars in the lower quarter and just the general atmosphere - but still a reasonable walk to everything.

Canal Street is technically the border of the FQ on that side, but the FQ doesn't really start to feel like the FQ until you are a couple blocks in from Canal - this is due to some misguided urban "planning" awhile back. I stayed at the Hilton once (not my choice) and didn't care for the location - just too far from my favorite parts of the FQ and the Faubourg Marigny. It is closer to Magazine St and uptown though if you want to visit those areas.

Some of Our favrites that are in the Quarter:

Dauphine Orleans http://www.dauphineorleans.com/

Iberville Suites http://www.ibervillesuites.com/

Monteleone http://hotelmonteleone.com/

le Richelieu http://www.lerichelieuhotel.com/

Marriot is in a good central location & usually has great discounts.