Christmas in New Orleans
 

Four of us are planning on being in New Orleans on Christmas Day and staying a few days. Heard there was nice goings on. Can anyone elaborate?

Also: Please, please help us choose a hotel --which one? Sonesta, Omni Royal, Omni Crescent. What's the difference between the two Omni's? Many thanks!

For "what's going on" check out www.frenchquarterfestivals.org. It doesn't seem to be updated for 2005 yet, but should be soon. If you get in before Christmas day, check out the concerts at St. Louis Cathedral. The last one is 12/23, though so you may miss it. The 23rd is always the best - Lois Dejean - the Gospel Diva. Amazing. I miss this most about leaving NO. Free concerts every night in December with some of the most amazing groups.

Anyway - this may give you more info on things going on at that time.

My hubby and I are considering going to New Orleans at the holidays, too. I stayed at the Royal Sonesta back in 1994 and LOVED IT. The Desire Bar downstairs was a very neat place. Nice courtyard, too, where you can relax (tho' poolside would be a bit cool that time of year). Granted, it was a long time ago, but it made a great impression on me and I'd go again in a heartbeat. Like you, I'd like to know what's happening in late December as well in the Big Easy.....

Stayed at the Omni Crescent with a large group in Apirl. My guess is that the Omni Royal is nicer and a few more dollars per night. The Crescent is no slouch. The drawback was the rooftop pool. Somehow, we all imagined it would be a normal sized pool - at least the size of the one in my backyard, right? Nope. This only mattered to us because we had been invited to a pool party. Otherwise, I'm all chlorined-out at home and a vacation (for me) includes a vacation from our pool. (kids, you know).

This sounds odd when I re-read this, but I really liked the bathroom in our room. Nice tub/shower in russet marble. Good sized countertop at the sink. Full height ceilings... about 11-12 feet
Desk & Chair, Armoir TV, Table & Chair, 2 nightstands, great mattress, 1/4-sized refrigerator and coffemaker on top, if that helps. Overall, the room smelled clean and the common areas of the hotel were well-manicured and clean.

Hotel staff was extra helpful with directions, reservations, recommendations, etc. I did not once encounter any issues or attitudes during our week there.

The entry of the hotel doesn't have a bunch of international flags over the entrance and isn't as "stately" as the other Omni, but we truly didn't care.

What do you mean by "nice goings on"? We were there over Christmas about 10 years ago. It was very quiet, and we loved it that way!
Just be forewarned that a lot of restaurants are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had good meals both days, but we had a limited choice of restaurants.

We were in NO the week before Christmas last year and it was great. The Quarter was not too crowded, but there was still a great atmosphere. The city had a holiday event each night, such as a concert at Jackson Cathedral or a carol sing along in the square. The restaurants all had their Reveillon menus, which we really liked since it allowed us to sample different specialties without breaking the budget.

Unfortunately, it appears that the city might be a shambles after Katrina gets done with it. I'd see what the actual damage is before making serious plans. Even though it is still 3.5 months away, there could still be considerable damage in the Quarter.

I'm sure after the storm, that all efforts will be to put the city back together, but after working with the Bahamas after several storms the last few years, I would say that NO is going to be under repair for a LONG time. This is one of the worst storms in HISTORY, and the city is (according to a report I just heard on the news), more than 10 feet under water.

Tourism is probably the biggest industry in NO so they are going to be working very hard to get back to normal as quickly as possible, but that may take months or even years.