French Quarter or...???
 

I am taking my boyfriend to NO for his birthday and we leave on Oct. 11th for a long weekend! I haven't been there for years so I am looking forward to returning!
I stayed with a friend who lived there the first time around.

As much as I would love to stay in the FQ I am concerned that the noise might keep me awake. Is there another convenient neighborhood that we should consider that will be quieter but still a few blocks from the French Quarter?

I did a search but didn't find an answer to this specific question.
Thanks!

You can stay in the FQ and request a room that doesn't face the street - i.e., stress that you want quiet. If you stay in the FQ, stay on a quieter side street a few blocks from Bourbon or Royal to minimize the noise. You could also stay on Canal or on the other side of Canal in the CBD - central business district, which is still within walking distance. Another option is to stay Uptown in the Garden District, on or near St. Charles.

There are plenty of quite areas in the FQ. Most places off Bourbon St are reasonably quiet, actually. The areas closer to Esplanade are very quiet.

We stayed at the Place d'Armes on St. Ann near Jackson Square - had a balcony room facing the street and it wasn't really noisy. The hotel has a lot of rooms that face the courtyard and from there you couldn't hear any street noise.

Further down toward Esplanade, things get quieter. When I was doing my research, the Hotel Provincial and Le Richelieu Hotel were both on my list of potential hotels. Both are down that way.

The CBD is close to the FQ, as cheryl mentioned, it is an option. It doesn't have a lot of atmophere though - pretty much your standard downtown financial district, but there are some nice hotels. So it depends on what you want.

I wouldn't stay uptown or in the Garden District at this point though since I don't think the St Charles street car is running past Lee Circle yet, so you would have to take a bus or cab down to the FQ, which I don't think would be ideal.

We stayed at Le Richelieu pre-Katrina and really enjoyed the neighborhood. It's still in the French Quarter, but in a more residential area and it was very quiet at night. I agree that with the street cars not being fully operational yet, you would probably be better off staying in the French Quarter. Really, as long as your room doesn't front Bourbon St., I don't think the noise will be a problem.

Things in general are probably quieter than they were a few years ago. We've stayed at the Marriott and the Sheraton, both on Canal Street down by the French Quarter. We also stayed at a lovely little place called the Dauphne Orleans which was above Bourbon Street and in a quiet area. There's also a Hilton on the river that would probably be quieter. Enjoy your trip!

We stayed in the Garden District - which was quiet and lovely but, I prefer the French Qtr.

Thanks for the replies!

I think we have settled on the French Quarter, staying at Prince Conti. The rate is decent, good location and the rooms look very nice!

Cheers!

Let us know how the trip went when you get back.

The Prince Conti was another hotel we considered. I believe we nixed it because it doesn't have a pool and since our trip was in June, we wanted to be able to swim - LOL.

eurotraveller
it is so nice of you to fill us in on your final decisions.

So often people post, respond briefly, then others continue on with the conversation and we never know the outcome.

Thanks!

I will definitely report back upon my return. I generally write a pretty detailed report of my travels.

Nanabee, I know what you mean about the ask and run posters! I always wonder where they went and how they liked it.

For those wanting further info on my choice, we had considered The St. Marie as well. When I talked to reservation and asked about the differences in the hotels, I was told that the rooms are of the same caliber but that the St. Marie has a pool and a courtyard. That wasn't worth the extra $45 a night as we never use a hotel pool, even in travels to SE Asia.

We ended up with an average rate (Thurs. and Sun are less per night) of $103 per night.

Most of the rooms are renovated at this point in time so I have requested a renovated one. I also requested a mini frig. but they said they only have them for medicinal purposes. Isn't alcohol medicinal? :-D
((d))

All the rooms are non smoking so we won't have to worry about that.

I will let you all know if our request was granted!

Eurotraveller:

Since our hotel didn't have refrigerators in the rooms we ended up going to the A&P in the Quarter and purchasing a styrofoam cooler for 3.99. Our last night we found some other guests that were staying longer and passed the cooler on to them instead of just throwing it away. Enjoy your vacation!!

Yes, I had already considered that. I just hate to see those styrofoam coolers going into the landfills, especially in NO after all the rubbish that had to be tossed after K.

I then recalled my younger days as a flight attendant on a long layover. We would fill the sink with beer (or the tub if it was a large crew) and then cover it in ice and water. :-) Cold beer was never further than a few steps away!

You could always use a soft sided cooler as luggage (One trip pre liquids ban I carried on several hundred Jello shots...).

cocontom, I think I have one of those! Thanks for the reminder!

I thought I have had some crazy travels and weekends... but what prompted you to take 'several hundred jello shots' cocontom?? This I've got to hear!

And I'm thiniking NO for a 30th next year, reading to look for 'interesting' accommodations that would let us interact as a group, not just hotel rooms. Ideas?

eurotraveller: I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but it's an option for any hotel on Bourbon Street. One year we went to New Orleans with three other couples - we rented a Bourbon Street balcony room at the Ramada Inn on Bourbon while the rest of the group rented courtyard rooms (our room was naturally more expensive so the other couples chipped in some to help with the expense). Anyway, that gave us all one place to sit and people watch when we were ready to relax after, or before, exploring the city.

Just an idea for you to consider.

ccolor, the balcony room idea is great. We also bought a stryofoam cooler at Walgreens. Couldn't use the tub because we really needed a shower after all that drinking.

Travelphile- tailgate party. It's not worth it to spend that much time making them once you're there. And if you get them really, really cold you don't even need to ice them for the flight.