Help Decide Lodging?
 

Hi, we're traveling to NOLA for our first time the first week in Feb., for our 10th anniversary.
Trying to keep nightly cost below $200. After some research, are narrowed down to 5:

Dauphine (a little higher in price - is it worth it?)
Le Richelieu
Hotel Provencial (not right in FQ but looks like easy walk and very close to Frenchman St. - comments on location?)
Lafitte Guest House
Place D'Armes

Experiences, thoughts? Thanks!

FWIW . . 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/

Iberville Suites [that link doesn't work] is now Courtyard.
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We just stayed at the Omni Royal Orleans. I got a great deal. It is in a GREAT location.

I found a lower price [used tripadvisor to get various prices from expedia, travelocity etc] and not only did OMNI MATCH it, they took 25% off! You have to make a reservation on Omni's site; then make the same reservation on 3rd party site. You then fill out a form, send them reservation info etc and then you get confirmation that they will match. And then you cancel the 3rd party reservation - so be SURE that you can cancel that one with no penalty. And make sure the rooms are the same.
http://www.omnihotels.com/ratesandre...guarantee.aspx

Try using this code for reservations at Dauphine: BARCOUP
We were going to stay there before I found the deal at Omni.
We walked by it; seemed nice but it was past the heart of FQ and if you want to go to Garden District; it is futher away from Canal.

Monteleone looked nice, but is priced.

I was looking just outside of FQ, but am glad we stayed IN.

DebitNM, I've been looking both in FQ and also just a bit past it. When I've been looking past I've been looking north, closer to Frenchman St - like where the Hotel Provencial is. A friend suggested looking south, business district. My mom thinks, stay right IN, as you said.

Can you tell me a little more about why you're glad you stayed IN? If it makes a difference, I'm sensitive to noise sleep-wise so definitely will need a hotel room that's quiet, and also am not a crowd person. That's why I'd thought maybe I'd be happier just past FQ. DH does love being in the heart of things, tho', as long as we can sleep. So interested in opinions...

Btw thanks for your tips, and you too Rich!

Our room was on second floor; it was # 207 -- a petite queen. And it was petite! but it opened onto a private courtyard, that only the rooms that opened to it could access. I think the key is to not have a room facing the street - any street.

I like being able to walk out and have all the things we wanted to see and do close by. If you only plan to do things IN the FQ, then I guess staying just east of the heart of it works, but we went to Garden District and City park and that meant having to get to Canal St for public transit to get to those places. Being east just adds time and walking distance.

The streets in NO outside of the quarter can be iffy when it comes to safety . . particularly at night. If we go outside the quarter at nite, we go in groups or in a taxi.

Since the majority of our time in NO is spent in the quarter, we like to stay there.

Good to know about the Iberville Suites . . We liked it before, will have to try it again. The Dauphine is our favorite, but we like to try different places from time to time.

"Hotel Provencial (not right in FQ but looks like easy walk and very close to Frenchman St. - comments on location?)"

The Hotel Provencial is most definitely IN the FQ. The FQ is bordered by the river, Rampart St, Canal, and Esplanade - everything inside this rectangle is the FQ. I think you might be confusing Bourbon St with the FQ, since you mentioned noise and crowds. Bourbon St is one street in the middle of the FQ, and it is really only a few blocks of this street - from Canal St to about St Peter or so - that is the crowded, loud, party that people think of. Much of the FQ is residential, especially the part between Jackson Sq and Esplanade.

I stayed in the LaFitte some years ago. It is an EASY walk to any part of the FQ you would want to go to; there are parts that are simply residences and unless you like looking at architecture you aren't going to venture into them. It is far enough away on Bourbon that the mob scene which happens around the Sonesta and the like is far enough away.

I lived in New Orleans in the FQ for two years. I'll defer to others regarding the "safety" issue and exactly how they define that.

Thanks all. I seem to have confused the location of Hotel Provincial with another place I'd been looking at earlier, which I only realized when I read your comment, november_moon (btw there's a gorgeous november moon in the sky tonight!) - so thanks!

I did know Bourbon St. is by no means all of FQ, but never having been I wasn't sure how much other than Bourbon St., had similar atmosphere. I'm glad to hear not. Also, I'm wondering actually what people mean by unsafe, if we were to decide on a place a little east of FQ. Do you mean commonly more crime?

Stay in the FQ. Seriously. It's just so nice to walk out the door and be there already. My favorites are the Hermann House rooms on the private courtyard at the Dauphine Orleans. IMO they are very much worth the difference in price for an anniversary trip. You can wander the FQ and pretend you are in a charming small city in Europe if you avoid Bourbon St. I used to go to NOLA a lot for business and pretty much hated it because I stayed in convention hotels, hated the walk to the FQ and hated the Bourbon St experience. Now I love it, because I stay at the Dauphine Orleans, avoid Bourbon St and enjoy wandering the lovely shops. I just framed a print yesterday I bought on my last trip. Love it now.

I over thought the hotel part of the trip. It made for angst. I made and canceled several reservation [ also, always looking for a deal does that to you too!].

I went with the Omni Royal Orleans due to location, price, amenities offered if you are a loyalty club member [even at lowest level]and was VERY pleased with it. IT is rated #2 on TripAdvisor and on CN Traveler's Readers Choice. We spent very little non-sleeping time in hotel, so in the end it matters not a whole lot as long as it is clean and well located.

Pick a place and then spend your time researching all the great things to see and do - a way more fun use of your energy.