I will be a first time visitor (in march). I don't plan on renting a car. Looking for a hotel within walking of French Quarter. Some of the cheaper (100-140) hotels at end of March are the Historic French Market Inn, the St. James, the Cotton Exchange, the Alexa, Hotel New Orleans (radisson). I don't want a dump, so if i just need to spend more money, i will. But are any of these decent? (to me that means very clean, decent rooms and bathrooms, not excruciatingly small rooms, safe). thank you!

Of those, the Alexa is the only nice one...... How about the Frenchmen Hotel? It's very budget-wise ($49 specials), but not a dive. How low of a rate are you looking for?

Hi. I am looking to spend 120-140 a night, and there is not much in that range I guess. I reviewed old posts on some of these hotels, and I see no one recommends them, so , any other ideas are appreciated, or I will just need to spend more. thanks

Try using turbotrip.com for the Hampton Inn at the convention center. It's a bit of a walk to the French Quarter but I know someone who got it for less than $100 a night and said it was a nice hotel.

No matter how cheap DON'T stay at the French Quarter Courtyard

"86" the Historic French Market Inn. BAD! BAD! BAD!

Try www.hotels.com. I've done well there in the past. Have fun.

Hi,
we´ll be staying in NO for 3 nights in March, too. And we booked The Cotton Exchange Hotel for only $55/night. New hotel in a location with a lot of history. It´s their Grand Opening Special.
Only one block to the French Quarter.
Seems like a great deal!

I've read a recent post on another message board (AOL) from someone who had a terrible experience with the Cotton Exchange Hotel. They had a pre-paid confirmed reservation for 6 nights and were called by the manager the day before they were to arrive in New Orleans and told they were being moved to a Holiday Inn Express 7 miles outside of town! It seems their rooms were needed for a convention and the Cotton Exchange was getting $200 a night for rooms rather than the $79 that had been confirmed. These reservations were made in August and were to be used January 31, 2003. I'd advise you to cancel your plans there and move to another hotel.

Thanks for the update, Susan. That's a terrible business practice. I can't believe they'd do that even for the one-time higher room rate!

Although some people on this board don't like the place, we enjoyed our stay at the Cornstalk Hotel on Royal. The room was sort of small, but furnished in antiques. Bathroom was very small, but clean. Not much for a breakfast. We really liked the location, easy walk to any where in the Quarter, and also the Fauberg Marigny (sp). The Andrew Jackson Hotel is next door, someone on this board stayed there recently, but I don't recall how the visit went.

I've never stayed at either the Cornstalk or the Jackson (They're next to each other as I remember) but you certainly can't beat the location. You also might want to consider the Jackson's sister property, the Saint Pierre at Burgundy and Dumaine.

For President's Day weekend, I booked three rooms through Travelocity for $109.00 per night. Although it's at the edge of the FQ and only one block from Rampart, the rooms were clean and comfortable, although quirky - the no AC in one room, a faulty shower in another. In both cases, they switched us immediately.

When we were stranded by the snow storm in the Northeast, they extended our reservation to Wednesday and reduced our rate to $89.00/night. That certainly inspired my loyalty.

I was the one who recently stayed at the Andrew Jackson. The place suits me just fine. The rooms are worn and they could probably use a paint job...but the service is friendly, the location is fantastic, and the rooms are clean and functional. I would definitely stay there again... I booked with Travelocity for around $100 a night.

My husband and I spent a week at the Cornstalk and it was ok, but I thought it was overpriced. We made our reservation directly with the hotel and paid around $130-140/night.

The location was great and the people were freindly. We didn't spend much time in our room, so the following things weren't a big deal, I just thought that for the money, the place should have been more comfortable.

Our room was cramped - had to squeeze past the bed to get to the dresser and the window. The bathroom didn't have any counterspace or place to put toiletries. It actually didn't even have a towel rack or a hook on the back of the door to hang anything. Everything was really clean though.

The AC was blasting throughout the house making for some very chilly nights and extra bedding was hard to come by.

The breakfast was juice, coffee and a corn muffin - not that we needed more since there is SO much to eat in NO - LOL.

Me and my husband has been staying at Le Cirque in the Wearhouse district a couple of times. It's a really nice hotel with great service. And the restaurant, Lee Circle, is an experience alone. We book throug Expedia or Travelocity and the price is around § 100 per night.

In June of 2001 we stayed at the Lafitte Guesthouse. It was around $140 a night. It is very safe as the front door is locked after 10 P.M. and you ring the bell. The room was very large and we controlled our own air conditioning. The staff was friendly and helpful. We were treated like family(only better...) Its located on Bourbon but just outside the noise and activity, about 3 blocks outside.

Paige, doesn't Lafitte give you a key to the door? It seems strange in this day and age to have to ring the bell! (What if the desk person is in the bathroom??)

Who said New Orleans was "in this day and age" I have no comment on weather you get a key to the front door or not. All I know is that New Olreans is ANYTHING but in this day and age. No matter where you stay have a great experience and forget your cares! Have a great time all...