Just returned from New Orleans
 

We just returned from 6 days in New Orleans and we had a great time!

We stayed at the JW Marriott and thought it was a beautiful, well appointed hotel. The recent renovations are very noticeable. We had a corner deluxe king room on the 14th floor with a view of the Quarter and the river.The beds were very comfortable and the robes were nice to have at night. We received the room with priceline for $60 per night.

We took the new Canal Street Car and visited the Besthoff Sculpture Gardens and found them to be very interesting. It was a relaxing morning strolling through the park.

We seemed to end up at O'Flaherty's Irish Pub several nights and enjoyed the sing alongs with Irish music. On Monday nights they have $1.00 Rolling Rocks beers all night. And free red and beans and rice after 7:00.

We also enjoyed the River Walk Mall and the Harry Potter Movie at the Imax Theater.

Restaurants that we ate at were:

Petunias - great omelettes and crepes!
Mandina's on Canal - our new favorite!
Commander's Palace - wonderful!
Cafe Maspero- love the muffaletta's
Muriels's - good appetizers, nice atmosphere
Gumbo Shop- very good!
Alpine- a little disappointing
Port of Call- great burgers!
Cafe du Monde- Beignets still sweet and tasty

Our impression of the city was that it had been cleaned up considerably since our last visit 3 years ago. They seem to be making more of an effort to encourage people to use trash receptacles. The garbage trucks seem to pick up trash more frequently too.

Overall, we had a great time! Thank you to all of you who took the time to answer any questions that I had.

Laurie

Great trip report. We must get back there...it can be wonderful and a 5 lb guarentee!!! Yumm

Great report--thanks for sharing. Can you tell me where Petunia's is? I'm headed to NO next weekend. Thanks!

Lee4, Petunia's is at 817 St.Louis Street.
It is a pink townhouse! The food here is excellent. We should know because we ate here twice. We have eaten here on previous trips and always look forward to going back.

The rooms are very pretty and the service is very friendly. Try a Cajun Bloody Mary. They are great!

Have fun! Laurie

Laurie -
Thanks for the report! We also won the JW Marriott for October - how is the pool? Did you feel like you got a decent room even though it was Priceline? Also the Bourbon is pretty close right?

bptraveler,
The pool at the JW Marriott was very small and there were not many deck chairs. The pool was clean but a little on the cool side.

We had an excellent room! We did not feel that we were treated any different since we bought our room through priceline.

We asked for a corner deluxe king room and received the same on the 14th floor with a nice view of the Quarter and a small view of the river.

The hotel is very close to Bourbon street. It is about 3-4 blocks away. But, the it was quiet at night. The walls did seem a little thin though, as we could hear our "neighbors" through them.

Have a great time in New Orleans!
Laurie

Hi again, Laurie,
Thanks for telling me where Petunia's is. Maybe I'll get a chance to check it out soon!