Less than 48 hours in New Orleans
 

First of all congratulations on a great forum and apologies if this topic has already been done to death but my wife and I are traveling from the UK to New Orleans for a couple of days prior to embarking on a West Carribean cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruises.
We arrive in New Orleans on the evening of 18th Jan and embark on our ship on the afternoon of the 20th and could really do with some help on an itinery and choice of hotel.
I have read many of the previous posts on both these subjects but really want to pack in the best options for such a short stay.

On the Hotel front I am looking for a very nice quality hotel but not outrageously expensive, say $150 per night maximum, and from what I've read I beleive that it would be ideal to be very close to the FQ but probably not in the heart of it.

On the Itinery front having such a short stay we really are looking for the jewels in the crown we really like both blues and Jazz and would like to find somewhere we can sample New Orleans finest.
There seems to be a lot of posts about cemetry tours which seems quite bizarre to both of us. However, as echoed in many posts I think i would be a waste of time to visit attractions like zoo's that quite frankly we can do anywhere in the world even in the UK!
So once again apologies for asking questions that have already been asked

If either of you like history, go see the D-Day Museum. It is truly one of a kind, and very well worth the time! You can get there from the French Quarter on the St. Charles Streetcar.

New Orleans' cemeteries are all above ground because of the high water table. They are all crypts and tombs, and they are very unique. The cemetery tours are fun, but they are only done on certain days. DO NOT go into the cemeteries by yourself! They are notorious for muggings...

Check to see if the St Charles street car is running. I don't think it is yet.

With only a day and a half, I would definitely stay IN the French Quarter. The whole quarter isn't a racious party, pretty much just bourbon street, and from what I hear, these days even that is fairly quiet compared to what it usually is.

We have a trip planned in May and our hotel budget is $135-150/night depending if breakfast is included. These are the hotels we are looking at:

Hotel Provincial 1024 Chartres
Prince Conte 830 Conti
Place d'Armes 625 St Ann
Hotel St. Marie 827 Toulouse
Le Richelieu 1234 Chartres

I haven't stayed at any of them, but they have good recommendations on this board and trip advisor. The Hotel St. Marie is the only one that seems to have noise issues from bourbon st.

For activities, I would choose a walking tour of the quarter, probably the first thing on the first day - sort of as an introduction. Takes a couple hours and is definitely time well spent.

If the st charles street car isn't running, I would still take a bus or cab to the garden district to walk around a bit. Lovely lovely neighborhood.

Let's find you a place to stay, then we'll work on things to do. I recommend the Hotel Monteleone or the Royal Sonesta. Both are in the FQ. IMO, I think you'd be better off in the FQ, not near it, or near the Convention Ctr (cruise ships dock there). Try http://www.louisianatravel.com/ to book rooms - usually can get a good deal through this site. Also check the hotel's site.

It appears the Monteleone is booked those days, but seems to be room at the Royal Sonesta. I'd suggest a pool view room at RS, unless you'd like a balcony over Bourbon St (I prefer that but a lot of folks don't want to risk it being noisy).

The St Charles streetcars will not be running in the Garden District while you are there. The Canal St and Riverwalk streetcars ARE running.

I like the Omni Royal Orleans and the Ritz Carlton hotels. Both are lovely and January is often an "off" month so you may find good rates.

If you're a B&B person, try www.neworleansinns.com for some of the more popular B&Bs. Also www.bbnola.com for the city's B&B association.

The Royal Omni is a great location, beautiful hotel. The rooms are kind of on the small side. The Ritz Carlton would be nice, too, especially if you got a deal. :)

For music, check out Snug Harbor on Frenchmen St. in the Marigny (just East of the French Quarter) for traditional jazz. House of Blues may have some jazz or blues but their lineup can be all over the musical map. If you have the energy when you get into town on Thursday, take a cab to Vaughn's for Kermit Ruffin's weekly show. It starts late (around 11 PM) but is a good example of a raucous NO style jazz show.
The best blues is usually at the Maple Leaf in the Riverbend area (a cab ride West of the Quarter). As a bonus, you'll be near Brigtsen's & Jacques-Imo's, two of the better restaurants in town. Good online resources for musical listings are www.offbeat.com and www.bestofneworleans.com or look for the print versions for free in coffehouses & bars around town: Offbeat Magazine & The Gambit Weekly.

To everyone who replied thank you vey much for all of your wonderfully helpful advice.
I have sent e-mails to the royal sonesta and the royal omni asking for rates and whether they can organise transfers.
The walking tour sounds like a must with a toss up between the dday museam and a cemetry tour.
carpetbagger thx for the heads up on the music as our plane lands at 20:00 on Thursday i guess we will probably miss vaughns but the mapleleaf sounds good

once again thanks to everyone

Royal Sonesta http://www.sonesta.com/neworleans_royal/

Omni Royal http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel...alOrleans.aspx