almc

We are planning a trip to New Orleans on March 4, 2005 and I have booked a room (king with a balcony) at the Bourbon Orleans for $209 a night...was also given price of $143 for same room without balcony.. they just did "millions" in renovations, has anyone been there since the renovations and your thoughts...and also do you think it's worth the extra money for balcony (again it's early March..not sure we'd use it) and would be about $200 more for the three nights OR is it not worth either price and is there a better place...called alot of hotels and their rates seemed good
thanks so much, Amy

Dan

The hotel looks beautiful from the outside. They wisely took out the lower-level rooms facing Bourbon and coverted them into a cool jazz bar, an upscale gay bar and some meeting rooms. Much better use for this space! As for the balcony, I'd ask to make sure it's a private balcony as I'm not sure if the B.O. has private or "community" balconies. I, for one, would rather have the private balcony!

Hotel is in a great location! If you don't get the balcony room, I'd ask for an interior room to help cut down on street noise.

almc

Dan,
have you stayed at the hotel..getting alittle concerned about negative reports I am reading on boards but they are all a year old and wondering if they are not issues anymore now that renovations are done or is it....thanks Amy

Dan

I live in New Orleans now so I haven't stayed recently. I did stay there twice before moving here and I had complaints of my own. I assume the renovations took care of the moldy a/c, nasty carpet, etc. As I said, the place looks great from the outside now!

detroit_sg

Hi-
I travel on a girl's trip to NO almost every spring. We last stayed at the Bourbon Orleans in May 2003. For the first time, we had a balcony room, facing Orleans. We were really disappointed in it--the carpet was filthy, the mini-bar refridgerator was broken, etc. The balcony was not private. We didn't notice the noise (could be, we tend to be the noisy ones!). I think the balcony rooms tend to draw the people that are there to seriously party, so it is more difficult to keep them up. We had much better luck in previous years staying in a room that faced the pool courtyard. About a month ago, one of the women I travel with was in NO on business and she checked out the renovations. She thought everything was much improved and based on her assessment we've decided to stay there again. However, we are opting not to stay in a balcony room again. With all of the outdoor dining options, plus the walking, etc., I'm not sure $200 extra is worth it. Go have a fantastic dinner with that $200!