New Orleans

We are thinking of going to New Orleans, had anyone been there? DO you reccomend any place? Any pros or cons?? Any adivice is welcome. Thanks

Re: New Orleans

Two hotels to recommend, depending on what kind of vaca you're looking for: La Quinta - Downtown (on Camp St.), or the Hampton Inn - St. Charles Ave (in the Garden District).

La Quinta pros: walking distance to the French Quarter (party!), free breakfast, nice clean hotel.

Hampton Inn pros: in a slightly less-touristy and very pretty residential area, the streetcar to take you to the French Quarter is right outside the hotel, better free breakfast than La Quinta, nicer hotel than LQ IMO, and lots of places are a walk or a short cab ride away if you want to get a feel for the rest of the city besides the French Quarter - Audubon Park, local places to eat and shop on Magazine St., etc.

Re: New Orleans

I love New Orleans!!
I have been there several times with friends and by far our favorite hotel is the Omni Royal on St. Louis in the Quarter. It's very close to Bourbon Street & Jackson Square. Some of the rooms are on the small side but the hotel is beautiful.

Re: New Orleans

Message edited 10/13/2009 10:44:08 AM.

Re: New Orleans

We are creatures of habit so this is basically our "to do" list when we go:

Desire for Po Boy sandwichs. It's located in the Sonesta hotel on Bourbon Street.

Pat O'briens for hurricaines and dueling pianos. The drinks are pricy but they include a glass deposit - you get a few dollars back for each glass you return. The room gets really crowded but it's A LOT OF FUN!!

Mr. B's for dinner. They are located in the quarter. The food & service is really good!

Antoine's on St Louis - really good! It's one of the older establishments in the city.

Commander's Palace in the Garden District. We go for the Jazz Brunch. Outstanding doesn't begin to describe the food & service. I think they have a casual place in the quarter but we didn't get there after a particularly late night.

Touche - this is the lounge in the Omni Royal hotel. It's on the side street. It's a little quieter then bourbon street places with a local clientele.

Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait.

Besides eating & drinking we walk around jackson square, the river walk, the market place, wander through galleries that are all over the place and of course Bourbon Street.

Last time, we went on a swamp boat tour. We set it up with the hotel concierge. It was a lot of fun! We had a great tour guide. It's a little expensive (close to $100 pp) but it was so much fun! If it's cool when you go down, wear an extra layer - you go fast on the water so it feels even colder.

there are a million places to go but like I said we know what we like and just stay with that.

HTH!

Message edited 10/5/2009 7:35:06 PM.

Re: New Orleans

Posted by Christine

We are creatures of habit so this is basically our "to do" list when we go:

Desire for Po Boy sandwichs. It's located in the Sonesta hotel on Bourbon Street.

Pat O'briens for hurricaines and dueling pianos. The drinks are pricy but they include a glass deposit - you get a few dollars back for each glass you return. The room gets really crowded but it's A LOT OF FUN!!

Mr. B's for dinner. They are located in the quarter. The food & service is really good!

Antoine's on St Louis - really good! It's one of the older establishments in the city.

Commander's Palace in the Garden District. We go for the Jazz Brunch. Outstanding doesn't begin to describe the food & service. I think they have a casual place in the quarter but we didn't get there after a particularly late night.

Touche - this is the lounge in the Omni Royal hotel. It's on the side street. It's a little quieter then bourbon street places with a local clientele.

Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait.

Besides eating & drinking we walk around jackson square, the river walk, the market place, wander through galleries that are all over the place and of course Bourbon Street.

Last time, we went on a swamp boat tour. We set it up with the hotel concierge. It was a lot of fun! We had a great tour guide. It's a little expensive (close to $100 pp) but it was so much fun! If it's cool when you go down, wear an extra layer - you go fast on the water so it feels even colder.

there are a million places to go but like I said we know what we like and just stay with that.

HTH!

Message edited 10/13/2009 10:46:07 AM.

Re: New Orleans

I absolutely loved New Orleans! DH and I went back when we were in grad school. The food is absolutely amazing! You will have a blast.

Re: New Orleans

Love NOLA. We are going for the 3rd time on the 28th. We stay in the Garden District in a great B&B called the Chimes. It is a great little B&B with a courtyard for the guests. Some restaurants we will be hitting this time are Patois, Bistro Daisy and Lillette. They have great restaurants. The zoo is good too. Also, the plantation tours are interesting. They also have swamp tours as well.

Re: New Orleans

We went last year for a wedding and it was such a wonderful time!

If you are able to, I highly recommend doing a segway tour -- we didn't do one in NO but did one in Paris this past summer and it was the most fun we EVER had!!! You can cover so much ground and they're really so much fun to ride! I remember when we were walking around the French Quarter seeing ads for them.

Have a great trip!