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swag

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Everything posted by swag

  1. Most locals and frequent visitors I know consider the French Quarter boundaries to be Canal to Esplanade, Rampart to the River. The Marriott is within that area. I also agree that it's a nice hotel. Enjoy your stay.
  2. Thanks, travelAlot. You're correct, the shared ride shuttle is currently $20 each way, or $38 roundtrip. I've taken the E2 bus a couple of times. It is not a bad option, if you're traveling during the hours it goes to downtown, and if your destination is convenient to the downtown terminus at Tulane & Loyola. Here's a link to info & schedules: http://www.jeffersontransit.org/schedules/E2Airport-Map.htm
  3. Whatever the hotel lists here show, looking at the maps on Priceline, it's clear that currently, the boundary between the DT and CC dones runs down the middle of Poydras St, at least near Tchopitoulas St where the W is located. Since the W is on the north/downriver side of Poydras St, it's in the DT zone. That said, you may not get the W but a different 4* hotel. You should look at the specific locations of the other 4* hotels DT and CC listed on this site, and decide which ones would be close enough to satisfy you, then decide which zone (or both) to bid. I think all the 4* in both zones are no more than about a third of a mile from the W. Whether that's close enough in the New Orleans July heat is something you'll need to decide for yourself.
  4. Where is the concert? How set are you on being in the Quarter itself? The downtown and convention center zones are nearby and still walkable to the FQ, a half mile or less, sometimes right across the street. Including these zones adds a lot more possible hotels. And if the concert is at the Arena or Superdome, they are actually closer to those than FQ zone is. It's not too early to bid, but I wouldn't start bidding much higher until the dates get closer.
  5. Did you get the New Orleans Marriott, or the JW? Two separate hotels, both on Canal St, about 2 blocks apart.
  6. This is French Quarter Festival weekend, and the hotels in downtown New Orleans are as tight as I've ever seen them. When I looked last week via Kayak, there were only hotels in the Quarter / Downtown / Conv Ctr / Garden District areas with rooms for sale at any price, and those were in the $300 range. I'd be very surprised to see any deals come up on PL or HW for that weekend, esp. Fri or Sat nights.
  7. I agree French Quarter is your first choice, but it's only 5 blocks from Canal St, so if no success there, maybe consider Downtown or Conv Ctr zones, the 4* hotels there should all be 10 minute walk or less, maybe 15 if you got the Intercontinental.
  8. Patience. Good PL/HW deals for Jazzfest often don't show up until a few weeks before. With the later fest this year, it may be early April before the deals start breaking.
  9. You're right that Jazzfest is an especially tight time period for hotels, and your particular nights make it even harder (some hotels may have 3 night minimums, plus friday and saturday nights are always busiest). That said, I do think you'll be able to get something under $150. The secret is, you'll need to be patient. Because demand is high, most years, hotels don't release low price rooms to PL/HW until 2-4 weeks before the festival, when they have a better idea of what their inventory will look like. So you may need to wait until April to bid successfully. If you don't want to wait, you might also take a look at the Jazzfest rates at http://www.nojazzfest.com/travel/ There's no requirement to actually attend the festival to book these (thought I really recommend a day at the Fest if you can fit it in, it's my favorite festival anywhere). They have a few downtown properties listed in or near your price range. For example, the Courtyard Conv Ctr for $139, Hilton Garden Inn for $159, Holiday Inn Superdome for $133, Hotel New Orleans for $149... I'm not sure what the availability is at these rates, but it may be worth making a phone call or two. Good luck.
  10. This doesn't seem to be a case of overbooking - the hotel website is still selling rooms for the OP's dates.
  11. I've done the bus, shuttle, and taxi all multiple times. Don't consider the shuttle unless you are alone. With 2 or more, a cab costs about the same and is much more convenient. The shuttle takes the same amount of time from driving from airport to downtown, about 20 minutes. The problem with the shuttle is you may sit at the airport for a while as they wait for more passengers, and if you happen to be the last drop-off, you may spend 20 minutes circling downtown before you get to the Sheraton. The city bus is a good choice is you are traveling light, and during the hours when the bus goes to downtown (before 6:15 pm, weekdays only). From the downtown drop off, it's probably a quarter mile or so to the Sheraton, maybe a bit more. Ok with a carry-on, if the weather is nice, but not recommended with big bags. You could always flag a cab for those few blocks, but the cabbie will likely charge you the hotel-to-hotel $10 flat rate. Evenings and weekends, the bus trip requires a transfer, and I wouldn't recommend that unless your budget is really tight. I have a page that describes these in more detail at http://jazzfest.swagland.com/airport.html, it's aimed at Jazzfest but is valid year round.
  12. Southwest Airlines only opened the schedule thru the dates for Jazzfest this week, and they did a brutally good job of inventory management. On prime days to fly to NOLA for fest (and from NOLA after fest), many or all flights are offering only full fare. I guess they know those flights will fill eventually, at any price.
  13. Looking at the NYOP maps, it's clearly in the Conv Ctr zone. But it's only one long block away from where the French Quarter zone starts. I'd guess that proximity lets them advertise it as a FQ hotel when selling the hotel by name; since the address is given, folks can see exactly where it is.
  14. Lastminutetravel.com has some 3.5, 4, 4.5 star hotels showing as available for those dates, in the $112-140 range.
  15. The list was badly out of date for a while, I'm not sure if it's been updated or not. But in any case, you shouldn't rely on the lists when looking for rebid zones, since these only show reported hotels, and new hotels may have been added (or existing ones removed). Instead, start a new bid, and in step 1, select only the zone you want to check (in your case, airport). The start levels in step 2 will be updated to reflect the available hotels. If 4* is not selectable for that zone, then there are no 4* properties there. Then unselect the zone and select the next single zone you want to check (e.g. garden district). And so on.
  16. Most (if not all) downtown & French Quarter hotels charge for parking, and the typical rate is around $30/night.
  17. Halloween is always a big weekend in New Orleans, and even more so when it falls on a weekend. Plus, you have the Voodoo music festival, Widespread Panic playing 3 nights at the UNO Arena, and a Saints home game. It's no surprise prices are high.
  18. Well, the Sheraton is quite literally across the street from the French Quarter, so the location is good.
  19. First bid. Thanks to others here who have posted wins at this hotel at the same price. Room Cost: $38.00 Taxes and Fees: $13.03 Total Room Cost: $51.03
  20. Both Saturday nights of Jazzfest have been pretty tight this year, so that's a nice deal.
  21. What is PL or HW's obligation in this case, either legally or by their customer service plans? I have friends who booked rooms with HW back in September, for a stay at the end of this month. Today they get a call from HW, the hotel is overbooked, and the reservation cannot be honored. They were offered a room at another hotel, different brand, but run by the same franchisee. It's nearby but in a different zone, a half star higher on HW ratings, but lower on many other sites' ratings and alarmingly worse reviews on TripAdvisor, and different amenities (for example, no comp. b'fast). They were told if they agreed to the switch, Hotwire would give them $25/night coupon towards a future stay; if they declined, they could get a full refund. The problem is, the city is now quite literally sold out for their dates. They are attempting to escalate with the hotel, the franchisee, the national chain, and with Hotwire, but so far, not having any luck. Advice?
  22. Does PRICELINE guarantee a bed? Before you answer, "of course"... The Wyndhan Chateau Bourbon is a 3.5* hotel in New Orleans French Quarter. There are several reviews on TripAdvisor of guests who got assigned to rooms with no bed, only a pull-out sofa. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g6..._Louisiana.html I know there's no guarantee of room type when using PRICELINE, but I'd certainly expect a bed, not a sofa. The PRICELINE site seems to only say your room will "accommodate" two guests. I know my back would be very unhappy sleeping on a sofabed. Thoughts?
  23. That weekend is French Quarter Festival, so rooms in the Quarter will be especially hard. You're likely to find things a bit cheaper downtown, but there are several large-ish conventions in town that weekend too. On a weekend like this, the best deals will likely be last-minute. I'd see if I could book a cancel-able reservation now, then try for a better deal on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE in late March.
  24. Neighborhood-wise, I think Downtown is reasonably safe, until you get too close to the Superdome area. The only hotel on the list here that might worry me is the Holiday Inn Downtown-Superdome, which is 2.5 stars according to the list. So 3* should be okay. The FQ hotels on Bourbon St can be loud, but most of the rest of the FQ shouldn't be too bad, noise-wise. The Convention Center area is also pretty quiet. As far as safety in general, just trust your gut. What is safe during the day may be less so at night, especially if you are alone, and more so if you've been drinking. Cabs are plentiful, and from anywhere in the downtown area or French Quarter back to your hotel should be $10 or less. If you're unsure, that may be money well spent.
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