swag

In past years, February and March have been the hardest times to bid for Jazzfest weekends. If you can live with the uncertainty, you'll probably do better waiting until the first or second weekend of April to bid.

Hotwire has a 3* for around $100 and a 2* in the $50s, so you're not all that far off, price-wise. Rooms are likely being driven up by the Saints. If they win their game next weekend, then on Sunday the 24th, the Superdome will host the NFC Championship, Saturday night will be a huge party, and hotel rooms will be scarce. But if they lose, then lots of folks will probably be canceling reservations they are holding for your weekend and prices should drop...

HOTWIRE has a 3* in the FQ for about $59 for those dates. Probably the Saint Louis Hotel. That's a very good price for a Jazzfest weekend in the Quarter.

Have a look at this map, the purple marks private parking lots and garages. Most will cost less than $30/day. http://www.neworleansonline.com/assets/pdfs/maps/FQMap.pdf

I've stayed at the Sheraton. It's fine, maybe not quite as nice as the IC, but nothing to worry about.

About 7 blocks.

It looks like the Priceline zones for New Orleans have changed since the last time I looked. The old split between CBD and Conv Ctr ran parallel to the river, splitting the Superdome vicinity from the Convention Center area. After Katrina, they were combined ito a single zone, if I recall correctly. Now, the split runs perpendicular to the river, along Poydras St. The map shows the "Downtown" zone starting way down at the River, including everything between Canal and Poydras Streets. The re-christened "Convention Center and Warehouse - Arts District" covers the area between Poydras and the Expressway. Also of note is that the French Quarter zone has been greatly expanded. It used to border at Rampart and at Esplanade. Now, it includes parts of the Treme and Maringny neighborboods, spanning all the way up to Claiborne and downriver to Montegut. Now, I'm not aware of any hotels above the 1* or maybe 2* level in these neighborhoods, but it is concerning, because parts of the new zone are both inconvenient to the tourist areas and more crime-prone than the FQ proper. Also on your Hotel List, the Fairmont has finally re-opened, as the Roosevelt, part of Hilton's Waldorf Astoria collection. No idea if it participates via PL.

The Saints have a home game that Sunday, and there's the Crescent City Blues Festival (http://www.jazzandheritage.org/blues-fest/ ).

You should be able to find free street parking on Sunday and on Monday (Labor Day), so you only need to worry about Monday night >Tuesday. If you are parked on the street Tuesday morning, last time I looked (a couple of years ago), the fine for an unpaid meter or freight zone violation was just $20, if paid online within a week.

The Sheraton is - literally - across the street from the French Quarter.

Taxi rates went up last month. Effective July 2009, the new flat rate to/from MSY airport is $33 for 1-2 people, or $14/person for 3 or more. The fuel surcharge has been dropped. The shuttle is currently $15/person.

The sticky Hotwire hotel list shows the LQ as 2.5*. If it's been upgraded, can we update the sticky?

At the 4* level, I'd be comfortable with downtown. The 4* DT hotels are all very nice and well located fairly close to the Quarter. I'd be a bit more hesitant at the 3* level. Some of the known 3* DT hotels are somewhat out of the way, and a few have some pretty mediocre reviews on TripAdvisor.

I wanted the Grand Hyatt, since I'll be attending an event at Grand Central. Posts on this board showed a remarkable consistency, so I didn't bother with trying to shave a few bucks off, and went right in at the same price that others had found to the the minimum success level here. Thanks, betterbidding.

Yes and yes. Which is to say, the town is packed for Jazzfest (and 2nd weekend, when you're going) looks a bit tighter than 1st weekend, this year. Historically, the best PL & HW deals for Jazzfest come either before New Years, or else very close to Fest. If you can handle the uncertainty of waiting until mid-April, something will likely open up. Keep trying, but be patient.

$50 is a nice price for Jazzfest midweek. Very surprised they offered to extend - $50 would be a fantastic price for over the fest weekend. Second weekend of Fest has been looking pretty tight this year.

You should be able to find cheaper lots within a couple of blocks of the hotel. Depending when you arrive, street parking may even be an option (midday Friday will be tough, but Friday night and Saturday shouldn't be too hard to find).

It's a 5 block walk (under 1/3 of a mile) from Le Pavillon to Canal Street, where the Quarter begins. The St Charles Streetcar, which also runs to Canal St and to the Garden District) is 1 block from the hotel. I'd say it's not quite as good a location as being in the Quarter itself, but the distance is certainly managable. The hotel's immediate area is mostly office buildings, so shops there may be shut down there over the weekend.

I'm assuming you're looking at Tulane & Loyola? Both are on the Streetcar line. But the GD hotels are likely only 5-10 minutes closer than hotels in the Downtown or Conv Ctr zones. Since you say road trip, though, I guess you're driving. It's worth noting that it'll be easier to find free parking in the Garden District than downtown, and hotel parking fees are likely lower too. And the Saints have a home game at the Dome early that Sunday, things in that part of Downtown will be crowded & hectic.

It is a standard cigarette lighter DC outlet.

I haven't stayed at Le Pavillion, but of the other two, I think the Intercontinental is a nicer hotel than the Hilton. Both are nice, but the Hilton is just a bit too big for my tastes. The Intercontinental is actually a bit closer to Bourbon St than the Hilton; the Hilton is closer to the River and to the casino. But the hotels are only 4 blocks from each other, so we're not talking a huge difference here.

Thereuare, the forum new topic email that I received from my subscription said: poser has just posted a new topic entitled "4* New Orleans (Downtown-Convention Center) Marriott Jw, $60 ... 10/15/08-10/19/08" in forum "Priceline - Louisiana". Is it possible the board software truncated the dates from a long title, or did not handle the elpisis (...)? Anyway, poser, more than other citoes, hotel prices in New Orleans tend to be driven by things like conventions and special events, so there may be little correlation between what you pay one weekend vs the next - whether booking directly or via priceline. And, FYI, there's a pretty terrific and free outdoor blues festival going on this weekend just a few blocks from your hotel. Info at http://www.jazzandheritage.org/bluesfest Enjoy your trip!

When I subscribe to receive emails on new posts to a forum, when the email comes, it includes the forum name, thread title, and post body. It does not include the topic description, which by the guidelines of this board, is where the dates and price are included. Anyway, this makes the emails less useful. I'd really like it if the decrription could be included as well. Is there any way to change that, either via my individual user options, or via a global board default?

I've stayed there several times and like that hotel a lot. Enjoy!

Hey thereuare, In your first reply, you said "the Sheraton is much more likely". Here you say "my search i'm 99% certain was the IC". Was one of those a typo, or did something change? Mostly, I'm curious if you have found a way to tell these two properties apart. They've always appeared the same, as far as I can tell; if there's a reliable way to detect the difference, I'd be very interested. Kathy, fyi, I've stayed at the IC and think it's very nice, probably a little nicer than the Sheraton.