Liz,

Go ahead to VibeAgent's home page and do a hotel search for New Orleans, and "tag" the Vibe that you're looking for - the search results are ordered based on how well the hotels meet your criteria, and how well the hotels have been reviewed!

You can even do a dateless search if you don't know your dates of travel!

Hi Liz,

I stayed at the Hotel Monteleone last Jazz Fest and had a great stay. The staff was super friendly and the hotel is well located. The rooms are tiny though so be forewarned.

Hi Liz,

I've also stayed at the Hotel Monteleone several and LOVE it. The rooms are small, but the location is perfect. IAnd it has a fun little revolving bar!

Liz -- that depends on where in NOLa you want to be! If you want easy access to the French Quarter, there are a couple of ways to go. There are a spate of hotels up and down Canal St., which is the large boulevard that is western border of the French Quarter.

On Canal :
* generic, but budget & large-group friendly ::
1) Homewood Suites. I routinely stay here anytime I'm in town with a large group. Great French Quarter access, huge/cheap/nice rooms with a large kitchen, and a suprisingly decent indoor pool. This must have been a "nicer" hotel before it became a Homewood. Desk staff immensely nice.
2) Drury Suites. Stay here if Homewood is full -- not as nice.

* luxury ::
1) Le Pavillon. You could just as easily stay at the Ritz, which is blocks away, but why not soak up the NOLa flavor while you're paying $400/night?


In the Quarter ::

1) Iberville Suites :: good little moderate-to-upscale "all suites" hotel that has a lot of great new orleans beaux-arts/kitschy feal in each room.

2) Le Richileu :: another nice moderate to upscale place in the quarter


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Now, personally, I prefer to stay in midtown, on St. Charles. If you really want to get a taste of the local flavor, get away from the tourist trap that is the French Quarter.

If you really want to do it up, stay at The Columns Hotel, at Napoleon and St. Charles. Each room is totally unique, hand-appointed and has high ceilings. The Colums ALSO happens to be my favorite bar and makes the best (well, arguably) Bloody Mary's in town. Envision sitting on a huge porch of an old St. Charles St. mansion, drinking a Pim's cup, bloody mary -- whatever your pleasure -- classic new orleans.

Also, I recommend the Hampton Inn in midtown as well -- nothing special, but its got great access to midtown/uptown as well as Magazine St., in addition to being a short hop down St. Charles to the muck of the Quarter...

Let me know if you have any specific questions about new orleans -- I'm from there and always super-psyched to give people advice!