Reviews of Starwood properties - New Orleans

[KeithMEL]

W New Orleans - French Quarter, #2
W New Orleans - Poydras St, #3-4

[KeithMEL]

W New Orleans - French Quarter
Chartres St

This was the W I didn't stay at as it was much pricier than the other one, yet the other one had better reviews.

I walked past it on the way to the pub, and so decided to walk in to check it out.

This W seemed to have a very European style, which would appear to fit in with the rest of the French Quarter. Has a very nice courtyard.

I liked the look of the pool. Would be a nice spot for posing if I stayed here.







It is located right in the FQ which means it's ideally located for nightlife and restos. The other W isn't too far away either.

[KeithMEL]

W New Orleans
333 Poydras St

There were 2 Ws in NOLA and I was quite torn between which to pick. This W seemed to attract much better reviews and seemed to have a better bar scene (another Whiskey Blue). OTOH the other W was in the middle of all the nightlife. All was moot when the W on Poydras came up with a much cheaper rate.

The decor here was my favourite of all - the entire hotel was made to look like a chic nightclub. It simply exuded chicness. So along with the W Chicago-Lakeshore, I'd suggest that decor-wise this W is one of the trendiest in the system. Perhaps this hotel was recently remodeled after Miss K paid a visit, but it seemed to be a lot more cutting edge than the other Ws I've stayed at on my trip.

The Living Room was well-designed, and there was ample seating as well as cool spots to mingle. Besides Whiskey Blue there was also a Living Room Bar. Whiskey Blue was busy, and enjoyed the presence of a young and beautiful crowd (despite the proximity of the hotel to the financial district which would normally imply a more businessy and uhh...mature crowd - no offence!!). OTOH the Living Room was quite dead, but this could be due to the weekdays. So Living Room wise the W SF and W NY-USq are a lot more happening. I'd managed to convince some people I'd met to take their drinks out to the Living Room as I felt it was just so much more atmospheric there than Whiskey Blue - which was basically a cordoned off corner of the Living Room. Besides, I felt the bartender at the Living Room bar was much more adept.

Welcome Desk


Whatever Desk


Living Room












Whiskey Blue


I'd booked a Wonderful Room, the cheapest room category. At check in I was given a choice between a non-smoking corner Spectacular Room on the top floor, or a smoking Fantastic Suite on a lower floor. I was also invited to check out both rooms before making up my mind.

The bedroom of the Fantastic Suite was identical to the Spectacular Room. The Spectacular Room was located at a corner and appeared to have a larger floor plan than others; the Welcome desk agent proudly announced that as a "preferred room" it had a much larger bathroom than the other rooms.

Both the Fantastic Suite and the Spectacular Room came with a large plasma TV, an ipod dock which was practical, and very nice black walls. I feel black walls give hotel rooms that extra edge in the cool factor. Both were also equipped with fax machines. Bathrooms were spacious, and the Fantastic Suite had an extra toilet for the lounge room.

The lounge room of the Fantastic Suite was extremely big - even came with a dining table and wet bar.

The Fantastic Suite didn't smell at all smokey and so I'd elected to take the suite - figured extra space can't hurt.

[KeithMEL]

Spectacular Room + bedroom of Fantastic Suite








Bathroom


2nd WC in Fantastic Suite


Living room of Fantastic Suite










There wasn't any free wifi in the Living Room, however complimentary internet was provided by Wired! which comprised of 2 computer terminals with printing facilities, located directly behind the Whatever Desk. In-room wifi was quite affordable relative to the W NY-Union Sq though.

I ate once at the hotel's restaurant Zoe and whilst the food was great there isn't a whole lot of range. Dinner was basically a free-for-all menu where you constructed your own meal, select your own entree and couple it with sauces, garnishes and sides. I felt there was much cheaper and a greater variety of food at other restaurants in the vicinity, such as Mother's across the road, the French Market, or simply head into the French Quarter.

Service was great, and the staff were very cool people per usual W standards. The concierge took pains to describe the dos and don'ts with food in NOLA after hearing of my shellfish allergy - apparently almost everything in NOLA is cooked with shellfish ingredients of some sort, even non-shellfish dishes.

The hotel is about a 15 minute walk to the nightlife on Bourbon St in the French Quarter, with Canal St just around the corner (the Sheraton and the Westin on Canal St are within a 200m radius). There was a chic shopping mall just on Canal St, about a 5 minute walk away. It was rather misty at the wee hours in the morning and made the streets looked more frightening than they appeared - so I ended up cabbing home most mornings after emerging bleary eyed from Bourbon St. The cab ride wouldn't cost more than 8 bucks each time. It wasn't so bad when it was dawn though as there'd be sunlight and the mist would've largely cleared.

I was extremely satisfied with my stay, and along with the W SF and W Chicago-Lakeshore this property now ranks as one of my favourite hotels in the world. The fact that it's not in the FQ itself is advantageous in that one could actually leave the craziness behind and get some rest before staring all over again later in the day. I developed a bar hop routing when I was in NOLA: 1) Whiskey Blue 2) Living Room Bar 3) Whatever tickles my fancy on Bourbon St and 4) If i'm still going - continue party in suite.

Definitely the stay of choice in NOLA!

[MegatopLover]

I developed a bar hop routing when I was in NOLA: 1) Whiskey Blue 2) Living Room Bar 3) Whatever tickles my fancy on Bourbon St and 4) If i'm still going - continue party in suite.

I have a feeling your fancy got tickled a lot in certain establishments on Bourbon Street.

[HUGE AL]

...along with the W SF and W Chicago-Lakeshore this property now ranks as one of my favourite hotels in the world.

You told me you didn't like the "mature business people" / crowd around the lobby and bar of the W SF. And that room or yours was quite weird.

[KeithMEL]

You told me you didn't like the "mature business people" / crowd around the lobby and bar of the W SF. And that room or yours was quite weird.

If I had to pick a hotel by crowd then it'd be either W NOLA or W NY-Union Sq. But crowds change all the time, and it's beyond the hotel's control who hangs out there. And besides the quality of a crowd is subjective anyway. I like the W SF because the design was cool, the room rocked, I especially like the set up of the Living Room. Plus the location was decent, and service was generally good despite the guy you got on the phone that night. Oh and the staff are good looking.