I recently returned from a stay in New Orleans and stayed 4 nights at the Holiday Inn Express New Orleans Downtown / French Quarter Area. The price and location were great, but that wasn’t enough.
(SEE ALSO: How Buying Points Saved Me 70% On A Recent Hotel Stay)
There were 4 issues (some minor, some major) that would prevent me from ever staying there again.
Unreliable Wifi
Let’s start with the first one which was a pretty big problem – the wifi went out for several hours on one of the mornings of my stay. This started out as not really a big deal – I figured it was something minor where they had to unplug it and plug it back in. But it was out for nearly an entire morning. I had planned on getting some work done in the morning at the hotel before I went to my conference (which was at a different hotel), but without wifi that became impossible. I waited for awhile but eventually gave up and left.
I asked about compensation at the front desk – a few thousand IHG points seemed like it would be appropriate. But the people at the front desk said they’d have to have the manager talk to me (nobody did) and a manager also did not respond when I left a review or emailed the hotel.
No Stairs?
Okay, the next two points are pretty minor and I wouldn’t normally even mention them if there hadn’t been bigger problems. The first is that there was no way to use the stairs to get to and from the main floor. I prefer to use the stairs, especially when I’m on the 2nd or 3rd floor, but at the Holiday Inn Express New Orleans Downtown / French Quarter Area, there was no way to do that. They did have 2 stairwells on each floor, but at the bottom they only had an emergency exit on them
And the elevators were super slow…
Where’s My Cinnamon Rolls!!??
One of my favorite hotel breakfast items is the cinnamon rolls at Holiday Inn Express hotels. I’m not going to say that was a main factor in my deciding to stay at the Holiday Inn Express New Orleans Downtown / French Quarter Area… but I’m not going to say that it wasn’t 🙂
Tragically, this hotel did not have any cinnamon rolls for any of the 4 mornings that I stayed there.
And yes, I know that for many people, these cinnamon rolls are not enjoyed and that’s fine – you travel how you want to travel and let me travel how I want to travel.
Loud Techno Music All Night Every Night
Okay but the absolute worst thing that went wrong and the one that was pretty much a dealbreaker was that just down the street, there was a bar / nightclub that played LOUD techno and dance music in the evenings. I don’t know if it was a “special” time or if this is every night, but there was loud music every night I stayed (Tue-Fri nights) from about 6pm to at least 11:30pm or so. It was so loud that even cranking white noise you could still hear it. I was on the east side of the hotel (nearest to the bar / nightclub) so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad on the far side of the hotel?
The Bottom Line
My stay was okay but these issues (especially the loud noise) would prevent me from ever staying here again. While a few of these were more mild annoyances than others, the loud noise was something that would prevent me from ever wanting to stay here again. I understand that hotels (or anyone) can’t really control the behavior of their neighbors, but with all of the other housing options in the area, the next time I’m in New Orleans, I’m staying somewhere else.
Ever stayed at the Holiday Inn Express New Orleans Downtown / French Quarter Area? Leave your experience in the comments below
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I felt that this hotel had more character than any other Holiday Inn Express I’ve stayed at. The location is pretty ideal too. I found it all to be pretty good considering it’s more of a budget hotel.
The noise is a dealbreaker for me. Your other complaints are first world whinings. Get over it.
Yes – that was really the only dealbreaker for me as well. But * 1 * reason to not stay at the Holiday Inn Express doesn’t make for as good of a post title 🙂
Jimbo, Sleep is not a first world perk, it is a human necessity. I wouldn’t want to stay at a hotel with a loud night club keeping me awake either.
Thanks for the heads up. Almost everything you mentioned is a dealbreaker for me. OK, maybe not the cinnamon rolls. Guess it depends on how much you travel. The more you travel, the more you come to expect. I have stayed in low budget hotels that were absolutely great, and others that, like this have too many strikes against them.
Anyway, had reservations in January for this particular H.I. and cancelled them, so thank you! Saved me from dealing with this!
I’d have maybe felt a bit better if anyone from the hotel had seemed like they cared about any of these issues at all…
Let me know where you end up – last time I stayed at an Airbnb closer to the French Quarter, but it had wifi and noise issues as well.
I love the cinnamon rolls. Loud noise is always a deal breaker for me as well as indifferent management. I stayed at a 4 points in South Beach where my room was right next to the noisest elevator ever! The room next door had parties until 3am every night, and the hotel tried to charge me for parking when I came in a cab!! I had to fight to get any compensation at all.
How hard are cinnamon rolls? If you are out, go to a local bakery or even a grocery store. You advertise them like they are a big deal — so make them a big deal for management, too. That is just lazy.