New Orleans Travel Answers

Finding a place in New Orleans near downtown and the French Quarter is nearly impossible on a weekend in March. Rates that are sometimes % 75 a night like at the Country Inn went up to 200 a night for the weekend. However if you are willing to stay out a little farther out I found a Super 8 Motel that everyone seems to rave about over on 6322 Chef Menteur Highway. The rates are about 80 a night with taxes when a special event is not going on. Here is a link to some recent reviews; tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review... I think your son would love a trip on the St. Charles Streetcar. In addition, New Orleans has one of the coolest zoos with an amazing insectarium. They have a great swamp exhibit as well. The cost is fairly reasonable too. It's also close to the streetcar line. Here is a link; auduboninstitute.org/visit/z... Hope this helps :)

Thank you for your advice. Is this hotel in a decent neighborhood and how far is it from everything?

Your son might like the WWII Museum, and possibly a ride on the ferry over to the other side of the Mississippi or a trip up to the Battle of New Orleans site (if they still do that). When I was there about that age I think we had a carriage ride, and I remember going to some fancy restaurant for breakfast. Riding the trolleys was fun, and I loved pralines.

From what the reviews said some of the adjacent buildings still show some damage from Katrina. Most of the reviews seem to be ok with the area. A good thing about this hotel is that the location is very easy to find off the expressway and the price is absolutely unbeatable for clean nice rooms in N.O.

Hey. As one person said it is quite difficult to book a hotel around this time of year but there are some opportunities. I understand that you will have your eleven year old soon so the option that I'm going to suggest may or may not be for you. My mom and I are going to New Orleans after my brothers graduation from Lackland and I found a couple of really good places on hostels.com. Alright, you see the word hostels and you're thinking about your eleven year old son. The two places I'm going to recommend are withing walking distance to the French Quarter and "amicable" family places. One suggestion is the India House Backpackers which has private ensuite rooms that you would have to book for four people and that would be 400 dollars from March 2-5 (right on top of your preferred cost)and another one is St. Vincents Guest House which would cost you about 360 from your preferred dates. Another option that I use and one that you could consider is checking out this website www.airbnb.com which is basically people renting out their homes, apartments...etc.etc... For the hostels check out hostels.com and the private homes www.airbnb.com Keep an open mind, check out the costs and locations and you could find something much, much better than a hotel.

There are some good places to stay in Metairie, safe and just a 10-15 minute cab ride to the quarter. Both of my boys were born there and we left when they were 10 and 12. There are lots of things that your son will enjoy. Consider doing a swamp tour. If you don't want to spend the money for an organized tour just go out to Jean Lafitte National Park and they have raised walkways out over the swamp. The water lilies will likely be in bloom as well.

Hope it's not too late to discourage you from the Super 8 on Chef Menteur. There are better budget hotels in less sketchy areas. Metairie is a good place to look, as well as on the "Westbank", just across the Crescent City Connection (10 minute drive to the FQ). TONS of kid-friendly stuff to do in New Orleans! I have nephews around your son's age, and depending on what he's into...a ghost or cemetery tour could be ghouly fun. They also LOVE the Insectarium. If you're planning on doing the zoo, too, there are a few package deals that get you into all of the Audubon properties (including the IMAX Theater) for one price, like this one: neworleans.com/new-orleans-t... Kids love Cafe du Monde; if he's into music at all, lots of great bands and street performers along Royal Street and around Jackson Square (near Cafe du Monde).