Hotel confusion

My husband and I will be traveling to New Orleans in August, and after spending many, many hours reading trip advisor (yes, I am obsessing), I had narrowed my hotel choices down to either the Omni Royal or the Monteleone. I was leaning towards the Omni because it seems a wee bit more central. Now I have found this website called cheapostays.com - they advertise the Iberville Suites at $82.00 per night and the Ritz for $91.00 per night! While sill a good deal, both the Omni and Monteleone would be over $110-120 per night. I like the idea of having a wetbar and refrigerator for leftovers at Iberville, as well as the larger rooms, but can live without these things too. I also like the idea of the luxury of staying at a Ritz (something I could not normally afford). So, now I am just totally confused! What would you do?

Also wanted to thank all you regular posters out there. As I mentioned earlier, I have been reading the forms obsessively and gotten so much helpful information. Thanks!

Hotel confusion

I would totally stay at the Ritz. Keep in mind that the French Quarter is not very big, and these hotels are only about a few blocks from one another. The Ritz is about two blocks or so from Bourbon St, and it%26#39;s considered to be one of, if not the, top hotel in the city. Enjoy!

Hotel confusion

I%26#39;m pretty surprised to see the Ritz Carlton advertised at $91. If that%26#39;s a real price by a reputable company (never heard of cheapostays.com--do some research!), JUMP ON IT!

Personally I would stay at the Monteleone as it is a one of a kind type of place and I love the look of the old hotel with individual styling both inside and out. But it is not often one can get such a great deal at a Ritz either. Tough choice.

Just make sure to find out about all the unspoken add ons when booking a hotel, as they can add up to a chunk of change. Call and ask what the FINAL total per night would be for the room including tax, license and dealer prep (LOL) but you now get my drift! Also ask the nightly rate for parking (if you will have a car that is.) Knowing all this may make up your mind for you!

As the previous poster stated, I would not base your decision on the location as the FQ is not large at all, so a few blocks different should not matter that much.

Thanks to everyone for your input! Cajunwave - I was a little skeptical too - I had not ever heard of cheapostays.com either. I found it as a link through travelzoo.com. I googled it to see if words like ';scam'; and ';ripoff'; came up, but nothing like that came up and I did find a reference to it on Frommer%26#39;s, so I am hoping it is legit. I also found a promo code (HOTEL15) that you can use for an extra $15 off. If I go through the whole process with taxes, fees, etc. tacked on, the Ritz comes to $107.35 a night and the Iberville comes to $89.72 a night. I still haven%26#39;t decided though. I know that the FQ is relatively small, but I guess that the only reason I was even worrying about it is that we will be there in August. We are from Fairbanks, AK and are not used to that kind of heat %26amp; humidity and I was thinking that a few blocks might make a difference in the heat of the day. (If you see two pasty white people drenched in sweat %26amp; gasping for air walking down the street, it may be us :) However, it seems it is only a short walk to the street car if we don%26#39;t want to walk or we could take a cab, but I digress. I will let you know if I end up using cheapostays.com. If it%26#39;s legit, then you can get some killer deals there. Thanks again!

The Ritz and the Iberville Suites are nice and well located. The Omni and the Monteleone are more ';NOLA culture.'; Depending on what you like, all of the four are great hotels.

My husband and I stayed at Iberville Suites in December and were very happy with the room and service. However, since you are coming in August, you will definitely want to be able to use a swimming pool, and the Iberville does not have it%26#39;s own pool. They have the use of the pool at the Ritz, but you have to pay a separate fee to use the pool...so, you would probably be just as well off price-wise to go ahead and book the Ritz.

I haven%26#39;t stayed at the Monteleone but have been in the lobby and the Carousel bar and it looks very nice.

Just wanted to post an update on my research on cheapostay. They are owned by cheapoair and I have just finished reading all sorts of horror stories about cheapoair on the air travel forum on TA. http://tinyurl.com/28xp8q So glad I found this - I feel like I just dodged a bullet. Anyway I just wanted to pass this along in case I got anyone else excited about staying at the Ritz (I know I was)! Now I guess I%26#39;m back to deciding between the Monteleone and the Omni.

Yep, I had a terrible experience last summer with cheapoair when my 18 year old daughter traveled to Europe with a small group. Glad to hear that you did thorough research.

I would recommend the Omni. The Omni Royal Orleans is a New Orleans classic; I%26#39;ve stayed there since I was a little girl when my parents would take me to New Orleans for the weekend! It is centrally located and a lovely well maintained property. In August you will enjoy their beautiful pool/cabana with a magnificent view of the city.

Don%26#39;t know exactly when you%26#39;re coming in August but as you know, August is very hot/humid and hurricanes strike many times toward the end of the month into September. I would suggest making reservations directly with the hotel so you can easily cancel if things are stirring up in the Gulf. Let%26#39;s all pray that we are skipped this year but it never hurts to be prepared.

Hi,

My husband and I stayed at the Ritz recently. It was our first time in NO. We opted for the Club Room deal (or something like that) which gave us access to the Club Room, a truly divine lounge/library area with free meals and drinks throughout the day. I would say that it was one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. The service, food and rooms were gorgeous. I would definitely stay there again. The only negative that I would say is that it is at the far corner of the French Quarter. Although, the walk down to the main area is not far at all, you need to be careful that you walk down the main tourist area roads to get there. Despite everyone%26#39;s insistence that NO is safe, we felt that venturing out of the French Quarter at some times of the day (or night) was not particularly safe.