Why New Orleans?
I absolutely love New Orleans and everything about it. I have actually been quite a few times over the past 10 years which all started with a best friend who was from Louisiana and all of her wedding festivities. During her wedding planning and events alone, I think we were down there at least 3 or 4 times. There isn’t another city quite like New Orleans – the charm, the spooky vibes you get when walking around, almost feeling like you have stepped back in time. I also have quite a few funny stories from New Orleans. I went a few years ago for a wedding and my car got stolen from hotel valet! I ended up having to rent a car from the airport and drove back to Memphis without my car. About a month later, right before I was about to get the insurance check for a new car, they found my car and it had been taken on a month long joyride.
Despite the car thing, I returned to New Orleans many times after that because I love the city so much. I always told my Mom that I wanted to take her to see it because it’s a city that you can’t quite describe to people … you just have to go and feel it.
Where We Stayed – Le Pavillon Hotel
There are several areas of New Orleans, most notably the French Quarter where all of the partying and fun happens. I’ve been there and done that in my 20’s, so when I decided to take my Mom down to NOLA for the first time, I knew I wanted us to stay somewhere a little more low-key and quiet. Fortunately, I was very excited to work with Le Pavillon Hotel to review their hotel and property. I will tell you that I immediately recognized the Le Pavillon Hotel because it has beautiful huge white columns that line their porte-cochère. I remember driving by in years past and thinking, “Wow, that must be a really nice hotel.”
The first thing I loved about Le Pavillon Hotel was the fact that while it is on a busy road, it’s in a quieter part of town, meaning there isn’t a ton of foot traffic or loud pedestrians cruising by at 1 am. We were lucky enough to get to stay in one of the suites, specifically the Poydras Suite, and it was so beautifully decorated and had two huge bedrooms that were flanked by the enormous living area. Each of the suites at Le Pavillon are a different decor theme, with some of them being dark and stately (i.e. the Napoleon Suite) and others being more manly and woodsy. We were very impressed with our suite and loved every little detail.
One of my favorite things about Le Pavillon is their tradition of PB&J every evening at 10pm in the hotel lobby. The tradition started when they had an out of town guest who would request PB&Js and milk because he was a regular business traveler and this was something he did when he was at home with his daughter. The tradition stuck and it’s still around today- every single evening, the hotel makes a peanut butter and jelly buffet with hot chocolate and milk in the hotel lobby. It was so neat to get to witness this tradition first hand and we thoroughly enjoyed having a late night snack.
Where We Ate
One of the best things about New Orleans is the food! Since we were only there for 48 hours we didn’t have that much time to eat at a ton of different places, but I did get to sneak in a couple of my favorites. These restaurants are must visits if you will ever be in New Orleans – they will absolutely be worth your while and I promise they are amazing!
1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130
209 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130
800 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Carousel Bar at Monteleone Hotel
214 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130
What We Did
As far as what all we did, there wasn’t much time for anything but we did manage to squeeze in one of my favorite things, a Fat Tire Bike Tour. I love taking bike tours in cities because you get to see a lay of the land and learn some interesting facts along the way. Our bike tour was a “beyond the French Quarter” bike tour and we got to see many things that a normal New Orleans tour wouldn’t include. We got to see many places including City Park, Treme Neighborhood, Saint Louis Cemetery No. 3, Louis Armstrong Park, Faubourg Marigny, Congo Square, and Avenue of the Creoles.
Hope you all enjoyed this quick New Orleans City Guide – let me know any other recs in the comments!