Holiday Inn Express French Quarter / Downtown New Orleans

Good points - Great location, nice rooms. Bad points - Your room may not be available when you arrive. I arrived near check-in time so I received my room. However, the bellman told us that the Cotton Exchange routinely overbooks and he has seen countless frustrated customers (including one guy who slept in his car in front of the hotel when his reserved room was given away.) Also, it costs $17 to valet park. The $6 parking lot across the street is a much better value.

You need to let them know if you want your room cleaned or else they will only clean it on Sun. & Wed. Location is not far from everything. Don't expect too many amenitities if any at all. Decent place for the price. We had a King bedroom which was nice. Our friends had 2 double bedroom they weren/t happy with their room or the water pressure from the shower. Our shower was fine.

Our only bad experience in New Orleans last week was dealing with the Cotton Exchange. We had 2 rooms confirmed. They gave them away and blamed hotels.com. They called a car to take us to another hotel in the French Quarter. This car never showed. The Cotton Exchange is poorly run, unimpressive and I will never do business with them again. Rob Pierce

We were pleasantly surprised with this hotel. We arrived by car not knowing what to expect of New Orleans. Tired we checked into a comfortable ,new and well designed room overlooking Carondelet St. The rooms are large and and very clean. The staff were pleasant and helpful when we needed directions to all the sites. One short block we crossed over Canal St. to Bourbon St. in the French Quarter--excellant location. Harahas Casino is a short 4 block walk down Canal St. It is in a quite area(only after midnight ) due to the cable cars in front of the hotels--great place to catch a ride to the Garden District. We felt completly safe walking the streets after dark.The hotel has no restaurant but has a good plus breakfast bar. All restaurants are close by in the French Quarter for other meals.We came a week before Mardi Gras(off season) and the rates were very good--$55. per night-booked through the Holiday Inn internet site. The only down side is the parking fee of $16.95 a day--suggestion --if flying catch a limo or shuttle to the hotel (all attractions are within walking distance or by tour guide services)We were so impressed that on our continued trip to the Florida Panhandle we stayed at 2 other Holiday Inns with the same good results--all booked through the Internet.

I saved a lot by staying at the Holiday Inn Express, (on Carondelet St, New Orleans.) It was a surprisingly well appointed, well located hotel with a friendly, professional staff. And with all the money I saved- I had some fabulous New Orleans meals!Price: I payed $89 per night. This was much less than some of my colleagues, who paid $210 (the so-called 'discount conference rate')at the nearby Marroitt on Canal St and complained about their tiny rooms(although some had nice views.) The price I payed was excellent as I was there 2 weekends before Mardi Gras. Everything else was full or much more expensive. And I got this rate- not through some shady discounter, but from Holiday Inns themselves The rates seemed to change from day to day, so you may need to make a few tries. Location:Very good location. Not in the French Quarter proper, but right on the edge. (literally 1 block from the start of Bourbon St. Just across Canal St) Very close to everything. I walked everywhere. I never needed to take a cab. I took a streetcar once to get to the Garden District. The St Charles Ave Streetcar stop is 1 minute from the hotel (corner of Carondelet and Canal) It's a cool (and cheap) ride. Accomodation:I expected a bare bones shoebox and was pleasantly surprised. The hotel is tastefully decorated and relatively clean and new. I hope it doesn't get trashed by partiers too quickly. It is in the old Cotton Exchange building, so it has some character, although this is by no means an historic French Quarter style hotel. My room was smallish but had a very high ceiling and large interesting window, which gave a sensation of a bigger, more interesting space. I was not embarrased to invite a business colleague up. The bathroom was modern and clean. The phone had a 2nd line for plugging in my laptop. So I could still receive calls while going on the internet. And connecting to the net didn't cost me extra because local calls were free. There was a coffee machine and hairdryer in the room.Continental breakfast was free and more than adequate. If you miss bacon and eggs, there are several fast food joints within a block or two. I didn't miss the lack of hotel restaurant, room service, gift shop etc. 2 good places to eat nearby: 1)MotherCluckers- nice hippy-run salad and chicken place across the street. 2)Red Fish Grill (just across Canal St, on Bourbon) is an excellent Fish restaurant. Laissez les bon temps roullez!!

A word of warning: We booked 6 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express (also the Cotton Exchange Hotel----they share facilities/management/building) on Carondelet Street way back in Aug. 2002 for arrival in Feb. 2003. ONE day before we left for New Orleans, the manager called to inform me that he had taken the liberty of transferring us to another Holiday Inn Express SEVEN miles out of town! Very upset, I explained that I had had these supposedly guaranteed reservations for over 6 months and that the sole reason we had chosen this hotel was for it's proximity to the French Quarter as we all wanted to be able to walk to the sights, and for the good rate I had gotten. He more or less said "Too bad, we've already changed your reservation"!!!! I asked if somehow they had overbooked the rooms and learned that this was NOT the case----a convention was coming in to town and "conventions were their priority". I later learned that the conventioneers were paying $200+ for the rooms-----our rate was to have been $79.00.......hmmm........think this had anything to do with them booting us out? The other Holiday Inn was nice enough, but, like I said, seven loooooong miles out of town, on a highway, without the French Quarter atmosphere we had all wanted for over half a year! Plus we had to pay an exorbitant price for taxis in order to go & see the French Quarter!!!! I cannot BELIEVE this happened to us and am still most angry!!! The manager DID say that we were welcome to make our own alternate arrangements---------what a joke! Let HIM try to find a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of the Quarter, during a convention, with ONE days notice! The management here displays a total disregard for customers, unless, of course, they are willing to pay more than the rate the room(s) were already reserved for! Book here if you dare, just be aware that if a "higher bidder" comes along, you just may be transferred WAY out of town, & not informed until you get to Ne

Excellent hotel for the $$$. Our rooms were small..but very tastefully decorated. The high 20 ft ceilings gave the impression of a much larger room. The staff was friendly, helpful and curteous. The location is excellent..a short 1 1/2 blk walk to Bourbon St..but far enough away from the noise. St Charles streetcar runs right in front of the hotel and you only had to walk 1 blk to catch it. I highly reccomend this hotel.

When I arrived, the type of room I thought I had booked some months before was not available. They put me in another, but it wasn't what I had asked for. However, the next morning (a Sunday,) they happily moved me to a room much more to my liking. I'd be aware of the overbooking warnings posted elsewhere.

Does this hotel ever have any rooms? We arrived to find they were over-booked. Solution: Send across the hall to the Holiday Inn. Apparently, the two hotels share space. We said, "No thank you. We don't travel to New Orleans to stay in a Holiday Inn." We departed and found a lovely room at Hotel Monaco.

Warning to potential customers of the Cotton Exchange Hotel: To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld: This hotel understands the "Taking" of reservations, but they don't seem to get the "Keeping" part. This hotel customarily overbooks and there is a good chance you will show up with an expedia

confirmation number, and find out some high roller has taken your room, and you are left out cold in the damp streets of New Orleans. In my case, they not only refused to upgrade me to another room (as any respectable hotel would) but they sent me to a damp smelly hotel 10 blocks away. They conceded to pay my cabfare (I had 80 lbs of

luggage) only after a bit of unpleasant exchange. SO BE FOREWARNED!