Chateau Le Moyne Holiday Inn - New Orleans - Review

NORTH AMERICA

CHATEAU LE MOYNE, FRENCH QUARTER
NEW ORLEANS

This hotel on the north side of the French Quarter has always been one of my favorites.

Just two blocks from Canal Street, and a block from Bourbon, the location is ideal. EVERYTHING is within walking distance; the business district, the SuperDome, Bourbon Street, the Riverwalk, Harrah's Casino, the cruise ship docks, the trolleys on both Canal and Charles Street, and the entire Quarter.

Being a block off of Bourbon has major advantages. You're close to the action, but far enough away to have some quiet when you want to go to sleep.

Constructed of several historic buildings and a contemporary main building, it's hard to realize that this is actually a Holiday Inn.

The hotel has several landscaped courtyards, a swimming pool, a lovely restaurant for breakfast and a beautiful, classy corner bar that opens in the evenings.

The guestrooms have recently undergone refurbishing, from Traditional/Colonial style to one that encompasses a Mardi Gras color scheme. Although the beds are comfortable and the furnishings are lush, I found the purple and yellow to be a bit much. It's a matter of taste; I preferred the subdued hues of the previous furnishings.

The bathrooms are the one place that you can tell you are in a Holiday Inn. They are tiny, have really ugly fluorescent lighting, and the one in my room had not been refurbished. One end of the counter was held together with two really tacky-looking strips of silver electricians' tape. Nails were sticking out on each side where the counter joined at the wall. It ruined the effect of the renovation in the room, which was really large and elaborately decorated.

Many of the rooms have balconies over Rue Dauphine or Rue Bienville. Rooms that face the courtyard have no balconies unless you are in one of the Slave Quarter suites, which overlook the lovely swimming pool.

The small lobby lounge is ideal for chatting over coffee or just sitting with a book. It's beautifully furnished with deep, comfortable sofas, armchairs in conversation groupings, and cherry-wood coffee and end tables.

One of the hallmarks of New Orleans is the hospitality of its people, including (especially) hotel personnel. Most of the staff at Chateau LeMoyne is lovely and engaging --Charlie, the doorman, has been with the hotel for about 18 years and remembers almost every repeat guest-- but I was very disappointed in the snide and officious behavior of one of the front desk receptionists who was rude and unwelcoming. I hope that the management of the Chateau LeMoyne is vigilant on this issue, or the hotel's reputation will suffer. In a city filled with charming hotels vying for every tourist's and meeting planner's business, this hotel cannot afford to retain unsmiling and hostile reception personnel.

I also hope that they renovate the bathrooms, or at least the one in the room I had.

When the pricing is competitive with similar hotels in the French Quarter, this is an excellent choice and I would recommend it. Sometimes, though, it's overpriced and not competitive, in which case there are many other excellent choices.