Garden District Hotel, New Orleans

The other reviewers who had a bad experience nailed it with stating no service, randomly working elevators, non working AC, dirty room, mildew visible (God forbid if there is mold in the walls)and a lack of courteous staff and competent staff. I am now writing this a year later because I tried to make contact with the hotel for a billing recipt for income tax purposes of my stay there during my relocaton to New Orleans. I was never able to speak to anyone as the Accounting Department extension was no longer in service. It redirected me back to the operator recording which directed me back to the unworking extension. I dialed O as directed for emergency service and once again got the operator recording. I have given up trying to get anyone and would rather take a loss on my income tax than waste my time trying to get in touch with a living being at the hotel. Unfortunately, unless personnel and procedures have changed, I do not have any confidence that my request would be fulfilled. I will redirect any business clients and visitors away from this hotel. It is unfortunate that a historic hotel has been left to languish a slow death.

This place is a dump. Great location. But it is in need of a serious overhaul. Further, the staff does nothing to make your stay enjoyable. "Breakfast" consists of bad coffee, no OJ, and packaged cakes of the quality you would find at a gas station. I would never stay at a New Orleans Clarion hotel. Not this one. Not any other.

This hotel is the worst I've ever stayed at in the U.S. The room had the worst smoke smell. Ceiling plaster had water damage. The sink in the bathroom wasn't affixed to the counter. The shower leaked water all over the floor. I had to use a hand-towel for a wash-cloth, because they were out of new linens. No microwaves in room. Elevator wasn't working so a service elevator had to be used entire trip, until it went out of order also. They never explained that their regular elevator wasn't working. I just walked up 5 flights of stairs because their service elevator broke down. In the elevator wallpaper is pealing. Stay anywhere but here, no matter how cheap the room. This place will put a damper on your visit to The Big Easy!

The room was large and the location was terrific. Unfortunately, the hotel lacks some key amenities such as adequate working elevators, porters, and valet parking. Lines snaked around the lobby with folks waiting for the one ("capacity 6 persons") elevator that was actually working. With luggage, only one or two people could get on a a time. Fortunately, we had a room on the fourth floor, so we could use the stairs; but I felt sorry for people with babies, coolers, etc.--and those poor people on the 9th floor! There were also some hidden charges, such a $6 a day for "amenities"--how about getting some elevators?--and a mandatory $20 a day for parking, even though they could not guarantee a space in their lot and did not have the valet parking that they promised on their website. I wasn't able to get on the lot (it isn't large), but I had to pay anyway. The staff at the desk had so much attitude that they could have bottled it; but I imagine that between the hidden charges and the elevators, they have to deal with a stream of unhappy customers all day long. When I objected to the absence of valet parking and elevators and threatened to go elsewhere, they said "Fine, but you prepaid and you will not get a refund." We paid three times the usual rate because it was Mardi Gras--not a bargain.

We have as saying about hotels - jeans on or not? Meaning is it so bad you have to sleep with your jeans on - this is def one of those hotels. One of the two elevators has been out of order for several years(!), the other barely worked meaning we had to take the stairs everytime to the 7th floor (!), and the lobby/facilities look nothing like the pictures (!) - they should be ashamed of themselves.

When I went to check in I was told that there were no rooms avaible, I told the lady that I had a reservation, she proceeded to tell me that it was first come first serve. What is the use of having a resveration then!!!! Finally she found me a room. We had to walk up 5 fights of stairs to the room because the elevator was not working, then the key cards did not work. when we finally got in the room, the floor was wet and so was one of the chairs. The walls were paper thin, you could hear noise all night long. We will not stay there again!

When we arrived, we expected to be meet by a valet in the front to park our car. Not! Although it stated Valet Service on their website. Then we were told that free parking was provided for guests in the back of hotel. We drove around several blocks and found the parking area, we no spaces available at all. We waited for a moment and got a spot, but after we returned from dinner we had no place to park at 10:00p.m. at night. Was told by front desk clerk to park on the street. I refused, if I had not been tired from driving all day and then going to eat and it had not been so late, I would have packed up and left immediately. But being unfamiliar with safe places to stay in New Orleans, I had to stay. So, I stood in front of the clerk and stared at her for about 5 minutes, she says, "Well, I could move my car and you can park in that space." First of all, the employees should not be parking in the guests parking areas. If all the employees park in the lot that takes up a minimum of 15 to 20 spaces that are not available for guests. The stay that night was not pleasant either. We were placed in a Deluxe King Bed suite right next to the one elevator that was working, but slower than my dead grandmother. Also, there were people yelling and talking in the hallway all night long up until 4:00 a.m. The room was nothing to be delighted about either. The TV was old and you only got 5 stations you could watch without paying. Did not even provide basic channels. Oh, and the TV was in a shelf that faced the window and was not viewable from the bed or the couch in the room. The room was dark, musty smelling. The bathroom was old, with a non-slip mat in the tub that must have been there for 10 years. The shower could not be adjusted, that is to keep it at a comfortable temperature, because it had a tendency to get hotter by the minute. I think they were trying to scald every guest that visited. It was awful. The toilet lid had to be moved in order to flush the toilet, because the toilet had no back. The kleenex box was not new, and they had just stuffed a roll of kleenex in the used box. You had to grab the whole role of tissues out of the box to get one to use. The wallpaper was dull and unattrative. Basically, if this is suppose to be a 3star hotel in New Orleans, someone has been bought off with their ratings. This hotel is not even a 1.5 rating. The staff are not helpful. They are entertaining their friends most of the time, and they do not have security at the hotel. The back door from the parking lot into the hotel is blocked open for anyone to enter at any time. One of our card keys worked and the other did not. I am glad we did not separate at any time. We immediately checked out the next morning. When we went to the parking lot to get into our car. We saw a man working on his car in the parking lot. He had the car up on jacks and had the two front wheels off and was putting new brake shoes on the car. I immediately understood why there were not enough parking spaces. Have you figured it out yet? By the way, I took a picture. Well, needless to say, I will not be staying at this hotel ever again. In fact, don't think I will visit New Orleans again. Hopefully no one is hurt, but another Katrina would not hurt a thing at this point.

The air-conditioning was not working in the room and smelled of smoke. We had requested a non-smoking room but this is what we received. Only one elevator was working so the majority of our 2 day stay involved taking 6 flights of stairs versus a long wait for the elevator. The room was dirty on arrival. It appears the remains of the previous guests breakfast (jam) was smeared on the table in the room. I was definitely surprised upon arrival especially after viewing the the facilities web site and video tour. I would not recommend.

I had a meeting at Tulane and happened to find this hotel on short notice. The price was great and the rooms are large. Parking was behind the hotel and had a guard on duty.Felt very safe.

The air conditioner was not working in our room and it was obvious that it had not worked in a long while as it was very damp and humid when we arrived. The fan was blowing, but the air was not cold. The bathroom smelled like mildew. There must be problems with the cooling system because it wasn't much cooler in the lobby or halls. We called to complain and were told that someone would be up to check on it. When we returned from dinner, we could tell that someone had adjusted the setting, but the room was still a sauna. We called down again and a maintenance man came up. He suggested that we move to another room, but we had already requested it and had been told that the hotel was booked. We checked out at 11:30 p.m. and headed home. While we were not charged for the room, the attendant at the front desk issued no apology.