Rue Dumaine Guesthouse, New Orleans

I am from Louisiana and have been going to New Orleans my whole life. I have stayed in more hotels than I can count, and have also rented a number of condos from VRBO. First, I will have to say that the location of the Rue Dumaine is wonderful. The building has character, the courtyard is lovely, and the the plants and ferns seem to be well taken care of, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rooms. One room had no cushion on the sofa, the chandelier was gone,only wires hanging, no table lamps or other lighting available,except for the light from the bathroom. We had to borrow a lamp from a room that was unoccupied,also no telephone, the TV was sitting on top of a telephone book so that it could be viewed while in the bed, and this was the room that was shown on their postcards and in the brochure; of course this was before the room had been stripped. Pictures were gone, the mirror on the wall was gone- empty picture hangers were testament that the art had mysteriously disappeared. Sound systems advertised were all gone. I must say that the week before I checked in, I noticed the website had disappeared, which of course concerned me. I called the number at Rue Dumaine, and was assured that it was a temporary problem(by the way the website is still unavailable). I had this reservation since January, had even walked past it on a trip at the beginning of April, and felt that everything looked in order. I was there for the first weekend of JazzFest, and if I could have found something that would have accommodated my group, I would have left. I wish my first instinct( when I first saw the website down)would have spoken to me a little louder. We actually saw a couple who had booked one room on the fourth floor pick up and leave, even though they had booked the room for 10 days and had prepaid on their credit card(they had booked the room a solid year before). We also talked to a group of women who had stayed at the property before, and had enjoyed it enough to return for four years, say that something was definitely wrong. Their rooms also had many items missing. Some rooms, whose only closets were armoirs in which to hang your clothes, had them missing, and you could see where they had been, because of the imprints on the carpet. Bedside tables were gone in many rooms, and pictures and art were noticed missing in almost every room, according to the many other guests we spoke to. It is a real shame that this property is going through some type of crisis, however the guests who had reservations should have been forewarned and given a chance to locate intact rooms elsewhere, and noone should have been charged premium prices for the rooms they ended up with. I hope everyone who stayed and had the same experience puts up a fight over the charges that were incurred while staying in rooms that were barely rentable. It is apparent that at one time, a large amount of money was spent getting the eleven guestrooms renovated, and the bathrooms have high end Kohler fixtures, steam showers, jacuzzi tubs, and marble or travetine tile, and from the looks of the furniture that is still left, such as the beds, and a few antiques, it was, at one time, I presume, a grand old New Orleans lady. Unfortunately, she has been stripped and robbed of her former glory, and it's a shame. I would have stayed again, if it had been what it once appeared to be. Maybe new owners will take over, but until then, I advise anyone who may still have reservations at the Rue Dumaine to run, not walk, to another place to stay. You deserve better for your money, especially in these tough times. I want you to proud of New Orleans and Louisiana, as I am, and not let a stay at the Rue Dumaine ruin your visit or leave a bad impression on what is a fabulous city. To the owners, whomever they may be, SHAME ON YOU!! for renting rooms that you knew were unacceptable, and not what was advertised. It seems to me that this is criminal, and I hope you get yours.

My stay was as bad as the Valentine getaway!!!!! Our plan was to get away to the Jazz Fest 2009 and have fun with some friends, but it was a NIGHTMARE! I had booked the rooms back in September 2008, 3rd floor front balcony room and the attached courtyard balcony room, but when I arrived I got the second floor. The manager tried to explain that there was an overbooking and he just couldn't get a hold of the guests that booked the same rooms and there was just nothing he could have done!! He assurred me the 2nd floor rooms were identical to the 3rd floor ones, so I accepted the change. Oh, speaking of the "Manager" who greeted us, he was in shorts and a T-Shirt with a can of Coors beer in his hand, this should have been a warning! OMG, the rooms were horrific: They were smelly, carpets were severly stained and in poor condition, "Luxury Beds", well one was sitting on 4 cement cinder blocks that were clearly visible and in the second bedroom, the mattress and padding kept sliding off the box spring. Comforter was stained, there were no dressers or closets to store or hang our clothes in, ceiling plaster was flaking in both rooms and had fallen all over the floor, electrical outlets in and around the bathroom did not work, ceiling above bathroom was leaking when upstairs shower was in use. Connecting door between rooms was thin and had a 2" gap under so we could hear everything in the next room. Balcony was filthy, I had to clean the chairs, table and window sills because they were so dirty. You needed slippers to walk on the balcony and the carpeted floors because of the filth. Service was even worse, I had to get my own towels, clean my own bathroom and change my own sheets. On the second day of our stay, the place ran out of towels so I had to go down to the pottery barn and buy two towels because the towels we had were used to soak up the water leak in the bathroom so they couldn't have been reused. When we complained about the leak, the lady downstairs said that there was nothing that can be done and just keep putting towels down! It was horrible. Not to mention when we first arrived, the bath tub was dirty and the toilet had streaks. When we asked someone to clean it, they never showed up!!!!! I had to buy disinfecting and cleaning supplies myself and clean it up! Oh, the complimentary breakfast was scarey. Milk and juice containers were placed in a cooler without ice, the coffee was weak and the fruit platter was the same one for 4 days of our stay. OMG, the glasses were filthy. I took a couple to my room and washed them myself! Upon checkout when I spoke to the manager for a discount or waiver, he said the best he can do was 30 bucks discount per night. I accepted only to avoid a major confrontation between the Manager and my husband, because my husband was so furious. If we could have, we would have moved to another hotel, but given that it was Jazz Fest weekend, there were no rooms available in town. The entire experience was a nightmare and I am now in the process of researching the owner of the place and fiing a complaint with Better Business Bureau to get our refund. The website virtual tour and photos are a complete fake. I don't recommend anyone staying here. It's a shame because the house is in a great location and it has charm, it just needs a lot of work! STAY AWAY!

I planned a romantic weekend for my wife for Valentine's Day 2009, but it turned into a NIGHTMARE at this place. "Manager" who greeted us was in shorts and a T-Shirt, should have been a warning! Here's a short list of the problems: Room was smelly, carpet was severly stained and in poor condition, "Luxury Bed" was sitting on 4 cement cinder blocks that were clearly visible, Comforter was stained, ceiling plaster was flaking and had fallen all over the floor, electrical outlets in and around bathroom did not work, connecting door between rooms was thin and had a 2" gap under so we could hear everything in the next room and even SEE feet under the door. We complained but were told no other rooms were available. The hallways looked just as bad so I assume so did the other rooms. The final straw was when we finally decided to stay and try to get some sleep, my wife complained the bed was "lumpy" on her side. When I lifted the matress to check it out, there was a 1/2 empty bottle of Volka under her side of the matress! That was it! We packed up and left. No one was even available downstairs to complain to except a cleaning lady, so we left a strong note for the management and left! It took two weeks, but we finally got them to refund our Credit Card for the room, but they couldn't fix the horrible night we had! STAY AWAY!

What wasn't there to like? The location; right down the street from Jackson Square. How about the ambiance; old charm style with friendly hosts. Wait, i can think of something bad about it...I can't be there all the time! Go and enjoy, much better than a hotel.