Walter Lang and I are planning our honeymoon (yes, yes, 6th thread about the wedding, I’m bridezilla, etc, etc) and New Orleans is the leading contender; however, I have a couple of questions that I can’t seem to get a clear answer from via google.
So - how is it doing? Specifically the French Quarter - we’re planning on staying at the Hotel St. Marie or the Prince Conti hotel - I stayed at the Hotel St. Marie when I was in New Orleans in 1999. I’m wondering how much damage did the French Quarter recieve? Will it be similar to what it was like in '99? Were large parts of it washed away? I keep hearing that it was mostly undamaged, but I dunno.
How is crime there? Assuming we don’t act like fools, are we going to be safe? Has it changed since Katrina? Gotten worse? Better?
Last time I was there, there were walking tours and bus tours of the French Quarter, the Garden District, Swamp Tours, etc. Those are still going on I guess, but are any of them no longer worth the time?
We’re planning on going in November - last time I was there in February. What’s the weather like?
Really, the number one question is, is New Orleans recovering?
I would hate to go and be depressed if the city is still a disaster area, but I can’t seem to get an answer via google. Are our honeymoon dollars going to be well spent there? I appreciate that the area needs the money - that’s one of the reasons why it’s in the number one spot. However, we don’t want to go and be miserable.
My boss went there during off season (not Mardi Gras) and she said it was fine. I think if you stay in the touristy areas the crime thing is under control for the most part. She had a really good time and ate like it was her job.
When I was there (for the first time ever) this past summer, I worked in the French Quarter. If I had not known about Katrina, I would have said that there had never been any nature-related trouble in that area. There were a few stores that my aunt and uncle told me to look for that were out of business, but other than that, the French Quarter was great, I took the St. Charles streetcar every day, went to the Audubon Zoo, all the typical stuff, and it was fantastic.
Just based on my limited experience, of course, but I would go back in a heartbeat. It was fantastic.
We stayed in the French Quarter for New Years this year. That whole area is fine, it’s the residential areas several blocks away that are still devastated.
I had never been before so I can’t tell you how it compares to before, though. Crime did not seem to be an issue while we were there. We went to the zoo, but pretty much kept to the French Quarter after that.
Native checking in here. The French Quarter is part of the relative high ground in New Orleans and it, along with other areas near the river, did not flood. The main difference between 1999 and today is that the city has been much more agressive about keeping the FQ clean. All areas get daily garbage pickup, the streets and sidewalks are pressure washed, the bad smells are mostly gone.
Crime continues to be a concern here. Violent crime is mostly confined to neighborhoods where drugs and poverty are a constant challenge. Odds are that if you keep your wits about you and keep to the tourist areas you won’t fall victim to crime.
The tours are still offered by many of the same companies. Given that I live here, I don’t feel the need to take them, so I cannot give good advice on which are more worth your time. I enjoy the occasional trip on one of the riverboat tours. I hear some people are moved by the disaster tours.
A lot like February. You can expect highs in the mid to high 70s and lows in the 50s/60s. If a cold front has moved through, expect highs anywhere from mid 40s to mid 50s with lows in the high 30s. Earlier in November is drier and warmer than late November.
Depends on where you go. The parts of town that are favored by tourists and/or that had businesses frequented by lots of locals as well as tourists have recovered, and in some cases are better than before. Poorer, lower lying neighborhoods are mostly struggling. Unless you get out of the FQ, Garden District, Magazine Street, Uptown areas, you won’t see them.
Lots of our friends have come to visit us in the past couple of years and all have had a good time. For the most part, the service industry is very appreciative of visitors and hotel and wait staff are striving to make sure that people from out of town have a good time. As such, if you loved your last trip to New Orleans, you’ll enjoy this trip as much if not more.
Go there a lot. It’s business as usual in the tourist areas and most of town. Crime is (always)an issue, but sticking to the quarter and popular areas in the Marigny, uptown, etc., you’ll be fine. Cabs are cheap, so when in doubt, have the bar/restaurant call you one (You’re a cab - bada boom).
I was there right after Katrina doing some work, and aside from the desolation and extra-garbage, you could hardly tell the quarter was touched (most of it didn’t flood).
Here’s some unsolicited advice:
If you’re at the Prince Conti, there’s a great little pub right across the street called the Erin Rose. Good mix of locals and tourists. Good jukebox, usually fun atmosphere.
For some fun, take the streetcar way uptown to Jacque-Imos (get there early).
For a romantic dinner, make a reservation at Bayona.
While most of the popular places are okay (Emeril’s NOLA, Brennan’s, K-Pauls), they’re not the best. Check out Chowhounds for some good advice.
Find some live music on Frenchmen Street.
Be sure and tell people it’s your honeymoon. The bartenders might not do anything, but your fellow bar patrons might.
Do it! If you have some image in your head about a war-torn blasted shell of a city, banish them. I was down helping some friends in October after Katrina, and that was fairly depressing. I just got back from this years Mardi Gras, and as far as I could tell it was business as usual.
If you end up at the Erin Rose, and Evil Bob is working, say hi from Scratch’s Friend Bill.
I was there in late-May, staying at Degas House and hanging out a bit at The Art House on Esplanade. I was disappointed that Kaldi’s was no longer there, but the Quarter looked like the Quarter. As has been mentioned, the Quarter is relatively high (take that however thou wilt!), so it didn’t suffer as much as other areas.
Everyone warned me not to walk back from the Quarter to my lodgings late at night. Hey, it was a $5 cab ride and it saved me a walk. We (the Art House gang) staggered drunkenly from The Art House to a dive on Esplanade with no worries.
Keep an eye out for the ‘Fred Sez…’ graffiti. Fred Radtke is an anti-graffiti vigilante who is not well-liked among artists. He paints over graffiti with grey paint. So certain people have created a stencil of Fred’s head with a word balloon people can fill in, which they paint over his grey splotches. Wait… Let me see if I can find a picture… Here’s one.
Just a little something to notice when you’re there.
I used to live there and went back with my family about a year ago. The touristy areas were in good shape and somewhat cleaner than they used to be. The crowds are barely thinner in the French Quarter but the atmosphere is still there. I say go. They really aim to please these days and the prices can be very cheap for what you get. Our hotel room was luxurious and part of the Four Seasons complex and it was only about $90 a night.
That’s at 830 Conti, right? Jager Haus is a German/Bavarian bistro at 833 Conti. I read about it in Gambit and had to try it out when I was there. I ended up going again. IIRC I had (not on the same trip!) German and American potato salad (the latter with apples or pears in it – I’ve forgotten which), rabbit liver paté, Wienerschnitzel (pork, as they don’t have veal), Spätzel, and goulash. It was all quite good, and not expensive.
I was in New Orleans last April for the ACS conference. The French Quarter looked like I’d always imagined it or had seen in the media (first time there.) Basically, I agree with the others who have said that in that area it looks like nothing happened. That said, I spent one night in a hostel right off Canal (somewhere there is a thread in IMHO of me asking for help; I can post a link if desired) that had taken a decent amount of damage during Katrina, but you couldn’t tell after 2.5 years. I then moved into a hotel on the other side of Canal (on Camp, I think, or maybe St. Charles) which I was quite happy with and, again, you couldn’t really tell anything had happened.
That said, one of the saddest sights I remember was when I was walking back from the French Quarter up Canal to the hostel (I was low on cash and I’m never gambling at a Harrah’s property again.) There was (and quite probably, still is) a massive tent city under the interstate. I didn’t feel unsafe at the time, but it was the middle of the afternoon and I had my head on a swivel without really showing it, the way I always do when I’m in an area I don’t know that could be dicey.
I’d say go. I’d like to go back sometime soon without having to constantly worry about making it to and from a conference several times a day (often in a suit), which would let me get out of the French Quarter and the CBD and into other areas, especially if I had a week or so. Of course, other than maybe one trip to Bourbon at night with my fiancee (more so she could experience it), I’d personally probably stay out of the area at night. It’s just not my thing.
I agree that seeing a huge homeless camp isn’t a comforting experience, but you stumbled upon more of a scene of political theater than a genuine marker of urban decay. A well-meaning group has been ‘collecting’ the homeless, bringing them to visible areas (the camp used to be right across from City Hall), giving them tents, providing them with a few bare necessities, and then using the shock value to lobby for more public housing. It hasn’t worked as a political tool and last time I was down that way the camp was gone.
sounds like you are doing all the right things: coming in November when the weather will be wonderful, staying in the French Quarter for a honeymoon… you are good!
Katrina is over-except in the memories of the locals, that will take a long time- and besides the Quarter wasn’t flooded. Crime is like any city. Be sensible and you are as safe in N.O. as anywhere. The Quarter can easily take all your time but if you can get out at least a little. ride the street car, visit the zoo, tour the Garden District… well that just used up a day or two. If you want a nice memory, visit Longue Vue. Only about 20 minutes from the Quarter with a tour that only takes about an hour, it is a Garden Home that is caught in time. Nice to see how the family rich enough to have the first central A/C in New Orleans lived!
If you want a nice memory, visit Longue Vue. Only about 20 minutes from the Quarter with a tour that only takes about an hour, it is a Garden Home that is caught in time. Nice to see how the family rich enough to have the first central A/C in New Orleans lived!