Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans (Mardi Gras Hotel Review)

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Back in February, Ken and I took a bucket list trip! Mardi Gras! I did a quick recap post when we got home, but I’m starting the full trip report today! Starting with a review of our hotel, the The Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans, a Waldorf Astoria property.

We booked our hotel for Mardi Gras 11 months in advance. I opted for the Roosevelt, a Waldorf Astoria property in New Orleans. It was close to most of the major parade routes, close to the French Quarter (just across Canal Street), and had good points redemption options through Hilton (at 50,000 points per night.) Be aware that it looks like the hotel may now be up to 70,000 points per night. I booked 3 nights, using a mix of HHonors points as well as some Amex Membership Rewards points that I transferred to HHonors at a rate of 1MR for 2HHonors.

I was a little hesitant about booking this hotel. Our last stay at a Waldorf Astoria property was VERY underwhelming. But, this stay in New Orleans was perfect.

The Roosevelt was what I would describe as a very “old world” hotel. Those typically aren’t my style, but in this case, and for New Orleans which already has such an “old world” feel, it was fantastic.

We booked a King Bed Superior Room, Non-Smoking.

The room was quite spacious.

The bed was literally the most amazing hotel bed I have every slept on. Within a month of our return, Ken and I started buying Waldorf Astoria bedding, like their featherbed. We’re waiting to splurge on the actual Waldorf Astoria mattress though. 🙂

The sleep was HEAVEN

I always like having an extra (non-bed) sitting space in a hotel room, so the couch was perfect for that.

The only TV in the room was on a bit of a weird angle to the bed. It’s not a huge deal, but sometimes I like to watch the local news or something as I’m laying in bed before falling asleep. But, it was great for watching from the couch.

The bathroom was fairly basic. It didn’t have any terribly fancy finishes like the Park Hyatt Moscow or Andaz 5th Avenue, but the water pressure was great and the towels were luxurious, so I always find that to be a plus.

There was also a decent size closet:

One minor annoyance about the room was that we could hear church bells ring every morning at 7AM. I’m not sure where the church was located, but if you’re a light sleeper or want to sleep past 7AM, you might want to request a room away from the church bell sounds!

The hallways in the hotel were so wide, definitely a sign of an old world hotel.

Even the area on room floors near the elevataors were spacious and had fun decorative touches.

The lobby was also glamorous with high ceilings and lots of chandeliers.

There were two entrances to the hotel, one on Roosevelt Way, and One on Baronne Street. Each side was staffed with helpful doormen. Since it was Mardi Gras, we were required to wear wristbands (a different color denoting each day), and had to show them to the doormen when we entered the hotel. They were checked once again when we wanted to get on an elevator to go up to our hotel room.

There were several restaurants and lounges on the first floor of the hotel.

I never got a great picture of it from outside, but I also loved the signs for the Roosevelt Hotel. You can see it in this photo, on the top right. The sign for the Roosevelt had a fun art deco look. (The street we were crossing here was Canal Street, shortly after a parade had ended. So you can see just how close the hotel is to the parade route!

I’d definitely recommend the Roosevelt to anybody planning a trip to New Orleans, whether during Mardi Gras or not. It was also so close to one of the main parade routes, so all you had to do was walk right out the door and less than half a block away to see all the excitement.