Garden District Hotel Collection — Hotel in New Orleans

My best friend, and I (and each of our oldest daughters) could not be happier after our stay with Prytania Park Hotel.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous after seeing some of the mixed reviews. We were quickly put at ease prior to our stay, thanks largely to a quick email correspondence with the general manager, Dori Schulman. We had a few specific questions, all of which were answered in detail.

Finding the hotel (even for two people who get nervous when traveling in unfamiliar areas) was easy. Free parking - HUGE bonus in this area, by the way - was in the lot in 'front' of the hotel. Easily manageable, easy access. Excellent.

Front desk staff (WHY can't I remember her name? I hope someone will comment and remind me - our stay was on 5 October, and we checked in approximately 4:30pm) was EXCELLENT. Friendly, knowledgeable, patient. She was ready to answer any and all questions, had plenty of information to give us, and was extremely patient with our excited chatter.

The hotel itself was charmingly beautiful. After chatting with the staff member at the front desk, we made our way to our carefully-chosen room. Our particular room was chosen for the "loft" area, which held the second queen bed ... and was accessed by a quaint spiral staircase. Our daughters squealed with delight and immediately climbed the stairs to their portion of the room.

I'd read that the bathrooms were small, so I was a bit nervous, seeing as we had four females getting ready to go to a concert. My nervousness was unfounded, though. Although the shower/toilet room is JUST large enough for the shower and toilet, there was PLENTY of counter space in the vanity area! This is important, because you know us girls like to spread our hair/makeup products all over the place while we decide what to do!

By the way: there was also a mini fridge and decent-size microwave (not the kind that just pops a bag of popcorn - this one would equate to the counter-size m/w I use at home!). Also important!

Oh and the WiFi? Free, and easily accessible. Thank you!

We had requested a cab be called for us at a particular time, and it was. We'd requested waters and snacks be placed on our hotel bill (it was), and the clerk was again friendly and helpful.

Side note: hotel staff should not assume that out-of-towners know how public transport works. We assumed the trolley near the hotel would go directly to the French Quarter, where we'd be going later that night ... we did NOT realize we'd have to take THREE trolleys to get where we wanted to go! While she was sweet about telling us how inexpensive the rides were, and how the money machine works (doesn't give change), and how they become less frequent as the night gets late ... she didn't mention we'd need to switch trolleys ... or that we'd have to know whether to take the red or green line at each interval.

We returned to our room a little after 1 a.m., exhausted but happy, and were greeted by a cool room, comfortably sigh-worthy beds, and soft lighting (we'd left a lamp on, and it had a low-light setting).

Let me say, the beds were TRULY dreamable. Firm, but with a pillow-top layer. So, soft to the touch, but great for my aching back (4 hours of driving, 4 of concert, 2 of taxis and walking).

Water pressure was fine for us. Again, the vanity space was wonderful as we all crowded around to brush our teeth and hair, apply a little makeup, and tame our hair.

Breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, milk, cereal, cheese/fruit danish, and croissants (with various butters and jelly packets). Simple, which was exactly what we needed before we headed out to walk around the French Quarter for a while (again, not understanding the trolley system, since we'd taken a cab the night before).

I cannot think of a single thing I would change about the Prytania Park Hotel. We plan to eventually get back to NOLA for some more sightseeing, and will DEFINITELY stay here again!

Thank you, Prytania Park Hotel - we're...

This is only my second review I've ever written, and my first negative review. I chose this hotel for a two night's stay for our wedding weekend and recommended many out of state family to stay here based on the great ratings and pictures provided on Google Maps. We are from Louisiana, living in the Hammond/ Ponchatoula area. Sadly, we did not have as great of an experience as the other reviews on here when we checked into the hotel and when we checked out. I had booked two rooms back in July, four months ago, but later in the week did not need the second room. I called to cancel one of them, specifically Prytania Park, and made sure with the guy that I was talking to had canceled Prytania Park, and not Prytania Oaks. He confirmed with me that Prytania Park had been canceled. We were not given an email confirmation. When we checked in, the front desk guy had informed us that Oaks was canceled (after we had gone into the room and saw that it was the wrong room) and that there were no more rooms. He offered us a Queen Anne room that he stated he would give us at the same rate we had already paid for, which we were okay with. However, when we checked out, an extra $162 we were not expecting were charged onto our card because the room was upgraded, which we were not made aware of until check out. So basically, on our wedding weekend, as bride and groom, we had to pay for a mistake they had made and gotten the room we did not want. Not only did we NOT get any kind of accommodation, but we did not get any sort of apology nor an attempt to understand from the front desk lady when we checked out nor the general manager, Dori. As customers who had already paid for their rooms and a lot of family who stayed here, we were blamed and put in the wrong for a mistake we did not make with no apology or any sort of accommodation. We come to New Orleans often, as well as our families. Unfortunately, we will be taking our...

My husband and I reserved a room at the Prytania Park so we could enjoy a kid-free night during trip to see his family in Louisiana over the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, he and I got either a nasty stomach bug or food poisoning on the drive south from Kansas. We didn't feel like going through with our outing to New Orleans and attempted to cancel the reservation the day prior to check in. We knew the hotel's policy stated that cancellations had to be made 48 hours prior to check in, but we thought the hotel management would make an exception or change a lesser penalty given our unforeseen circumstances. Turns out we were wrong.

The hotel's manager, Dorie, subjected us to a very personal, very lengthy line of questioning regarding our illnesses and then attempted to diagnose our conditions over the phone. She felt that since food poisoning or stomach bugs usually last about 24 hours, we should feel like coming to New Orleans. Further, she said since it might be food poisoning and therefore not contagious, she wasn't concerned about the welfare of her staff or other guests in the hotel. In a nutshell, she accused us of lying and refused to cancel the reservation without "medical documentation." Dorie did offer us a larger room on another night, but that didn't fit with our family obligations or travel plans.

Yes, this hotel is located in a great area and it's rates are comparatively inexpensive. However, the hotel's staff doesn't display the grace or gentility that makes the people of New Orleans such wonderful hosts to visitors. According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitor's Bureau, there are more than 37,000 hotel rooms in the metro area. I would suggest selecting another property to ensure you have an experience that's more fitting with the city's legendary...