Holiday Inn New Orleans-Downtown Superdome by IHG — Hotel in New Orleans

Honest Review – A One-Night Stand I’m Glad Didn’t Last Longer I booked this hotel for one night before our Airbnb was ready, and let’s just say, I’m relieved it was only one night.

After staying here, I honestly wonder if some of the glowing reviews are fake—or maybe I just checked into an alternate reality. But hear me out:

First, the Positives (Yes, There Are Some!) I have nothing bad to say about the staff. They’re doing their best, and I appreciate their efforts—thank you! Unfortunately, some management decisions are so baffling that I’m genuinely curious why anyone comes back.

Check-In: A Credit Card Catastrophe At check-in, I was asked for my physical credit card. Who still carries those? I exclusively use Apple Pay, and this seemed to cause a full system meltdown at the front desk. The lady insisted she needed the physical card, leading to a rather heated debate. Ultimately, I was able to pay with my phone, as expected—but why the unnecessary drama? Not exactly a warm welcome.

The Room: American Classic With a Hint of Mystery The room itself was clean, basic, and entirely forgettable—your standard American hotel room. But here’s the kicker: there’s a big, inviting balcony… that you can’t actually use. It’s locked, permanently. Want fresh air? Too bad! Your only option is an ancient air-conditioning unit that sounds like a diesel truck idling next to your bed. It also has the precision of a 1990s VCR—good luck adjusting the temperature. I assume there’s some important reason why the hotel keeps guests away from the balcony, but it still sucks.

Breakfast: The Exclusive "Voucher Club" Experience When booking, I naively chose the "breakfast included" rate—what a mistake. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the hostess with an enthusiastic "Ohh—voucher." That’s when I knew I had just unlocked a VIP experience—but not in a good way.

She informed me that I needn’t bother looking at the tempting menu filled with pancakes, French toast, and other delights. For me, the chosen one, there would be bacon and eggs. No deviations, no substitutions. Also, no lattes—just plain filter coffee. Because why cater to modern coffee preferences when you can pretend it’s 1985?

The food was OK, but the whole setup felt oddly restrictive—like I had committed a crime by booking a "breakfast included" rate. At the very least, a simple latte shouldn't be an unattainable luxury.

Concierge: A Masterclass in Customer Service (Not Really) Finally, I called the front desk to inquire about a late check-out. I barely got the words out before I was met with a sharp "NO" and an immediate hang-up. No explanation, no pleasantries—just a dial tone.

Granted, it’s Super Bowl weekend, so I understand they might be fully booked. But maybe, just maybe, a tiny bit of hospitality wouldn’t hurt? Hanging up on a customer just adds to the overall charm of this place.

Final Thoughts Would I stay here again? No. Do I think it deserves a one-star rating? Also no. The staff tries, the room is functional, and the breakfast exists (even if it’s rationed like wartime provisions).

I wouldn’t call it "bad"—just a series of questionable decisions wrapped in an OK hotel. If you have no other options, it’s survivable. But if you do, maybe keep looking.

-- OR - Dear Management, review some of your decisions. Start with offering a coffee from your little coffee stand to all guests for example. If you need more creative input, contact...

Honest Review – A One-Night Stand I’m Glad Didn’t Last Longer I booked this hotel for one night before our Airbnb was ready, and let’s just say, I’m relieved it was only one night.

After staying here, I honestly wonder if some of the glowing reviews are fake—or maybe I just checked into an alternate reality. But hear me out:

First, the Positives (Yes, There Are Some!) I have nothing bad to say about the staff. They’re doing their best, and I appreciate their efforts—thank you! Unfortunately, some management decisions are so baffling that I’m genuinely curious why anyone comes back.

Check-In: A Credit Card Catastrophe At check-in, I was asked for my physical credit card. Who still carries those? I exclusively use Apple Pay, and this seemed to cause a full system meltdown at the front desk. The lady insisted she needed the physical card, leading to a rather heated debate. Ultimately, I was able to pay with my phone, as expected—but why the unnecessary drama? Not exactly a warm welcome.

The Room: American Classic With a Hint of Mystery The room itself was clean, basic, and entirely forgettable—your standard American hotel room. But here’s the kicker: there’s a big, inviting balcony… that you can’t actually use. It’s locked, permanently. Want fresh air? Too bad! Your only option is an ancient air-conditioning unit that sounds like a diesel truck idling next to your bed. It also has the precision of a 1990s VCR—good luck adjusting the temperature. I assume there’s some important reason why the hotel keeps guests away from the balcony, but it still sucks.

Breakfast: The Exclusive "Voucher Club" Experience When booking, I naively chose the "breakfast included" rate—what a mistake. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the hostess with an enthusiastic "Ohh—voucher." That’s when I knew I had just unlocked a VIP experience—but not in a good way.

She informed me that I needn’t bother looking at the tempting menu filled with pancakes, French toast, and other delights. For me, the chosen one, there would be bacon and eggs. No deviations, no substitutions. Also, no lattes—just plain filter coffee. Because why cater to modern coffee preferences when you can pretend it’s 1985?

The food was OK, but the whole setup felt oddly restrictive—like I had committed a crime by booking a "breakfast included" rate. At the very least, a simple latte shouldn't be an unattainable luxury.

Concierge: A Masterclass in Customer Service (Not Really) Finally, I called the front desk to inquire about a late check-out. I barely got the words out before I was met with a sharp "NO" and an immediate hang-up. No explanation, no pleasantries—just a dial tone.

Granted, it’s Super Bowl weekend, so I understand they might be fully booked. But maybe, just maybe, a tiny bit of hospitality wouldn’t hurt? Hanging up on a customer just adds to the overall charm of this place.

Final Thoughts Would I stay here again? No. Do I think it deserves a one-star rating? Also no. The staff tries, the room is functional, and the breakfast exists (even if it’s rationed like wartime provisions).

I wouldn’t call it "bad"—just a series of questionable decisions wrapped in an OK hotel. If you have no other options, it’s survivable. But if you do, maybe keep looking.

-- OR - Dear Management, review some of your decisions. Start with offering a coffee from your little coffee stand to all guests for example. If you need more creative input, contact...

We stayed for 5 nights here and have been regular vistors to IHG hotels in UK as a platinum member, however this was booked in my wife’s name, so they couldn’t see my IHG status and wouldn’t add points to my acct despite quoting membership when my wife couldn’t recall her ihg number.||Location is good, quiet and a 10 min walk to the main area of NOLA with plenty of places to eat within 5mins.||Check in went fine and the room was an good size, clean and a good quality bathroom and shower. The safe once opened by staff worked really well and the availability of a fridge, ironing board, good tv and even microwave and coffee machine, however whilst teabags available there is no way of using them with no kettle.||The room had a lovely balcony looking over the roof top pool and the city, and this is where Holiday Inn started to let themselves down. We asked if the door could be unlocked so we could enjoy the city view, but i was told “the ceo of the company had locked them due to insurance costs”. This posed challenges for drying swimwear and the ability to have any free flowing air into the room as no other windows. We did manage with the air con unit but be aware its a big noisy system when it comes to sleeping, situated right next to the bed so we had to shield the wind flow with a chair, its a choice of too hot or too noisy.||We did use the pool, but again complexity will await you. They have a poster on the door entrance to scan for food by the pool, but it doesnt scan. When we raised this we were told it doesn’t work certain days of the week? It didnt work at all. I went down 8 floors to the bar to see if i could order food and drinks for the pool. It was 2:50pm and i was told i could, but not until 3pm and the barman just walked off behind doors. I asked concierge if he could serve me a drink and was told you need to ask the barman, i said i did and he just walked off. We tried to use the QR code on the sun lounger for food, but the weblink wasnt working and contrary to offers of having food at the pool, the signs at the pool said strictly no food?||We tried to get IHG points added and were told they already had been, but nobody had my wifes IHG number, persistence paid off and was resolved a few days later.||Our flight was cancelled on check out and we were left a bit stuck, but the staff just looked on, they offered a room at $99, but no offer of help with a phone etc. We could have stayed that extra night for ease with luggage and taxi costs, but given all the above we decided to move out to another hotel for just the one night. None of the above was a real problem, but IHG you could have been so good, you have stiff competition with excellent staff service in New Orleans every where we went, whilst you was just average. The locking of balcony doors at the “strict instruction of the CEO” is again lacking customer delight. Its an ok clean hotel don’t get me wrong, just don’t go with big expectations based on facilities there, because the answer always seemed to be no or a problem that didn’t need to be one.||A lot of detail here because it could be so...