ONE11 Hotel — Hotel in New Orleans

I tend to be a bit long-winded in my reviews, but I also try and do them objectively so as to give folks a very straightforward/direct result as to my personal experience.

Ah, New Orleans. You either love it or you don’t. And, let’s face it, there is no shortage of places to stay while in the Crescent City. There are huge towers with all the rooms you could ever want (Marriott, Omni, Sheraton, etc.) as well as quaint little cottages that might have a room for rent. And everything in between. This marked the sixth time my wife and I have been to New Orleans and, as such, were looking forward to something a little different. We’d stayed out in the Garden District (The Pontchartrain Hotel), the French Quarter (Hotel Maison Dupuy) and even did an AirBNB one year. So when doing a search, this hotel came up. It’s an old (everything in New Orleans is old, by the way) sugar factory that’s been converted to a hotel. How neat.

The Location/Layout Nestled in the literal shadow of The Westin and a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River is this 8 story white building. It’s decorated with plenty of exposed brick, quaint lighting and has a large downstairs complete with bar, tables and sofas. Obviously, we only saw one room, but we chose one with a King bed on the 4th floor. I loved the exposed beams, the nice, ample shower and there was enough storage for two. You also have to proactively let the main service to clean your room or not. If you’re one of those people who gets annoyed when they show up at 9 AM to clean your room – not a problem here. There’s a large HDTV and the views (at least the views we had) aren’t too shabby.

The Staff Staff was warm and helpful. There’s a little “market” on the first floor with wine/beer/sodas and some finger food that you can take and have charged to your room. The staff doesn’t always pay attention to this, so I had to hold up a bottle of wine and let them know that I was going to have this charged to my room. I guess if you’re morally lacking, you could take advantage of this. We did have to be out of the room by 11:30 on our check out day and our flight wasn’t until later, but they do have a room where they can store your bags if need be.

On the whole, it’s a nice, newly-renovated hotel that’s a bit different from some of the other places you’d find in New Orleans. It’s a good location as well with a 10 minute walk to Jackson Square, the French Quarter and Canal Street.

About the only thing I’d give caution to is the noise due to trains. These tracks are used – often. There’s no set schedule, but they run from midnight to 8 AM. The hotel provided complimentary ear plugs. We probably should have known. By the third night it wasn’t quite as annoying as the first two, but this is something that’s A) Out of their control and B) They don’t really make mention of. Evidently it doesn’t matter which room you’re in, you’ll hear them. For some this might be a deal-breaker. Others, maybe not. Let’s face it, New Orleans isn’t the place you go looking for some “peace and quiet.”

TL;DR

The Pros Location Aesthetics Newly-renovated (new hotel) 8th floor promenade with great views (open to anyone staying in the hotel)

The Cons Train noise from...

Let’s start with the good. PROS: -Staff was amazing. So kind, warm, attentive and giving. They are A+ across the board. Nothing I say should be a reflection of them because they are a top notch team.

The lobby was nice. Such beautiful decor and comfy couches. Very instagrammable look. And the complementary toiletries were very thoughtful. The bed was comfy and the blanket warm.

Housekeeping brings fresh water every day. There is Cafe Du Monde coffee in the room!!

The BAD: Sigh. I wanted to love this hotel. But overall - it is kind of awful beyond what I’ve listed above.

The rooms are pretty bad. Like everything you want in a room is lacking. I’ll list the item and issue. Maybe these aren’t dealbreakers for you.

The Natchez steamboat comes and goes which is pretty. But also LOUD. The horns and the very annoying circus music twice a day is quite grating.

The view is more so a parking lot than the river.

The pillows STANK. They are feather and every time your head hits them to get a waft of the most putrid smell. It’s because of the overall moist NOLA air. But after many attempts at trying another pillow we wound up buying fabric fragrance.

The TV channels are limited. And the only app is Netflix.

IF YOU ARE NOT OKAY WITH THE PERSON YOU SHARE THE ROOM WITH HEARING AND SEEING EVERYTHING YOU DO IN THE BATHROOM THIS IS NOT THE HOTEL FOR YOU!!!! There is absolutely no privacy in any way. The shower wall is a large glass panel that is barely frosted. If you are asleep and someone goes to the restroom, the lights light up the whole room. If you fart in the toilet it is as if there are no walls or door because there isn’t. Even if you are in a room with two beds. If what you do has an odor? Yup. No way to keep it out of the whole room. If you’re not used to the rich LA cuisine this can be a real problem. 😉. You can also see the person on the toilet (picture attached). Again. For some folks that’s not an issue. But that wasn’t the relationship I had with the person I shared a room with.

You have to register an account to use the WiFi.

The rooftop is meh.

The thermostat is hard to operate and we cooked the whole time.

The “cooling fridge” doesn’t get cool or cold. But you can ask for a real fridge to be brought up.

The phone to call the front desk is confusing. There aren’t any instructions.

We had to manually flush our toilet by lifting the stopper in the tank.

The sink drain stopper doesn’t come back up if you use it to stop the sink.

The continental breakfast is so bad that it’s not worth it. Definitely Dollar General level. The only protein is a cold boiled egg. The rest is various cheap bread. Best Western and other cheap hotels offer better. Save yourself and go over to the Canal Place mall, go to the third floor and grab a bacon egg and cheese. OR. Be a real tourist and head into the quarter to get yourself a real meal. Ruby Slippers was our fave followed by Fleur de Lis.

I could go on. But it’s odd because everyone was so lovely - but they definitely have a lot to work on if they are to compete with other hotels at the same price point...

Update: It’s MY opinion that my situation felt corrupt. I am a human being, and I am entitled to that. I deal with the public every single day. I know how to handle people correctly. As a manager or anyone in business, I would have had a little more empathy or understanding and I wouldn’t have been accusatory, but everyone’s insides aren’t as moral as mine. New Orleans in one of my favorite cities, and this incident won’t change that. I have no problem spending money, even spending it selflessly. That’s what I think we as human beings were put here for — to give..but when I feel like I was charged for something unjustifiably and immorally, I have a problem with that. Think about this logically, if I paid over $500 a night for a room, would I really have a problem paying $45 to park? I don’t want anything from this company, just expressing my experience. Maybe someone can read this and learn from my situation: Don’t let any time past, pay for parking immediately!! I stayed for one night, Saturday, April 30, 2022. I paid over $500 a night for my stay. I stayed because I wanted to go to a concert in Lafayette. Many places in surrounding cities and areas were booked because there were many events going on over the weekend. Anyway, when I arrived, I was told that I needed to pay for parking. I had two options: give the front desk staff my license plate info and pay with her, or pay outside at a kiosk. Well, I didn’t have the rental’s plate memorized, and I was running late for my concert. So, I told the front desk clerk that I was going to run upstairs to get ready and pay once I left. I came back down about an hour later and there was a boot on my car. When the company (separate from the hotel) came to release the boot, they told me I needed pay $135, so I went in to get the hotel manager, thinking she’d vouch for me, because we had previously spoken about it. When she came out, she proceeded to tell me that the error was my fault because I forgot to pay (I didn’t forget to pay); I clearly said I was going to change then come back down and pay. She said that there was nothing she could do, then proceeded to tell the young man that she could never do his job. No sympathy for me at all. I was polite and respectful the entire time. As a teacher, who’s life is dedicated to having empathy, I was thoroughly disappointed and disgusted. I felt robbed, and the situation felt corrupt. $500+ for a room, then $135 for a boot removal, after I had literally just checked-in. After more complaints, the manager did eventually take $45 off my room…but I did end up spending that on paying for parking after I got back from the concert. Hotel is nice. Rooms are super small. Overall, staff is really nice, but the manager was not understanding at all. As a matter of fact, she seemed annoyed and angry at me, telling me what I did wrong in the...