The Mercantile Hotel New Orleans, LA — Hotel in New Orleans

I wrote this review after my stay here in September 2024 and decided to re-read it only to discover it’s gone so I am going to share my experience again because I feel it’s important.

When I initially checked in I was very excited about this hotel. I was here for a conference and traveling alone. I didn’t start getting creepy vibes until the first night once I arrived back late. When I checked in around 9 AM there was only 1 employee which I didn’t think was strange. When I returned at around 9 pm there was no one around at all. No one at the front desk, no one at the bar/restaurant. It looked like a ghost town. I found it a bit strange but didn’t think too much into it.

The next morning I headed out early for my convention. Again- only 1 person in the entire building. No other guests. No other employees. When I returned back around 8:30 pm the second night it was the exact same thing. I started to get a little more uncomfortable because of that fact that I hadn’t seen any other guests at all at not one point in my 2 days/nights. I told my family how nervous I felt but that I was just being paranoid. Shortly after I got back to my room I could hear someone walking in the hallway. It was easy to hear because the walls are very thin. This person sounded like he was pacing in front of my door. He was so close I could hear him breathing. I was staring at the doorknob just waiting for it to jiggle. I didn’t make a sound and was terrified. I barricaded the door with a chair and lamp and got little sleep that night.

The next day (even though I had 2 nights left of my trip) happened to be right before the hurricane was coming. I decided I couldn’t spend another night in the hotel out of fear for my safety and because of the hurricane they were going to give me a refund. This morning I did see what looked like 2-3 people watching the news in the lobby but they looked like locals and not guests.

I went to my morning classes and came back at 1 on my lunch break to gather my bags. As I was checking out one of their employees that was taking out the trash could not stop staring at me. I felt super uncomfortable. I literally ran full speed in the pouring rain to my new hotel I had booked. I was so relieved to see PEOPLE in the lobby. Lots of them.

Then, I realized I left my phone charger in the room at the other hotel. I was so creeped out I didn’t even want to go back but I told myself that I watch way too much Dateline and I was just making it all worse in my head. When I went back and asked for a key to grab it from my room I saw the same employee that was taking out the trash peeking around a corner and staring at me again. I almost asked for someone to walk with me to get it but instead I called and talked with my mom the entire time I was there.

Now that it has been 6 months later and I look at the situation with clear eyes I 100% was thinking clearly when I was there. Why in 3 days time being in and out at all different hours of the day did I never see 1 guest. Sometimes I was even lucky to see anyone at all (1 employee). I never saw a bartender or anyone in the restaurant. If the hotel was so empty- why was someone on my floor 10 minutes after I had walked in pacing by my door and getting so close I could hear breathing. On my last day I’m sure the hotel was empty due to the hurricane but my first 2 days there were very normal and I saw lots of other people everywhere I went.

This entire experience makes me question if I will ever book a smaller/boutique hotel again- especially when traveling alone. There is safety in numbers and once I got to my other hotel I just felt such relief.

After reading a lot of reviews I think I am the only one that anything like this has happened to here so maybe I just got very unlucky. I am giving the hotel 2 stars because I do think it was decorated cute and the rooms are nice and large for what you pay. However I travel often and I’ve never had an experience like this before. There should always be staff visible and on hand for safety of guests even if it is a...

TLDR: Absolutely NO working Air Conditioning in rooms / Moldy Bathrooms / Beds are simply the MOST uncomfortable I've ever slept on - bar none. We come for comfort and rest, this hotel is the opposite. First time I've ever needed to shower at night and in the morning cause you're sweaty/sticky the entire time... and get hardly any sleep on the uncomfortable mattress. Read more below if you are interested to hear my full review.

TO MANAGEMENT: You can claim you will "address" these issues. But the fact is - you have known about them for a LONG time, but CHOOSE to do nothing. You are choosing to invest in cosmetic upgrades like new carpet and fixtures, NOT infrastructure upgrades like adding AC and premium mattresses to improve guest comfort. So my review is a reflection of your inaction for YEARS. Shame on ME for not reading the reviews more before booking. Shame on YOU for delivering an uncomfortable, unclean experience for your customers.

REVIEW: Like some recent reviews have said - I had high hopes seeing the photos and mostly positive reviews... but make no mistake - the photos and the reviews do not represent this hotel!

My son and I were in town for an event at the Convention Center, and this one was one of the more reasonable options for our 3 night stay within walking distance. I thought it was worth saving a few hundred dollars, even if it wasn't a top level hotel. That was a BAD choice. I would definitely spend a few hundred dollars more for a clean, cool, and comfortable room! Because that means rest + sleep which = a nice trip.

Positives first. I found the staff mostly pleasant. Spending 20 years in hospitality, I found it fair. Nice people, but definitely can tell there's a lack of care, which I'm sure is purely from a lack of positive management which... weren't present.

As I stepped in the elevator, I was worried. The elevators are OLD, beat up, rickety, slow, and just completely sums up the expectation of the hotel. Getting off the elevator you are met with AC around 60 degrees. It was very refreshing as it was in the mid 90's and humid in June. Getting into the room, it was HOT. I wasn't worried until I found the thermostat. It's straight out of the 50's. Photo for reference. Just a knob to turn "colder" or "warmer". I turned the knob to the coldest setting and then left.

Returning 4 hours later - the room was WARMER. At LEAST 75 degrees. Call the front desk. Maintenance comes up within 5 min and tells me a secret trick - turning to the "coldest" setting also turns on the heat. He plays with the knob for 5 minutes feeling the air with his hand trying to get it "cooler". Finally finds the secret spot on the knob, and says -this should get cooler. He then says that it won't get cool like the hallway. 2 hours later - it may have dropped 1 degree. It's NOT Air conditioning, because it doe NOT remove the humidity from the air. It is HUMID and WARM in the room. So if you want AC in your room - you should stop here and find the next hotel.

We both proceed with ice cold showers trying to cool down from a long day. Uh oh. MOLD CITY - Shower is full on mold. Can tell they barely clean it. Next - sit down for a much needed bathroom stop - and the seat doesn't even fit the toilet. It's broken, and is barely staying on.

Both exhausted, we finally lay down to find that the bed is not really a mattress at all. I've never, ever, slept on a mattress like this. In all the hotels over the years, college, or anywhere. The only way I can describe it is - think of a thin 1 inch mattress pad, put it on just the box springs, then sleep. That's it. Absolutely no give, and immediately within 2 minutes am sore and achey.

So yeah, they just put in new carpet. There's flat screen tv's. The fixtures and furniture have been replaced within the past 5-8 years and still look decent. But basically, it's all for a photoshoot. That's not comfort. The photos are hiding all the important things they aren't investing in - GUEST COMFORT. They want photos to get us here, but clearly could care less...

AVOID. DIRTY. NOT SECURE. RUN DOWN. I’m starting to believe most of the glowing reviews I read Prior to booking are fake. If you want typical hotel amenities like house keeping, security, bar and friendly staff this hotel is not for you. Sure there’s a bar in the lobby but it’s mostly for show as there was only a bartender 1 night of our 4 night stay(that included a weekend). We ended up at the bar next door. Don’t let the pretty online pics fool you. This place is run down.

This building is NOT secure. The scan your room key lock on the lobby doors is not functioning and hasn’t in some time. The staff at the front desk NEVER looked up from their phones at any point when we would enter the lobby at various time throughout the night and the front doors never locked. Staff only looked up from their phones or spoke to us if we interrupted their screen time to ask a question.

Our room was cleanish upon check in but the rooms are cramped with furniture that doesn’t match and feels like it was bought at auction. Our room was never serviced during our stay. Had to go to the front desk to ask for more towels and coffee. But dirty linen bin live next to the elevator on each floor and never moves. It greeted us each time we got off the elevator.

Only 1 working elevator. Don’t let the 2 in the lobby fool you.

There are broken light fixtures all over the property with missing shades. Our room didn’t have a working ceiling light. Only 2 lamps , one of which flickered. So getting ready at night was a real challenge. And the mysterious smear stain in the elevator that never got cleaned. It looked like they attempted to clean something at one point but never quite finished the job. At this point it’s a joke.

The AC is laughable. We had it on its coldest setting and high fan and it never got cool. Thank god we brought a fan to circulate the hot air in the room. If you get hot when you sleep DO NOT STAY HERE.

The beds are like sleeping on the floor. And the pullout bed sinks between the supports and dogs into your back.

The staffs favorite time to mop the floors is during breakfast/check out. Nothing like smelling dirty bleach water while eating watery powder eggs.

AVOID the free breakfast. It’s a joke. Salty power Eggs, microwaved sausage, stale pastry and a questionable fruit bowl. The table we sat at was so wobbly it spilled out coffee into our laps.

If you do choose to stay here request a room on floors 6 and up. If you don’t you risk getting a view of a brick wall. We were on the 6th floor and our view skimmed the roof of the building next door.

Finally, CHECK YOUR BILL. They charged us. $180 plus tax A DAY for valet parking. They don’t give you the bill right away but email it later. When I called (at 7 am) to bring this to their attention I was told the manager was not in and took my number to call me back. THey never called. Called again at 4:30 adn told they weren't in and when i told them why I was calling I was told to take it up with my bank.

Not impressed. Won’t be back. And based on the conversations we over heard most of the people that were there too won’t be back either. Location is the only thing this place has...