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Bad Rate :: $642 for a Ramada room during Jazzfest

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 541 Bourbon Street [map], New Orleans, LA, United States, 70130
April 24, 2007 at 12:18 PM | by Tim L. | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quoted here were captured on April 24, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]

We understand that prices go up when occupancy is high, but $642 a night for a standard double in post-Katrina New Orleans in a Ramada just because it's Jazzfest? When the Ritz-Carlton a few blocks away is $350 a night and this week's Good Rate (Pelham Hotel New Orleans) is only $189?

"Standing on one of Bourbon Street's busiest corners" is touted as a good thing, though if you want to get some sleep, probably not. This building was once the French Opera House, so it does have some historic gravitas and there's a nice courtyard to escape from the madness. But when you step into your room it's a Ramada. Rates drop from $642 on Saturday night to $189 on Sunday, which shows you what the room is normally worth. We presume the free breakfast will be the same each day, no caviar or truffles during the jacked-up period.

The rates in the screen shot pictured here are from Expedia, for the second weekend of The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. We would have compared this to the rates on the hotel's own site, but we wanted to get done before lunch time: you have to pull up each room type individually to check availability for your dates. (Guys, if we spend $642 a night for your hotel, do you think you could use some of that to hire a better web designer?)

Related Stories:
· Good Rate: $189 for Jazzfest at Pelham New Orleans [HotelChatter]
· Ramada Plaza Inn on Bourbon reviews [TripAdvisor]

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Good Rate :: $189 per night for Jazzfest at Pelham New Orleans

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 444 Common Street [map], New Orleans, LA, United States, 70130
April 24, 2007 at 12:15 PM | by Tim L. | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quotes here were captured April 24, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]

In the years before Hurricane Katrina ripped up New Orleans, getting a decent price on a hotel room during Jazzfest was like trying to find a bargain in Louisville during the Kentucky Derby. Your gambling odds were better at the track or casino. Some hotels in New Orleans still haven't caught onto the fact that things are different in the Big Easy (see this week's Bad Rate), but for this year there are still good deals out there for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which is the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May.

We're not big fans of staying in the French Quarter of New Orleans during a big party weekend. After you've been drinking since noon, getting a good night's sleep at the end is kind of nice. The hotels on the other side of Canal from Bourbon Street are quieter and a better value, yet are a five-minute walk from the bar-hopping and restaurants. The Pelham Hotel New Orleans gets good reviews from guests for service and there's a nice sense of history instead of it looking like a bland cookie-cutter chain hotel.

Here's a bonus: if you stay through Sunday night for some recovery time, you get the third night for less than $60. Grab that rate from the Pelham Hotel site, then go out and put the bucks you saved back into the New Orleans economy--they could use it.

Related Stories:
· Bad Rate: $642 for a Ramada room during Jazzfest [HotelChatter]
· The Pelham Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]