LDV Weekend in New Orleans: The W Hotel

{Jackson Square and the St.Louis Cathedral}

We’re back! Our weekend trip to New Orleans was short and sweet. We had a wonderful time and got a little taste of New Orleans. I have to admit, I was ready to come home on Sunday after walking in the heat and humidity for a few days, but I have a newfound desire to learn as much as I can about this fascinating city. I received a plethora of recommendations from blog readers and friends and we just didn’t have time to fit everything in, but that gives us a reason to go back. We had wonderful food everywhere we went, took in the interesting architecture, and visited some fabulous shops on Magazine Street. I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with Valorie of Visual Vamp and Bryan Batt of Mad Men! I’ll share more about them and the fantastic shopping in the Garden District soon.

I really struggled with where to stay while planning our trip to New Orleans. There are so many historic properties, but I cannot deal with chintzy interiors. I just can’t do it. I knew that we wanted to stay in the Quarter since it was our first time visiting NOLA, but the challenge was in staying off of Canal Street and keeping some distance from the raucous Bourbon Street. By the way, Bourbon Street was so not our scene! We walked down there in the late afternoon on Friday and were literally grossed out by it. There are drunk people everywhere, strippers who look underage in the doorways of their clubs, and a lot of unsavory characters. We even had a guy do the “I bet I can tell you where you got your shoes” bit on us. Ugh! We did however, enjoy drinks at Pat O’Brien’s on St. Peter Street that evening. It had the “New Orleans Institution” atmosphere without the sleaziness. Anyway, back to the hotel search. I know that I asked for hotel recommendations on La Dolce Vita and so many of you suggested the W Hotel in the French Quarter, that we decided to book it.

We absolutely loved the W! The service was outstanding, the location on Chartres Street was excellent, and our room was very stylish and comfortable.

{The lovely courtyard is perfect for drinks or surfing the internet on the free Wi-Fi.}

{Glamorous Elevator Area}

{Our “Spectacular Room” featured its own balcony overlooking Conti Street.The bed and pillows were both super comfortable!}

{Nightstand Vignette featuring an iPod Dock}

{The spacious bathroom featured a large slate shower, Bliss Spa toiletries, and carrera marble counters.}

{Opposite the sink and shower, there was an open space and large carrera marble vanity. It was wonderful to be able to lay out all of my toiletries.}

 

{Our Balcony}

{As I said before, the service at the W Hotel New Orleans French Quarter was incredibly attentive. They even sent up a handwritten note and some delicious handmade pralines from Southern Candymakers to welcome us!}

{The hotel features a wonderful Italian restaurant, Bacco, which is owned by the renowned Brennan family. We had planned on keeping our meals mostly casual, but wanted to have at least one nice dinner. It poured on Saturday night, so we were quite lucky to be able to go right next door for a fantastic dinner while staying out of the downpour. Chef Chris Montero’s menu is Northern Italian with Creole influences. For the first course, I had the Mista salad with goat cheese and pine nuts and Fabian had the Crab Bisque, both of which were excellent. For the main course, we both decided on the house specialty of handmade Maine lobster and shrimp ravioli in a champagne butter sauce, topped with caviar. It was out of this world! For our third course, we each had the Lemon Ice Box Pie which was as delicious and refreshing as it sounds. The food at Bacco was excellent and the service was very attentive. I would higly recommend it if you are planning a trip to New Orleans.}

 

In the coming days, I will share more of our trip including New Orleans architecture and visits to the fabulous shops on Magazine Street, so stay tuned!