Royal Sonesta New Orleans

The Royal Sonesta is a very beautiful hotel on Bourbon street and by all appearances it should be a great place to stay. During check-in I knew we did not want to have a room on Bourbon street and the clerk also suggested that we stay in a room off the streets. This is were it all went bad; the room we were given was adjoining the work out room. Yes there were hours of operation but it opened at 6:00am which meant there was no sleeping in and we had to listen to the sounds of the work out room all day. We requested to be moved and they put us 4 rooms off of Bourbon st and told use we might get some street noise? They failed to tell us the bar right out side our window blasts heavy bass music until 4:00am in the morning. I went to the front desk and was told "there is no guarantee any of there rooms would be quite and I was handed 2 sets of ear plugs. The concierge was rude, insulting, and did not have time for us. Comments includes "I am going to make this simple so even you can find the restaurant" and "if you want complicated you will have to get in you car and drive" The door man was the only person that took the time to explain were several good restaurants were and was very personable. After 4 nights of pounding music until 4:00am not being able to order one movie to drowned out the droning noise since all we would get is snow on the TV. The wife and I were ready to leave and never return. Checking out was another wonderful experience with a desk clerk willing to ask how our stay was but not really wanting to hear what I had to say with comments like "Well Welcome to the French quarter" I have stayed in the French quarter before and I have never been treated so poorly and with so little disregarded to the customer. We will return to the french Quarter but never to the Royal Sonesta

I was very excited to be staying at a hotel which was renowned for its courtyards. I was at Conference where I needed to entertain some business colleagues. I invited them to my hotel for a quite meeting only to have our meeting disrupted, and be embarrassed by the noise. There we were, well after dark in the courtyard and we could not hear each other talk for the sound of saws.

The hotel is on bourbon street. Thats great for location but the area around it smells awful. The room smelled like there had been a dog staying in it. I didn't request a room change but was a little disappointed. When it was time for me to leave, the printer was down still so I couldn't sign my receipt. [...]

Hotal premises and services have gone downhill gradually since Katrina

I booked the hotel to look at french quarter property. The quality of the hotel services available were not up to my previous stays at this hotel. The was an incident at the hotel bar involving a rude and completely unprofessional bartender. When I complained to management the hotel staff did not even have the courtesy to respond to the phone call.

I would not recommend this hotel for a vacation. Room staff constantly disturb you to clean the room. The hotel is not safe as someone was knocking our door at 2 am in the morning and we had to call the security. The whole trip at new Orleans was good except for the stay at this hotel. They also have a hidden parking charge of 40 dollars per night. My credit card statement indicated that they have charged me 50 bucks per night. I had to call them to get this corrected.

The hotel was great. The only problem was that every night between 2 & 3 a.m. my debit card was being charged. the first night it was charged $307.00, the 2nd night it was charged 267.00 and the last night was charged 260.00 and the morning we were checking out I was charged another 681.00. When we asked why they told us it was just conformation charges. There were a total of $1500.00 charges that we did not use!!! It is being refunded back to my card but each transaction has to wait 3 days to come back onto my card. So everyday I have to call the credit card company to make sure they are releasing the transaction back onto my account.

the evening we checked in, there was no power. A storm had hit New Orleans earlier in the day. We checked in with glow sticks. The hotel was "attempting" to relocate guests the next day, but they were disorganized in trying to do so. We were told since our reservations were through oRBITZ, we should contact Orbitz. That is where the nightmare started. After 2 1/2 hours on the phone with orbitz and being tranferred from one operator to another, I gave up and found a hotel in which to stay. Orbitz did a terrible job of helping. I am disappointed in their service.

The royal sonesta is an elegant hotel in the French Quarter. I was disappointed though, that I was not warned on their website that you had to pay extra for parking at $40/day. Or that there was no coffee pot, refrigerator or microwave in the room. The room itself was very nice but I heard every conversation that was going on in the hallway. It was almost as if there was no door into the room, it was that loud. They had an assortment of restaurants/lounges in the hotel, but all were too expensive for my blood. ($6.50 for a beer) The restaurants were right up there with their prices, too. The best thing is that it is in a great location and you don't have to drive to get to most of the places you want to visit.

The room was loud, but that was expected given that it is on Bourbon St. It was a great location if you don't mind the noise. Bring ear plugs. The food you get through room service is cheaper and tastier than in the French Quarter. I'm thinking outsiders infiltrated after Katrina because the food used to be delicious and affordable in the French Quarter. Our phone never worked despite three complaints. The handle to the shower was broken, but still functional. One of our blankets smelled like cigarette smoke so we don't think they washed it. The staff was very friendly. The hotel was beautiful. The beds were only full size, which is terrible for a couple. The prices are crazy high. There is no coffee pot in your room so you have to get dressed and go buy theirs downstairs, which is Starbucks. A grande coffee is $3 and a venti latte is $6.87! You can purchase a room service pot for $6 plus tax for 6 cups. However, there is an automatic gratuity on everything equal to 21%. Yikes! Thus, the coffee is $7.80. You also have to purchase internet service, which is available in your room with your laptop or the television and the business office. I think the cheapest method was your laptop, but I cannot remember. At the business office - If you use the printer its $1 for black or $2 for color printouts for the first 8 pages. I can't remember the amount after that. It's 45 cents/min for the computer with a min. charge of $7. In the end, I didn't mind the noise, but I don't think I will stay here, again. I like free coffee in my room so that I do not have to get dressed. I would think a hotel of this quality and price would offer that when places over $100 cheaper do. I also would like to be able to choose my gratuities especially if they are at 21%. Who came up with 21% instead of 20% anyway?