New Orleans · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels Downtown in New Orleans
Rosa Iglesias The American south
These are my five favourites in New Orleans, out of the 104 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.7 down to 4.6.
The Windsor Court is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
The Windsor Court
★★★★★4.7 from 1,639 reviews
The Windsor Court comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 1,639 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 5 star property, found under Central Business District and around $373 a night on the dates we checked.
104 hotels in New Orleans qualified for this list and five made it. The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Bara drink without going back out
All five, ranked
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1
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2The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
★★★★★4.6 from 6,275 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
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3Drury Plaza Hotel New Orleans
★★★★★4.7 from 2,801 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
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4The Mayfair Hotel
★★★★★5 from 313 reviews
- Spa
- Restaurant
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
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5Inn at the Old Jail
★★★★★5 from 269 reviews
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
How this list was put together
104 New Orleans hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Rosa Iglesias The American south
Teaches in term time and plays weddings in summer, which pays for the travel. Goes where the music is, usually festivals in small unrecommended towns. Owns three unnecessary accordions.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.