Rare Saint Greg Posted October 1, 2019 #676 Share Posted October 1, 2019 One more thing I should post while I'm thinking about it. Since I push hotwire on here I think I should post when I have problems with them. It's been a few years since I have had a problem but I had one a few weeks ago. This was when I was checking in to Aloft downtown prior to the Saints-Texans Monday Night Football game. The city is slammed. I had to double park in the street for valet to grab my car. I booked this room back in July as a room for 2 adults and 2 children even though only two adults would be in it. The reason for this is it is supposed to guarantee two beds. It always has for me. We get checked in and are given a room with one king bed. The front desk says they are full and that is how hotwire booked it. I call hotwire. They say the hotel is responsible for giving me a room that can accommodate four people. I waste an hour on the phone. We head out to the stadium. Hotwire calls me back and offers two options. They can refund my money or they can move me to a different hotel. Both options require me to check out of the room immediately. We're an hour from kickoff. I'm trying to get to the stadium. My bags are in the hotel room. My car is in their valet. The streets are loaded. Neither of those are options. I expand the vocabulary of the hotwire person, hang up, and continue to the game. I planned to call back after the game but thought it wasn't worth it because I already paid for valet parking at the first hotel and I'd have to pay it again at the hotel we moved to. So we just made due for the night and I would call on a later date to try to get compensation. I paid $120 for the hotel after taxes. That's what I wanted. 120 hotwire dollars. I call and the girl offers me $40. I ask for a supervisor. She ups it to $60 and says that's the most they can do. She told me I would be able to get a refund on my valet parking. She had me send a screen shot of that charge but they denied it. So I just took a $60 credit on my next booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcruisin2alaska Posted October 2, 2019 #677 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Greg, I have never stayed at the HIlton Riverside, but have reservations in a couple of weeks. Having viewed your video ( thank you SO much for walking FROM Cruise to Hilton) I feel we can walk from the ship to Hilton. Never been to the Riverwalk mall either and was wondering if it will open for walkers around 8 or 9 AM ? Also, is there any way to take elevators and not go outside the mall.? Again, TY very much for the video and your information you provide about New Orleans and Carnival Glory! Looking forward to our first Glory cruise in a few weeks. Any advice you can provide about rooms to request at Hilton Riverside is appreciated. THANKS< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btregoning Posted October 6, 2019 #678 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Saint Greg, Thanks for your update on the Hilton Riverside. My BF and I did end up staying there and had a nice stay for the night. When we checked in the desk agent asked why we were staying and when I indicated we were on a joint 55th birthday trip, he gave us a $75 credit to use in the restaurant. We had a lovely dinner and it only cost $6 plus tip. Our only problem was that none of the employees we encountered could explain to us how to walk to the cruise ship. We just ended up having the bellman grab a taxi for us who charged $8 flat rate to get to check in. I would definitely stay again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted October 6, 2019 #679 Share Posted October 6, 2019 3 hours ago, btregoning said: Saint Greg, Thanks for your update on the Hilton Riverside. My BF and I did end up staying there and had a nice stay for the night. When we checked in the desk agent asked why we were staying and when I indicated we were on a joint 55th birthday trip, he gave us a $75 credit to use in the restaurant. We had a lovely dinner and it only cost $6 plus tip. Our only problem was that none of the employees we encountered could explain to us how to walk to the cruise ship. We just ended up having the bellman grab a taxi for us who charged $8 flat rate to get to check in. I would definitely stay again. You should’ve asked me about walking to the port. https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-walking-to-the-port/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annodal24 Posted October 10, 2019 #680 Share Posted October 10, 2019 On 7/17/2019 at 10:44 AM, canes20 said: We are going on Valor Sept 28 and have Room at Prytania Park for 27th at $116 total and parking at Fulton for the cruise. Have not read all of this post. Saint Greg, would you recommend a different hotel? Hey can you tell me how you all liked prytania?? I have looked at a ton of different hotels and rates and parking rates trying to figure out what might be the best deal overall for us and I’ve landed on Prytania i think....... we are staying 2 nights and want to visit French quarter etc. Two nights is going to cost about $300, which that includes parking and parking for the length of our cruise. We will still have to pay whatever it cost an Uber or taxi to get to the port, I have no idea how to figure out how much that will be as I have never,believe it or not , taken an Uber or a taxi in my life lol Looking at different hotels and scenarios even if staying farther away from the French quarter and getting a cheaper hotel it still ends up being almost $400 that way after paying parking at fulton for cruise and driving in parking to visit FQ one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canes20 Posted October 10, 2019 #681 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 hours ago, annodal24 said: Hey can you tell me how you all liked prytania?? I have looked at a ton of different hotels and rates and parking rates trying to figure out what might be the best deal overall for us and I’ve landed on Prytania i think....... we are staying 2 nights and want to visit French quarter etc. Two nights is going to cost about $300, which that includes parking and parking for the length of our cruise. We will still have to pay whatever it cost an Uber or taxi to get to the port, I have no idea how to figure out how much that will be as I have never,believe it or not , taken an Uber or a taxi in my life lol Looking at different hotels and scenarios even if staying farther away from the French quarter and getting a cheaper hotel it still ends up being almost $400 that way after paying parking at fulton for cruise and driving in parking to visit FQ one day We were not that impressed. Rooms were so-so. Breakfast was not even worth advertising. We will probably stay at Comfort Inn and Suites next time at still park at Fulton. We did not use Uber or taxi either so have no idea how much that costs. Saint Greg has a blog that has a ton of info on New Orleans. https://saintgregtravel.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 2, 2020 #682 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) In case anyone is looking to book a hotel, Hotwire has a 10% off code today supersavings. I believe it can only be used in the app. Edited February 2, 2020 by Saint Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbmga Posted February 12, 2020 #683 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Saint Greg, Would you be willing to help me find the most economical/convenient way to spend a couple nights in NO before our 3/29 NCL cruise. We have never been to NO so don't know the area. I saw your post about hotwire and it looks like French/Miss 4* is $159/night for those dates, making it $410.40 for the two nights We will be driving so will need to park for hotel and cruise. Is Fulton garage walking distance to park there for one night hotel parking and the other cruise parking? Please help! So overwhelmed and we have a courtesy hold on cruise that ends tonight so we need to decide what we are doing before we book cruise. Thank you, Debbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 12, 2020 #684 Share Posted February 12, 2020 4 hours ago, jdbmga said: Saint Greg, Would you be willing to help me find the most economical/convenient way to spend a couple nights in NO before our 3/29 NCL cruise. We have never been to NO so don't know the area. I saw your post about hotwire and it looks like French/Miss 4* is $159/night for those dates, making it $410.40 for the two nights We will be driving so will need to park for hotel and cruise. Is Fulton garage walking distance to park there for one night hotel parking and the other cruise parking? Please help! So overwhelmed and we have a courtesy hold on cruise that ends tonight so we need to decide what we are doing before we book cruise. Thank you, Debbie If you book today make sure you use the code LOVE10 for 10% off. These are the two I would be looking at. 4* 4.2/5- $159 - Hilton Riverside 3.5* 4.1/5 - $159 - Hilton Garden Inn - Convention Center Fortunately I've done pre-cruise stays at both of these hotels. I do have plans to do full reviews of both on my blog but it won't be until after your cruise. Here's the deal. Both are nice hotels. I prefer Hilton Riverside but Hilton Garden Inn is right next to Fulton Parking Garage. Of course you're NCL. I've never cruised NCL but I think some park in the whale lot which is the parking lot for the mall which is attached to Hilton Riverside. Then again you can book reasonable hotel parking for your two nights at Fulton and I'm not sure you if you can do that at the Whale lot or not. Parking at riverside is going to be double the hotel rate at Fulton. If you stay at Hilton Riverside. positives It's closer to the french quarter but a little further from the port. There's a streetcar stop right out front It has a good seafood restuarant right in the hotel It's connected to the riverwalk mall You can walk to the port through the riverwalk mall negative Hotel parking is more expensive $44/night and it's a little inconvenient to park at Fulton If you stay at Hilton Garden Inn Right next to Fulton Garage where you can park for the duration Just a few blocks from the National WWII museum Just a few blocks from the St. Charles Streetcar line I recommend this blog entry. This was the day I parked at Fulton, stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, and went to the WWII museum https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-wwii-museum/ Actually you may want to look at all of my New Orleans stuff. I have an article on parking, an article on walking to the port, some sight seeing stuff. https://saintgregtravel.com/category/port-of-departure/new-orleans/ If it were me I'd probably try to have my cake and eat it too. I would probably book Hilton Riverside. Then I would book two nights hotel parking at Fulton. Then I would book cruise parking at Fulton. When I got into town I would pull up to the hotel..I'm assuming you are a married couple here...drop the wife off along with bags. Park at Fulton Garage and walk back to Hilton. Even if you wanted to take an Uber back you'd come out cheaper than parking at the Hilton Riverside. You could either drop off all luggage and take it through the mall to the port on embarkation day..or just take what you need for two days and bring the rest on the fulton shuttle on embarkation day. When I did something similar in August I just took a backpack with me for my two days in New Orleans. Then on Embarkation day I returned to the car to retrieve the beast (my big suitcase) and drop off the previous two days dirty clothes on on embarkation morning...then ride the shuttle to the port. Here is my blog on parking: https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-parking/ Here is where you can book Fulton parking www.neworleansparking.com Here is my article on walking to the port. There are two videos in there. One is from the Hilton hotel. Note on that you wouldn't have to do the outside portion. When you get through the food court you go down the elevator to the NCL port. On the one walking from Marriott, as a point of reference the marriott is next to Fulton Garage and though the walk takes you all the way to the carnival port. You will see me point the camera at the NCL port at one point. https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-walking-to-the-port/ If you do stay at Riverside make sure you try the charbroiled oysters down stairs at Drago's. If you have any questions let me know. I'm happy to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan551 Posted February 13, 2020 #685 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Also posted this on the Gulf Coast Dep. board, hoping Saint Greg will see it... 😁 I have done my normal research (of hotel brands & the special rates I can get) for a 2 night hotel stay in NOLA in July before a cruise, and am now hoping that Saint Greg may see this and help me. ☺️ I have only sailed out of NOLA once, and need all the help I can get! Hotel dates: July 17-19, 2020 Rooms: Preferably 1 with 2 queens & pullout sofa (we will have 6 in our party...2 adults & 4 college kids). (Is there a way to even tell if the Priceline/bid type rooms have pullouts?) ** Will have TWO cars with us! Thanks for any help! Tiffany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 13, 2020 #686 Share Posted February 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, disneyfan551 said: Also posted this on the Gulf Coast Dep. board, hoping Saint Greg will see it... 😁 I have done my normal research (of hotel brands & the special rates I can get) for a 2 night hotel stay in NOLA in July before a cruise, and am now hoping that Saint Greg may see this and help me. ☺️ I have only sailed out of NOLA once, and need all the help I can get! Hotel dates: July 17-19, 2020 Rooms: Preferably 1 with 2 queens & pullout sofa (we will have 6 in our party...2 adults & 4 college kids). (Is there a way to even tell if the Priceline/bid type rooms have pullouts?) ** Will have TWO cars with us! Thanks for any help! Tiffany Are you trying to do six people in one room? First off don't mess with priceline. They won't guarantee anything outside of 2 people, 1 bed room. I won't use them unless I'm staying by myself. Hotwire you can select 2 adults, 2 children in your search which will guarantee you a two-bed room. If we can find a room that's an "all-suites" hotel you have a good chance of getting a pull out couch. Some places you can request a rollaway bed. I'll take a look for you dates and see what I can find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 13, 2020 #687 Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, disneyfan551 said: Also posted this on the Gulf Coast Dep. board, hoping Saint Greg will see it... 😁 I have done my normal research (of hotel brands & the special rates I can get) for a 2 night hotel stay in NOLA in July before a cruise, and am now hoping that Saint Greg may see this and help me. ☺️ I have only sailed out of NOLA once, and need all the help I can get! Hotel dates: July 17-19, 2020 Rooms: Preferably 1 with 2 queens & pullout sofa (we will have 6 in our party...2 adults & 4 college kids). (Is there a way to even tell if the Priceline/bid type rooms have pullouts?) ** Will have TWO cars with us! Thanks for any help! Tiffany Oh gosh. I typed a whole bunch of stuff and then lost it hitting the wrong key. I knew I shouldn't have done that in the browser. Starting over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 13, 2020 #688 Share Posted February 13, 2020 3 hours ago, disneyfan551 said: Also posted this on the Gulf Coast Dep. board, hoping Saint Greg will see it... 😁 I have done my normal research (of hotel brands & the special rates I can get) for a 2 night hotel stay in NOLA in July before a cruise, and am now hoping that Saint Greg may see this and help me. ☺️ I have only sailed out of NOLA once, and need all the help I can get! Hotel dates: July 17-19, 2020 Rooms: Preferably 1 with 2 queens & pullout sofa (we will have 6 in our party...2 adults & 4 college kids). (Is there a way to even tell if the Priceline/bid type rooms have pullouts?) ** Will have TWO cars with us! Thanks for any help! Tiffany The cheapest option on Hotwire is a 2.5* in the Garden District. Now the Garden District isn't walking distance to the French Quarter if that's where you're wanting to go..but this hotel is on the St. Charles streetcar line which will take you there. This one intrigues me because you have a lot of people and you have two cars. The hotel is Prytania Park which has free parking. Free and parking are two words that rarely go together in New Orleans. Now I don't know if you can park two cars there if you only book one room. An option would be to drop people off there, park one car at fulton and take the other car back to the hotel, park it at the hotel for the stay... Then on embarkation day use the car you have at the hotel to drop people/luggage off either at fulton or the port, then park the second car at fulton and ride the shuttle back to the port. Another thing about this hotel. If you read my New Orleans parking blog you already know this..but it has a park and cruise package. Now to get that you would have to book through the hotel. Their rooms range from $139-229 for your nights with the more expensive option being a six person room. You have to book two nights but for that you get seven nights of cruise parking. Here is the link if interested: https://reserve.prytaniaparkhotel.com/packages/PNC?checkin=2020-07-17&checkout=2020-07-19 Moving along. The next cheapest option also in the garden district is the Avenue Plaza hotel which is the 3* for $99. Their standard rate would've been $305 for your nights. This one intrigues me because it lists "condo" as an amenity. Visiting their website reveals their room types are a studio with one or two queen beds and a kitchenette or a room with a separate master bedroom containing a queen bed. Then a pullout couch in the other room. As long as you book with 2 adults, 2 children they would have to give you either the two bed room or the one bed, pullout couch room. Moving closer to the port...Warehouse district 4* $111. This is the Cambria. It looks like you would have a two queen bed room here. You'd probably want to call ahead to see if you can request a rollaway bed upon check-in before booking. $3.5* for $129 is the Hilton Garden Inn which I mentioned a couple posts up. Benefit here is it's right next to Fulton Garage. It'll be a 2 queen room. 3* for $154 is Staybridge Suites. It would either have two queens or a bedroom with one king then a pullout couch in the living room. Oh apparently it has undergone a name change. It's Hotel Poydras now. If you stay downtown/french quarter you're going to be away from cruise parking. You could book a cheaper garage in the area of your hotel. Like if you read my the pre-cruise part of my Christmas Dream cruise from 2018. The garage I parked in cheap during the Krewe of Jingle parade. You can get in a garage like that for like cheaper than a hotel or even Fulton. It's too early to book it on those sites now but for a weekend mid march I see that garage for a fri-sun for $24 total. Any hotel is going to charge you $30-50 per car per night. Lets look at downtown they have a few lower priced options. 4* for $112. This is the Renaissance Pere Marquette. Looks like you'd have two double beds there. They do have rollaway beds available on request. 4* boutique for $119. This is Le Pavillion. Historic hotel that's been used in TV and movies. I've seen them filming there before. Interesting thing is they have a tradition of hot chocolate and peanut butter and jelly late at night. So they actually put out a hot chocolate and pb&j buffet at night. That would be a 2 double bed room. 3* $123 Wyndham Garden. This would be a 2 double bed room and it specifies no rollaways avaialble. It does show a picture with a separate area that has a couch. 3.5* for $153 Sonesta ES Suites. This one would have a bedroom with a king bed then a living room with a pull out couch. They do have 2 bedroom rooms that sleep six people but that's probably not what you'd get through a hot rate since you can only pick up to 4 people. Central downtown 3.5* $119 Magnolia. Looks like a 2 queen bed room. 4* $129 Intercontinental. Stayed here a few times really nice hotel. It would be a 2 queen room. 3.5* boutique $130 Lafayette. It would be a 2 queen room 3* $134 La Quinta. It would be a two queen room. Free breakfast here. French Quarter 3* boutique $130 Prince Conti. would be a 2 queen room. 4* boutique $143 Hyatt Centric. pretty new hotel. I know they were working on it in 2010. one block off bourbon. across from popular restaurant. 2 queens with rollaways available. 3.5* $159 St. Marie. 2 queen with rollaways avaiable. French quarter-Mississippi River 3* $139 Hotel Provincial - I probably wouldn't mess with this one because it's two bed rooms are only 200 square feet. But I have a story about this hotel. One time on a saints gameday the hotel I booked was overbooked. They said they'd find me another room and pay for it. They got me a room at this hotel. The room had a kitchenette, living room, a bedroom with private bath, and a loft with another bed and private bath. It was awesome. I don't know how you would book it. If I go to their website the biggest room they'll offer me for your nights is 2 beds and a sleeper sofa for $255. 4* $160 Marriott - 2 double beds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan551 Posted February 14, 2020 #689 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Saint Greg... WOW! I truly appreciate all of your time and advice! I will take a look at these & try to figure something out this weekend! Thank you SOOO very much!! Tiffany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 18, 2020 #690 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I got another hotwire code in case anyone is looking to book a hotel. 10% off and you have to use the code today or tomorrow: THANKYOU10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainmayi Posted February 23, 2020 #691 Share Posted February 23, 2020 How do you know what kind of bed type you are going to get on Hotwire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted February 23, 2020 #692 Share Posted February 23, 2020 7 minutes ago, captainmayi said: How do you know what kind of bed type you are going to get on Hotwire? It depends. Some of them offer a bed choice. if they don’t...searching for 2 adults, 2 children guarantees two beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topdog52 Posted July 16, 2020 #693 Share Posted July 16, 2020 how long of a walk is it through the mall from the Hilton Riverside NCL terminal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted July 16, 2020 #694 Share Posted July 16, 2020 19 minutes ago, Topdog52 said: how long of a walk is it through the mall from the Hilton Riverside NCL terminal? check this out. I have videos of the walk to the carnival port. But I stop along the way and show you the elevator down to the NCL port. Took me 7mins and 47 seconds in the first video. I have a big Hilton riverside guide coming next month as well. https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-walking-to-the-port/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topdog52 Posted July 16, 2020 #695 Share Posted July 16, 2020 52 minutes ago, Saint Greg said: check this out. I have videos of the walk to the carnival port. But I stop along the way and show you the elevator down to the NCL port. Took me 7mins and 47 seconds in the first video. I have a big Hilton riverside guide coming next month as well. https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-walking-to-the-port/ Thgank You and please let me know when the guide is ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted August 17, 2020 #696 Share Posted August 17, 2020 On 7/16/2020 at 10:02 AM, Topdog52 said: Thgank You and please let me know when the guide is ready. Everything you ever wanted to know about Hilton Riverside: https://saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-hotel-guide-hilton-riverside/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topdog52 Posted August 17, 2020 #697 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Do you know what is going on the weekend of January 9,10, and 11th 2021? I have called a few times and the Hilton Riverside told me they are all booked up. Could the Wizard World Comic Con be that big? If so do you know if the Hilton has a waiting list. We are hopefully going on a cruise leaving Jan. 10 2021 and would like to stay there. Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted August 17, 2020 #698 Share Posted August 17, 2020 19 minutes ago, Topdog52 said: Do you know what is going on the weekend of January 9,10, and 11th 2021? I have called a few times and the Hilton Riverside told me they are all booked up. Could the Wizard World Comic Con be that big? If so do you know if the Hilton has a waiting list. We are hopefully going on a cruise leaving Jan. 10 2021 and would like to stay there. Thank You I've been there before during that comicon. The lobby was loaded with characters...literally. I was there for a Saints playoff game and I booked it that week. That was a few years ago. That seems like a lot of rooms to be booked up for that. I wonder if they're trying to control capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topdog52 Posted August 17, 2020 #699 Share Posted August 17, 2020 THNK YOU!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted August 18, 2020 #700 Share Posted August 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Topdog52 said: THNK YOU!! I'd keep an eye on it. I know the mayor canceled all large gatherings for the remainder of the year. They could cancel comicon.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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