The New Orleans Hotel

I usually end my blogs with a takeaway. But for this piece, you get a bonus.

Whatever you do, DO NOT use an online hotel booking site like Booking.com to reserve your room at the New Orleans Hotel, located in Eureka Springs Arkansas! This was something I learned the hard way.

While I use the site frequently, as well as others (no brand loyalty here!) to prepare my travels, I encountered a snag with this particular hotel. Booking.com let me make a reservation for virtually any date I liked. Including the incredibly busy Halloween weekend-a weekend when the town pulls out all the stops and hosts a three-day celebration culminating with a zombie crawl.

Only after I paid did I discover that the reservation was switched to the following year. To make an annoying experience even more irritating, the website states you will be charged a $150 fee if you cancel the reservation.

There must be some mistake, I thought as I returned to the website to make the necessary corrections. Nope, no dice.  As I attempted to change the date, I was warned of the $150 charge looming around the corner.

So I tried one more time to book a reservation for my preferred date-and year. Starting from the beginning, I carefully went through the steps of selecting the hotel and date I desired. Again, nothing was blacked-out. Double-checking several times, I ensured I requested a reservation for 2022 and entered my payment information.

Just before I hit ‘enter’, I received an alert. One that said I had already booked a room for that date-in 2023.

So that’s how we ended up traveling to Eureka Springs a year after I intended to just for the heck of it. Sometimes, you just have to roll with it.

I have to say the hotel really celebrates its history as one of the oldest establishments in town. It sits on a great location, right in the middle of everything. The streets in general are narrow and public parking is very limited. But once parked, nearly everything is within walking distance or accessible by public transportation. I’m betting you will have very little need for your car until checkout.

Taking advantage of the valet services is a must, but it won’t be quick. The front desk staff are also the valets-as well as the ones charged with answering incoming phone calls and personally seeing to guests’ needs. So be patient and allow a little extra time to retrieve your car. They are scrambling as fast as they can.

The hotel is an entertainment and dining destination in itself. The first thing that greets you is the two-floor balcony overlooking the street.  While this is a great place to unwind or people-watch at any point during the tourist season, it is the place to be during city celebrations like the Halloween Zombie Crawl. It also boasts a quaint little ice cream parlor, a gift shop selling t-shirts and souvenirs and two bars-the Quarter and the Voodoo Lounge.

The Quarter, located in the basement serves as a café and a nightclub depending on what time you visit. In addition to serving cocktails and a mean beignet, they have a dance floor and host karaoke nights and other events. The weekend I stayed over, they advertised a burlesque show-although it was really just a PG-13 strip show.  Like many spots in town, they rely upon their ambiance to draw you in. Try not to hold it against them.

The Voodoo Lounge upstairs is a smaller, more intimate bar. Not much bigger than your average kitchen, the lounge is run on a skeleton crew-usually no more than the bartender. That being said, the barkeeps know their stuff, and positively contribute to the laid back atmosphere. So long as you don’t get in their way, they will take good care of you. 

Nearly everything about the hotel is accessed either by climbing up or coming down stairs-sometimes several flights of them. This includes toting your luggage back and forth. While I am certain the hotel staff would be happy to assist, I didn’t notice any elevators or accommodations for people with mobility issues, so keep this in mind if you are planning a stay. And the bar downstairs didn’t appear to have any entries that could be accessed by persons requiring ADA accommodations either.

Considering the number of visitors at any given time that could use it, I would have liked to see that.

I was put in a room on the 3rd floor so I definitely got my steps in coming and going. The room itself was clean, well-furnished with antiques and quiet. The layout was kind of haphazard. The television was set on a dresser parallel from the bed, making viewing difficult. At the far end of the room directly under a clothing rack sat a mini-fridge on a small table, appearing to be an after-thought. One would have to push their coats and other clothing out of the way just to open it. But given it’s age and the efforts taken to keep the space as original as possible, it’s understandable.

The bathroom was especially roomy as was the shower. But the toilet leaked and so did the sink. Both appeared to show long-term damage. There was also a funky smell emitting from the room upon entry that I wasn’t able to locate. It wasn’t mildew-more like dank moisture with hints of urine.

I was relieved the smell wasn’t coming from the bedding, but I didn’t stick my nose down into the carpeting. Given the hotel’s reputation as a party-palace, I wasn’t about to.

While upkeep on any hotel is cumbersome (and the age and tricky foundation of the New Orleans Hotel would make this doubly so) the potential for hygienic and maintenance issues to eventually become serious safety matters bothered me. Not only for guests with allergies or immune system problems, but for the overall safety of those in the building.

And as the weekend continued, my concerns only grew. Just upstairs from the 3rd floor, I noticed an electrical box with a dirty rag sticking out of it.  Putting a minifridge under a clothing rack is one thing, entertaining potential fire hazards is quite another. I hate to think about the cost to lives and property if that place went up in flames. It would be a tragedy if that happened as the result of neglect.

The fact that the owner was on the premises hanging out with the guests did ease my mind. I have never seen a proprietor have such a good rapport with his employees. He joked with them, visited with their family members and even bought them an “end of shift drink” after the club closed for the night. I wouldn’t have recognized him if an employee didn’t point him out-they were obviously pretty impressed themselves.

And stair-fatigue, electrical failure and the possibility of black mold can be easily overlooked when compared to the New Orleans Hotel staff. I’ve raved about hotel workers before-and every single one fully deserves it, but these people take the gold medal. Besides being approachable and accommodating, they treat you like a regular. They are warm and friendly, striking up conversations with you just for kicks. Even if this isn’t something you are accustomed to, you will soon be wrapped up in conversation with a new set of friends as they tell you the latest gossip, and even invite you for drinks at the club when they get off shift.

And they really do hang out at the hotel after hours-further adding to its street cred. Even during the seasons when the tourist floodgates are opened, of all the places to go in Eureka Springs (and believe me, these guys know them all) they still prefer the hotel. To me, that says a lot.  Judging by the looks of exhaustion on many faces throughout town, those working during the festival were feeling it. But the New Orleans Hotel staff just shrugged it off. Most of them told me they actually enjoyed it.

They also told me they too, could use an end of shift drink. So come on, man!

My takeaway: leave your expectations of standards and professionalism at the door and get ready for an experience.

Do you have a hotel or inn you would like me to review? Let me know on Facebook, Instagram or at toilandtroublemediagroup@gmail.com

The Embassy Suites St. Louis

Check it out here!

As much as I have raved about the Cheshire in St. Louis, a reader asked me to check out the Embassy Suites. At first, I turned up my nose. Who wants to go to a hotel that’s like all the rest? But the next time I was in town for an XFL game, I decided to give it a try.

And I have to say, my readers are brilliant.

Parking downtown is a challenge on a good day, and with a professional football game playing right next door, they are even worse. But the valets at the Embassy Suites operated like a team of champions. They were always communicating, strategizing and maneuvering to tackle demand. The service was an extra charge, but well worth it. I never felt my car was out of my reach. I even had Erin use the service when she met me for dinner that night, and the guys comp’ed her time. 

Thanks guys!

Again, the front desk staff was very efficient-almost an extension of the valet team although you could tell they acknowledged the coach was out there parking cars. Which I suppose isn’t the worst thing that could happen, but I imagine this would be a little confusing for people who do not speak English as their first language or have other communication challenges. That being said, guests were spaced very well with families and travelers with pets kept apart from others staying at the hotel. I find that always makes for a better experience. I love dogs and babies, I’m just not crazy about hearing them in the middle of the night unless they are mine.

Apart from the common areas, the hotel itself is very quiet. The room was open and well-organized. The sleeping area was separated from the sitting/TV and the kitchen areas. The layout gave some semblance of order to what can often be a chaotic time for any traveler.

The dining area was spacious and clean with a menu that could accommodate anyone’s taste. And even though the hotel’s amenities catered to families, I could see the efforts made to consider adults as well. Take their happy hour receptions  which served snacks and soft drinks for families with children, but also had an open bar manned by a bartender who was happy to mix your favorite cocktail or serve you a glass of today’s punch of the day.

Shout out to that girl! She was a pro!

The continental breakfast was also one of the best I have ever seen. The buffet took up two separate rooms and had just about anything you could want for breakfast on the road. The dining area was spacious enough to accommodate hungry guests, but many filled their trays and took them up to their rooms. And in spite of this, I noticed the housekeeping staff didn’t leave a single tray outside a room for more than a few minutes. They were magical.

The price was reasonable given the location and the going rates of other hotels nearby. And having a hotel room right next door to the arena was so advantageous!. Located within walking distance of much of downtown STL, it was easy to walk to all of my favorite restaurants and hangouts. Over and over, I found the hotel was the perfect place to act as base for my weekend getaway

My takeaway: Come for the parking, stay for the breakfast.

The Windham Grand OKC

Check it out here!

While I am a sucker for a one of a kind boutique hotel, some chains are also worth a look. Take the Windham Grand in Oklahoma City. It exceeds all expectations.

Staying in a large, congested city has its challenges. While some would put cost and safety at the top of the list, I don’t think anything makes a trip more stressful than finding a decent place to park. Valet parking at the Windham Grand is an additional cost, but it’s minimal when compared to the prices charged in other cities of its size and it’s still less than tooling around in an Uber. Their valets are also very fast and I never waited more than a few minutes for my car, even during their most high-demand hours.

Thankfully most of the hotels I have reviewed are blessed with truly customer-focused front desk people.  

(The exception being the evening desk staff at the Moonrise in St. Lewis-check out my blog HERE)

But Windham Grand took it up another notch. They really crushed it. While checking me in, the woman waiting on me told me about an upgrade to a balcony suite I could move up to for less than thirty dollars.  I normally decline upgrades-especially if I am only staying a night or two. But this upgrade included 24-hour access to their club room-and its free snacks and refreshments.

And by refreshments, I mean a variety that could easily replace a meal or frequent snacks for a family of travelers. Besides desks and comfy places to sit, the room was stocked with fresh fruit, yogurt, candy, trail mix, soft drinks, juice, milk, tea and coffee. They even had a barista coffee maker a couple steps down from the one in Club Quarters in Chicago, but still no slouch of a machine.

Shout out to Club Quarters, I still dream about that coffee maker.

Oklahoma City is rarely at a loss of things to do and the hotel was busy with several events occurring that weekend. But guests were still well placed and we didn’t detect any activity outside our room during our stay, adding to the privacy and peace. The dining area was very popular judging from the number of diners coming and going, but between my stops at local restaurants and the club room, I didn’t feel the need for room service.

The cleaning staff were very quiet and efficient. You would hardly notice they were there unless you encountered them in the hall. The price was very reasonable given the location and rates charged by other area hotels. Overall, it was a very good experience and well worth the money.

My takeaway: Spring for the club room and take some snacks for the road.

Do you have a hotel or inn you would like me to review? Let me know on Facebook, Instagram or at toilandtroublemediagroup@gmail.com