My wife is organizing a conference for her company, with 150 attendees, in New Orleans starting Saturday, 3/13. Because she did not get down there ahead of time (her trip was cancelled due to snow), she's now going down on 3/11.

However, there's some big convention in town, and they've blocked every hotel room on 3/11. The only rooms she's been able to find are in Laplace, Covington, or Slidell, or are in the short-sheet motels along Tulane Ave and Airline Highway. She's tried Amex Travel, Kayak, Hotels.com, and the hotel web sites.

We used to lived there, but never had to stay in a hotel before, so we're at a bit of a loss about what to do.

Anyone have any suggestions?