Just to update you guys, my friend did end up trying the Sheraton Metairie, and he really liked it. He did say that the carpet needed to be replaced but everything else was fine. He was really impressed with checkin. The agent asked him what his itinerary was for the next day, and he told her. She excused herself for a minute and came back with turn by turn directions to the place where he was having his meeting. This was really good since he's new to the area.

He said he will stay there again. He decided there over the Baton Rouge location because the Sheraton in Metairie was participating in the 1/2/3 Stay where you live promo. Baton Rouge is not.

He's headed back in a few days, and he will stay again.

And to the previous poster, he has looked at Hilton, but his big gripe with Hilton (and mine too for that matter) is the amount of points it takes to redeem points at any of the places you'd want to stay. It's a ripoff compared to Marriott, SPG, and Hyatt. 40k for a Hampton Inn at the SBA airport just because it's adjacent to Santa Barbara is highway robbery.

Thanks to his NOLA visits and working north Mississippi out of Memphis, my friend thinks he can get his SPG Platinum back as well as retain Marriott and get Holiday Inn Platinum. He'll have at least 130 hotel nights this year, and he wants to spread his stays if he can. He's off to a good start.