Hey, it was either party with you guys or attend my 8:00am-9:00pm conference meetings all weekend. Librarians or FTers: which would YOU choose? :-) This year I will not have such obligations . . . Thanks for checking on the rate, SeeYa.

There were a number of librarians out celebrating on Saturday night, too. No excuses for you!

I'm considering attending this, but am not ready to commit.

Being undecided, I don't want to use non-refundable options such as Priceline or Hotwire.

I went searching for hotel deals, and found the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau website has a hotel search:

www.neworleanscvb.com

A few of the hotels are offering three nights for the price of two through this website. One outstanding example is the Homewood Suites at 901 Poydras (Central Business District, not too far from either the Quarter or the W on Poydras.) I booked a rate of $119+tax for Friday and Saturday nights, and got Sunday night free. This is a much better deal than offered on the Hilton website.

(However, the Hilton website also shows some TWO-bedroom suites as low as $189 AAA rate that could be good for two or three people wanting to share.)

Anyway, if you haven't found a hotel yet, check out this site. Caveat: some of the rates on the CVB site are HIGHER than on the hotel websites, so do your comparison shopping! I also played around with different lengths of stays, up to 7 nights. The hotels that offer the free night deal only offered ONE free night even for the longer stays (and it's always the cheapest night). So it appears that the three-night stay is optimal (cheapest net rate per night).

I just might burn some UA miles for the flight.


Kathy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Please add my friend, Stuart, to the list of those attending. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Just giving this a shove back to the top http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Okay, I'm in! Thanks to KathyWdrf's suggestion above I have 3 nights at Hotel Le Cirque for $170 (Sunday free). Please count me in for the Sunday brunch. I will most likely miss the wine & cheese Friday, since I'm coming from a work trip and cannot get to MSY until 9:30 pm. I would like to meet folks for carousing later that night, though . . .

If I do come, I might want to cash out some Hilton points and stay at a Hilton property. I don't really care what the Hilton property is, but am more concerned with location. Any suggestions? Thanks.

The Hilton Riverside is probably the closest but I would also consider the Hilton Garden Inn by the Convention Center if the point redemption is a lot lower. There is also a new Homewood Suites on Poydras which is still fairly convenient as well.

prncess -- good news and bad news, I won't be making MSY this time around, but, it's a very good chance I'll be in MSY from Aug-Dec 2003, so I'll keep a look out for another Big Easy party!!

Hilton Riverside appears to be sold out. The one near the convention center has rooms but that is a long walk to everything! (stayed in that area last trip to NOLa). There is a DoubleTree on Canal Street very close to the W though. They have rooms available (bit pricey).

My flights:
CO 411 EWR IAH 1/31 155P 439P
CO 5 IAH MSY 1/31 530P 635P
CO 622 MSY IAH 2/2 325P 435P
CO 1010 IAH EWR 2/2 530P 938P

Unfortunately, I've missed the $109 winter promo at the W. Anyone up for a room share with a complete stranger?

If the Doubletree doesn't work, I'd suggest the Hampton on Carondelet as a better choice than the Convention Center HGI or Hampton.

Looks like I don't have to sleep with strangers. I'm in the Hotel Monaco. Hmm...should I get a goldfish?

LOL! Looks like you won't have to. They appear to be complimentary. What an unusual concept. Looks like a nice hotel although, I'm a bit concerned about the alligator sausage ingredients with the "Stuffed Guppy" package http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

We have made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now New Year’s. The NOLA party is only a few short weeks away. I know many of you have expressed an interest but were waiting to commit. Dinner at Delmonico is hopefully going to be in the private dining room, but we need to have a minimum of 12 people (maximum 16) to guarantee our reservation in the private dining room. I am asking that each of you who would like to attend the Saturday dinner to please let me know by paying via PayPal(no credit card payments, please) or personal check no later than January 15. The cost is $150. Payment for Sunday brunch will be handled later.

Please send PayPal payments to
[email protected]

If you would like to pay via check, email me personally and I will send you my address.