New Orleans--Go or No?
 

Debating a chance to go to New Orleans. What is the city's status as of July 2006, Is the French Quarter OK? How about the hotels and restaurants?Any info appreciated!!

The city stinks!!! Not trying to be funny, but the whole place stinks of garbage. Go someplace nicer.

Unless you plan on spending your time in the 9th Ward which was devestated, New Orleans & the French Quarter are ready & willing to take your $$ & show you a good time. Have fun!

Cheers...

Absolutely go.

1. The tourist areas suffered less damage than many residential areas, and are largely recovered. Some restaurants are serving reduced menus and a few are still closed, but otherwise, things in these areas are getting back to pre-storm levels. The Hyatt is still closed thru the end of the year, but all the other major hotels have re-opened.

2. The city badly needs tourist money.

3. You can take an afternoon and tour some of the more damaged areas and see for yourself the tragic and disgraceful lack of progress that has been made. Then write your congressman when you get home.

I was there myself for New Years and in May for Jazzfest, and I'm heading back down in two weeks for the Satchmo Festival.

Still the Best City!
 

I went to New Orleans at the begininng of July for my first post-Katrina trip there and it was fantastic. The French Quarter is as beautiful and exciting as ever. Bourbon Street comes alive at night. The food is still the best in the world. I rented a car and took half a day to go explore some of the areas destroyed by the hurricane and it was an incredible opportunity to put the devestation in perspective and witness a part of history. I would recommend a trip to New Orleans now more than ever. I will certainly be going back at my earliest opportunity, but until then walk down Bourbon St. and drink a hurricane for me!

Speaking as someone who actually lives in New Orleans, I can tell you that the comments of this poster have no basis in reality.

There are plenty of hotels that are open, as are many of our great restaurants. We even have had some nice new restaurants open Post-K. The shops of the French Quarter are open, as well as the intriguing shops along Magazine St.

You can still have a funfilled time here, but I strongly urge any visitor to drive through the devastated areas to get a dose of reality. Do drive into the Lower 9th, but you might also want to go to Old Metairie to see multimillion dollar homes that were destroyed. If you have the time, go over to the Mississippi Gulf Coast too. One thing to keep in mind is that the major damage was caused not by Katrina, but by the failure of the levees due to poor design and improper construction.

Definitely go. The areas frequented by tourists -- French Quarter, CBD, Warehouse District, Garden District, Uptown -- are all up and running, with minimal damage or disruption. (Sadly, the same can not be said for many of the residential neighborhoods devastated by the hurricane.) Most hotels and many, many restaurants are back. New Orleans remains a great, great city.

Go, they need your money. The tourist areas are up and running from all reports.

Yes, please come!

As a New Yorker, who experienced the kindness of the world as they came to our city after 9/11, I am spending a few days in NOLA prior to a cruise in December. I feel a duty to return the favors shown to our city after our crisis.

These two sites are good for finding out what's open.
http://www.frenchquarter.com/katrina.php
http://www.nomenu.com/

Also, if you are interested you can download Fodor's 2006 guide as a .pdf
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ew_orleans@110

I don't think you can get the 2006 guide in stores (at least I couldn't find it).

This could not be further from the truth. :(

I went with my girlfriends for Memorial Day and we had a fabulous four day stay in the French Quarter. It was a LOT cleaner than I remember it pre-Katrina and no garbage whatsoever.

Do check around to see what will be open - staffing is still a problem in the hospitality industry. A lot of restaurants are open but still building back. We had no problem finding places to have dinner - lunches were a wee bit harder with many places open on limited days or for limited hours. Hotels aren't quite back to "full-service" either - room service hours might be limited, for example, or you might have a line to check-in. Be patient - the city wants you there.

I'll be back at least one more time this year - and I'm coordinating a major event there in 2007.

Ignore the trolls. I've been here twice on business about 3 months ago, and its open for business. I concur with other posters.. do take a drive through the 9th ward and other parts of the city, but there are plenty or resturants and tourist attractions open. Sadily some of the smaller funkier places i liked in the past were closed, but there was enough to keep me interested for a few nights.

When i went, premium hotels like the J.W. Marriott and the Renaissance Arts were open and available at a discount.. Look around for deals.

_m

[...When i went, premium hotels like the J.W. Marriott and the Renaissance Arts were open and available at a discount.. Look around for deals.

_m[/QUOTE]

Or consider staying at a locally owned/operated hotel which might have been harder hit by the hurricane than a hotel chain...

?????????

I wholeheartedly agree with supporting the businesses in NOLA by visiting the city and spending your own money. However, we as a nation, have thrown way more than enough government cash at this situation. It is now up to the local authorities to come up with sound plans for rebuilding and ferret out the endemic corruption that will sap a majority of the funds earmarked for reconstruction.

As tragic as the devastation is, why is this a Federal problem?