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I had to be in New Orleans last week overnight for a trade show. My company booked me at the Le Méridien New Orleans. I had not stayed at this hotel since its conversion from a W to a Le Méridien in 2014. While the hotel itself is fine, the service leaves a lot to be desired.
Anthony’s Take: The room, amenities, and hotel itself are fine. Just don’t expect much or really anything in terms of elite recognition or service for that matter. Staff are poorly trained, more concerned with chatting amongst themselves than working, and will do as little as possible (and with an attitude).
Booking
I was booked into a 1 King Bed, Classic Room by my company on a show rate. Had I booked directly from Marriott.com on a “Member Flexible” rate, it would have cost around $273 plus taxes per night. Most nights seem to be in this range. The hotel can also be booked with Bonvoy points (30,000-59,000 points per night) with rates varying since Marriott eliminated its award buckets.
Transportation to/from the Hotel
I took an Uber Comfort from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) to the Le Méridien New Orleans. It took around 35 minutes for the 14.8-mile ride and cost $47. Heading home, I took another Uber Comfort at a similar cost and time.
Location
The location of this hotel is directly across the street from Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel & Casino. The Convention Center and Bourbon Street are within walking distance, which makes this hotel well located for business or partying.
Check-in
I reached out to the hotel through the Marriott Bonvoy® app to ask what the earliest my room would be ready. An agent replied about 20 minutes later and told me that housekeeping was currently cleaning rooms and that mine would be ready around 1:00 PM. I arrived at the hotel around 1:30 PM and attempted to check in. The agent was rude and without even looking at her computer said, “check-in time is 4:00 PM. Come back later.” I tried to explain that I had messaged and was told it would be ready. She replied that no one told me that. I showed her the message in the app and she still said, “your room will be ready when it’s ready. Likely not until after 4:00 PM.” I told her that check-in time was at 4:00 PM and that I hoped it would be ready then.
I found a quiet spot in the lobby and did some work. Around 2:30 PM, I got an alert on my phone that my room was ready. I walked back up and the same agent was playing with her phone. She asked how she could help and I told her about the alert. Her reply, “you got a message saying it’s ready and can use the app as your key. Why are you up here bothering me?” I asked for a physical key and she huffed loudly while making it. She then told me that I could have points as an amenity. I asked about other choices and she said “no one takes other choices.” I then asked about a late checkout and was told that they were fully booked and I could not have one. I proceeded to ask about an upgrade and without even looking at her computer, she said “we don’t do that here.” I took my key and walked to the elevator as I was only there for the night and did not feel like arguing. The hotel’s website showed almost every type of room and suite available for booking.
The lobby has many seating areas in a bunch of different configurations.
More seating. I did some work from this little nook.
A bar is located in the lobby. It opened shortly after I arrived.
The lobby was pretty busy closer to check-in time and was buzzing around 9:00 PM.
Elevators are located to the left when facing the check-in desks. They were incredibly slow.
The elevator lobbies on each floor were decorated in a typical, whimsical Le Méridien-style.
The hallways were clean and it seemed like housekeeping was constantly working on rooms.
An ice machine was located across the hall from my room. It was inoperable during my stay. I was located on the eighth floor and found it funny that you’d need to schlep to the 19th floor for ice (especially considering how slow the elevators operated).
1 King Bed, Classic Room (814)
There are 410 rooms and suites at the Le Méridien New Orleans across 23 floors.
The bathroom is to the left upon entering the room. It was tight with a vanity, toilet, and shower.
MALIN+GOETZ soap (which is Le Méridien’s brand standard) was on the counter.
The toilet was wedged between the shower and vanity.
The shower worked well and the water pressure was good.
MALIN+GOETZ shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were mounted on the shower wall.
A closet was to the right upon entering the room. It held a safe, iron and ironing board, luggage rack, and hangers.
The bedroom was straight ahead. It was spacious with plenty of room for a king-sized bed, nightstands, a sofa, table, and dresser/desk.
The TV was mounted above a combo dresser/desk.
A mini-bar was to the right of this unit. It was locked and the face was falling off of the refrigerator part.
Some snacks for sale were located on top.
A second, empty refrigerator was inside the cabinet.
A coffeemaker, coffee, tea, and condiments were on top of this dresser.
Public Areas & Amenities
The Le Méridien New Orleans offers lots of lobby seating, a fitness center, outdoor pool, a pantry selling snacks and sundries (pictured above), an ATM, and the restaurant/bar named Longitude 90 in the lobby.
An ATM was near the elevators.
The pool and fitness center are located on the fourth floor.
There was lots of seating around the pool.
The fitness center was spacious. It offered lots of machines and free weights.
There were towels and water for guest consumption available here.
Overall Impression: The Le Méridien New Orleans offers comfortable rooms and a convenient location. Would I return? Not unless I did not have another option. The staff was so condescending and unnecessarily rude. It’s clear they need a lot of training and an attitude adjustment.
Anthony’s Credit Card Pick: When I’m staying at a Marriott hotel, I want to maximize my points earned. My card of choice is the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. With it, I earn six Marriott Bonvoy® points for each dollar spent at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program. It also includes up to $300 statement credits per calendar year (up to $25 per month ) for dining in restaurants worldwide. Plus, a free night award that I can redeem at any Marriott hotel with a redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points. Rates & fees. Terms apply.
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5 comments
Sounds like even after the brand conversion the staff kept the same W attitude (aka eh, whatever).
I laughed at the front desk agent part. That is SO New Orleans. People think that because it’s a tourist city, you get good service. No. When I’ve gone to New Orleans, I’ve gotten service similar to what you described like 80% of the time.
At hotels, restaurants, etc. And I’m a friendly person. It’s something about the culture there. You ask service workers a question, and they get offended. Very odd.
Ah, New Orleans. The one place where I had a desk clerk tell me as a Hilton Diamond I could think about a room upgrade if my credit card “was hidin a little green” when I passed it over. There are parts of New Orleans that are tolerable, which are nowhere near anywhere tourists typically go, but it’s anymore mostly unauthentic, manufacturer tourist and conventioneer processing plant.
Ned, pass that 20 and you might find yourself in a suite. They dont even speak that language elsewhere. Try doing that on the website.
Hi Anthony,
Believe it or not, my husband and I had room 814 the first weekend of November. The first thing I noticed when we got into the room was the broken minibar fridge. Can’t say I’m surprised it’s not fixed. Your experience echoes mine: accommodation is fine, but the staff are a mess. For us, it made for a poor experience overall.
Front desk agents were apathetic at best in each and every interaction I had with them. When I checked in and selected breakfast as my welcome gift, the front desk agent literally yelled at me: “IT’S A DANISH AND A COFFEE, YOU SURE YOU WANT IT?” While it’s (probably) good to set expectations, I can’t believe anyone would want to find out it’s a continental breakfast by having it yelled at them.
After our stay, Le Meridien sent me a survey and I took it, leaving detailed and thorough feedback on how staff behaviour and interactions made for a poor stay for us. The same day I submitted my feedback, the Assistant Front Office Manager emailed me and wrote that my “experience [was] below our standard” — but offered no apology and not even the slightest recompense. Only after I asked if there was anything that they could do for me did she write back that they would give me . . . 10,000 points.
Yup. This place is not worth it.