New Orleans is a great American city unlike any other. With its combination of the cosmopolitan and its own unique traditions, it offers more one-of-a-kind opportunities for dining, entertainment, and lodging than cities many times its size. New Orleans' attractions are well known and well regarded world-wide: the French Quarter (known to residents as Vieux Carré), Bourbon Street, the Garden District, Magazine Street, St. Charles Avenue-the site of Tulane and Loyola Universities and the Pontchartrain Hotel-and of course Carnival which culminates in Mardi Gras. Among the top ten most-visited cities in the United States, New Orleans ranked first in ten categories of a recent "America's Favorite Cities" poll. New Orleans' firsts in the poll included spring break destination, wild weekends, stylish boutique hotels, singles' bar scene, live music and concerts, vintage shops, and people watching. Only San Francisco ranked higher in gay friendliness.

The overwhelming majority of New Orleans hotels cluster on the left bank of the Mississippi north of the Pontchartrain Expressway and Interstate route 10. The Garden District, south of the Expressway, also has a nice selection of comfortable hotels. The area of the main hotel cluster includes New Orleans most well-known neighborhoods-the French Quarter, Storyville, Lafayette Square, St. Louis Cathedral, and Louis Armstrong Park. Most of these hotels will have an excellent restaurant in house, but as this is a very touristic area, restaurants of every description can be found on practically every block.

In the French Quarter, many hotels feature private courtyards and balconies that look down on the lively action of neighborhood streets. If you're planning to visit New Orleans during Carnival and want to be in the center of the action, this is the place to be. For those who love the charm of such lodgings, but prefer a quieter neighborhood during the nighttime should check out the hotels of the Garden District. The Convention Center, about halfway between the French Quarter and the Garden District, has its own group of large hotels.