New Orleans is known for being a fun-filled city, but imagine visiting during an especially energy-charged event. Join the crowd in the French Quarter on New Year's Eve to watch the Fleur de Lis drop or watch your favorite teams battle during the Sugar Bowl and Super Bowl. When you stay in a New Orleans bed and breakfast you double your pleasure.
When I go to New Orleans, I like to stay in more than one inn because it gives me totally different experiences of the city and its neighborhoods. There are plenty of options that make it worth moving my belongings from one place to another. Stay in the middle of the French Quarter at Audubon Cottages, Soniat House, or The Gentry House Bed and Breakfast.
Play all day then retreat to a quiet Garden District inn such as Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast. From Marigny Manor House you can walk to all the fun and festivities, or hop on the streetcar from the Canal Street Inn. January is a big month in New Orleans and you can be part of it in your own way.
Celebrate in luxury accommodations at Audubon Cottages and toast the New Year with friends on a private patio of a two-bedroom cottage. Request the New Year's Spa Package to receive a one-hour Swedish deep tissue massage for two or allow a French Quarter butler to make dinner reservations for you, as well as assist with all of your travel requests.
Another choice is to sit on a balcony amid a quiet residential street while savoring buttermilk biscuits covered in strawberry preserves at Soniat House. The inn's three historic townhouses are walking distance from all of the French Quarter events, allowing you to enjoy an authentic New Orleans vacation in a guest room with period antiques and relaxing Jacuzzis.
Winter brings cool and comfortable temperatures to New Orleans so you can bask in the courtyard at the Gentry House Bed and Breakfast and enjoy fresh croissants and coffee. Each suite offers a kitchenette so you can pretend you're a local and make a sandwich, then walk to Jackson Square to marvel at Saint Louis Cathedral, or start the New Year off with dinner at a French Quarter restaurant.
Sip complimentary champagne with an intimate New Year's celebration at Southern Comfort Bed and Breakfast. Lounge on the front porch while reveling in the beauty of the Garden District. The tropical garden is the place for a mug of morning coffee and banana's foster French toast or creamed eggs in brioche. Then hop on the streetcar to explore the rest of the city.
The Marigny Manor House is a romantic bed and breakfast only five blocks from the French Quarter. The Greek-Revival style cottage was a husband's wedding gift to his new bride. The inn has been lovingly renovated and includes original period window glass, heart of pine floors, a cypress stairway, and modern conveniences. Celebrate in the private courtyard or sit on the front porch to watch party goers meander by.
Hop on the streetcar across from the Canal Street Inn for easy access to the celebratory fireworks over the Mississippi River. Two resident dogs are happy to welcome you to the inn's gardens. Pour a cup of tea or hot chocolate to sip by the fire pit on the patio before retiring. Try the romantic Canal Street Suite for expansive views and a king-size bed.
Whether you visit the Big Easy for New Year's and the Sugar Bowl or snag a great little room during the Super Bowl, New Orleans won't disappoint in January and you'll have double the satisfaction by staying in an authentic historic inn where you can live like a local and get to know one of New Orlean's historic neighborhoods.
--Deborah Sakach