Uncategorized

You expect me to say that this is the most interesting blog in New Orleans, don’t you?  Nope.  It’s not.  I like this blog, mind you, I like it a lot, but this isn’t the most interesting blog in New Orleans.  It has plenty of good New Orleans stories in its archives but it doesn’t […]

The Best of New Orleans… What’s the best of New Orleans?  Everything.  Everything is more flavorful in New Orleans.  Everything is more richly textured in New Orleans.  In a New Orleans state of mind, a single spoonful of gumbo can contain a cornucopia of spices so intimately mixed that they’ll set off sympathetic epiphanies in

Your first time you visit New Orleans, you’ll probably stay in the French Quarter or very nearby.  If you come for a convention, you’ll stay in a corporate hotel that offers attendee discounts.  It will be in the French Quarter or very nearby.  The first time you visit New Orleans, you’ll spend a lot of

When the clouds are out and the sun is bright, people think about the more cheerful New Orleans fables, but, when the sun goes down and the moon is bright, they think of the darker New Orleans fables.  We live in a fabulous city.  Aesop’s fables always ended with a moral.  New Orleans fables are

All music is real, isn’t it?  If you can hear it, it’s music.  Even if it’s only a song you can’t get out of your head, it’s still music.  If you wan to know where to find real music in New Orleans, we have some suggestions.  Our answer may surprise you. At this point, if

La Belle Esplanade is the New Orleans hotel that respects your intelligence.  We don’t dumb things down for you.  Every morning starts with a curated breakfast salon full of neighborhood food and good conversation, with plenty of chicory coffee to go along with it.  If you want to know where smart people stay in New

Once upon a time, about two weeks ago, I wrote a review of The Elysian Bar on our other blog.  You may not read that one.  It is more about the New Orleans State of Mind than it is about La Belle Esplanade.  If you want to double your pleasure, you’ll regularly read both.  I’m

Only ten people a morning get the chance to experience New Orleans’ best breakfast.  The best breakfast in New Orleans won’t be found at Camellia Grill, Ruby Slipper, or in a chain hotel dining room.  It’s not just about the food, it’s about what it feels like to fall in love with New Orleans. Five or six

Most hotels have rooms with little, well, …room in them.  Most of the room is taken up by the bed.  La Belle Esplanade is an all-suite hotel in New Orleans, a small artisanal hotel where personalized service and personalized recommendations are what we are most proud of.  That, and our crafted hotel suites, that is.