New Orleans Is Very Good
The French Quarter stinks. It smells like spilled beer, bodily fluids, rotten fish, and mule dung. Some people think this is what all of New Orleans smells like. You should take a mule-drawn carriage ride through the historic French Quarter, but watch your step when you get off. That part of tourist New Orleans is interesting and beautiful, and that is where all the tourists go, but there is more to New Orleans than holding your nose.
We know a another, better, part of New Orleans. It’s the part of New Orleans where you belong. It smells like flowers and wild ginger in our neighborhood. You belong here. Discover what it means to fall in love with authentic New Orleans. We’re here for you.
La Belle Esplanade is a small hotel is a colorful mansion on a historic and picturesque street. Our part of New Orleans is very good. Your New Orleans headquarters is a 20-minute stroll from the French Quarter and from Frenchmen Street. We are close to the tourist must-see, but, La Belle Esplanade IS real New Orleans IN real New Orleans. La Belle Esplanade is the perfect headquarters for authentic New Orleans adventures.
Discover what it means to fall in love with New Orleans at La Belle Esplanade. We are a very small hotel (five suites, total) and we tend to fill up early. Plan ahead! You can check our availability here. We are here for you.
GOOD FOOD, GOOD CONVERSATIONS, GOOD NEW ORLEANS MEMORIES
There are 118 restaurants within a half-mile walk from La Belle Esplanade. There are 1300 restaurants in the city. Most of them you’ve never heard of. We’ve dined at over 480 of them as of this writing. All of them are good. No one goes hungry in New Orleans. We are spoiled in our part of authentic New Orleans.
The best fried chicken in America, according to the Food Network, is five blocks from our front door. The portrait of the chef at another neighborhood restaurant hangs in the Library of Congress. The oldest steakhouse in the city is less than a five minute walk away, serving steaks New Orleans-style in antique curtained booths that line the tiled dining room. The New York Times gave a full-page write-up to the roasted duck in another of our neighborhood restaurants. Then then are oysters, jerk anything, vegan soul food, gumbo, the crawfish house, and our neighborhood bar where they do very interesting and appetizing things in the kitchen.
OUR PART OF NEW ORLEANS IS FULL OF VERY GOOD SURPRISES.
There are six neighborhood museums within a half mile of our address. One of them is so close that it is in our lobby. Discover New Orleans history and revel in New Orleans culture, be a New Orleanian while you are here. Visit like you belong. The best New Orleans memories begin on Esplanade Avenue. We know. We Iive here. We can talk about it over breakfast.
Wandering our neighborhood is like wandering in the Garden District. The difference is that in our neighborhood you can tell people live out their lives here. The homes in our part of New Orleans aren’t museum pieces. We live in a shady and walkable neighborhood full of details and pleasant surprises around every corner. I have held this opinion for a long time:
We only have five unique luxury suites at La Belle Esplanade. As the #1-ranked place to stay in New Orleans on Trip Advisor since April 2014, we tend to fill up early during busy seasons. We’ve also been ranked the #2 small hotel in the United States and #16 in the world. Plan ahead. You should check our availability now and make a reservation.
You are on the right website. Read our blog. Our blog is full of insights into what it is like to live in our neighborhood in an authentic New Orleans state of mind.
La Belle Esplanade also sponsors a sister blog that, unsurprisingly, is called A New Orleans State of Mind. You should follow that one, too, to keep yourself in a, well, in a New Orleans state of mind wherever you may happen to find yourself. You belong here. When you are ready to Visit New Orleans, we’re here for you. Here is a link to our reservation calendar. The only way to book a stay at La Belle Esplanade is through our website.
WELCOME TO REAL NEW ORLEANS. YOU BELONG HERE.
Your are on the right website if you are looking for a place to stay off the usual New Orleans tourist guidebook map. We look forward to meeting you and sharing our part of New Orleans with you.
Follow us on Facebook, where we post 2 or 3, or, 4 or 5 times a day.
You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans. We look forward to meeting you. Check our availability here.
“You Really DO Have Two Friends in NOLA.
We came with two other couples (3 rooms total) for a long weekend and had an outstanding visit. We had all been to New Orleans previously, but Matthew and Melanie made this the best trip by far.
Their brand of hotelier craftsmanship is without equal. From the initial check-in tour of the hotel and overview of the city, to the delightfully decorated rooms, and the daily curated breakfast sourced from local vendors, their passion for welcoming guests and sharing their city is unmistakable.
Their honest recommendations for activities, restaurants, and music were immensely helpful in planning our days, especially for those who had been there multiple times. We wanted for nothing but a longer stay, and maybe less humidity. If you want to experience New Orleans like you live there, this should be your starting place!”
-D.S. United Kingdom. Oct. 2018.