Planning Your Visit
Visit New Orleans like you belong here. My usual advice is to not plan too much. There is more going on in New Orleans than you’ll find in any guidebook or online guide. There is more happening on any given New Orleans day than your friends can know about. That’s why you should stay at La Belle Esplanade. Get an insider’s perspective of what it is like to live in this wonderful city we call home. Good memories are made in New Orleans every day. The best New Orleans memories start at La Belle Esplanade.
PLANNING YOUR VISIT SHOULD BE AS EASY AS WALKING OUT OUR FRONT DOOR.

La Belle Esplanade is a small personalized hotel. We make personalized recommendations. We do things by hand. This is craft hospitality. We make recommendations of what to do and see based on what you are interested, not from an off-the-rack list of things in the French Quarter. We are happy to talk about the French Quarter but there is more to New Orleans than what’s for tourists. You belong in the authentic New Orleans. Planning your New Orleans visit should be as easy as talking to someone who lives here.
If you sign up for our newsletter, the very next day we’ll email you a list of New Orleans neighborhoods. You haven’t heard of most of them. We’ll tell you what each neighborhood is like and some of what they contain. We live in a kaleidoscope of a city.
PLAN YOUR NEW ORLEANS VISIT THE LA BELLE ESPLANADE WAY.
The link to the contact form is here. Sign up today. Nothing is automated at La Belle Esplanade. Nothing is farmed out. We are all about the personal touch. La Belle Esplanade is a tiny hotel that offers craft hospitality on the New Orleans-level.
Planning your New Orleans visit doesn’t take a lot of effort. Showing up is half the battle. The other half is victory and celebration. Visit New Orleans like you live here. You belong.
If you provide us your mailing address, we’ll send you a paper guide in the mail, even if you live outside the United States. I letter the envelopes by hand. The paper guide will be signed by the author with a fountain pen. The paper guide is different from any email. How? You’ll see. Sign up for it now. We won’t send you junk mail. Stamps cost money.
Get yourself in an authentic New Orleans state of mind and, when you are finally ready to visit this wonderful city we call home, you’ll want to visit like you live here. Our neighborhood is super-interesting and very magical. There are no strangers in this part of New Orleans. We’re all friends you haven’t yet met.
The best way to get yourself into a New Orleans state of mind is to read our blog. We update it regularly. We also sponsor another, independent blog. Since we sponsor it, we got to name it. It’s called A New Orleans State of Mind. We post on Facebook 2, 3, 4, sometimes 5 times a day about what is going on in our part of New Orleans. We live in a very interesting neighborhood off the typical tourist radar. If you want to discover what it means to fall in love with the real New Orleans, La Belle Esplanade is for you. You are on the right website.

“It is not just a place to stay. It is an experience. I wish all hotels could offer this!!
We arrived late in the evening, but Matthew was there to greet us, resplendent in stylish hat, colorful waistcoat, and jacket. He then spent 45 minutes with us providing vivid, funny and informed recommendations of places to visit if we wanted to get a real feel for the city, where all the locals go. He scored 100% on all his suggestions.
In the morning we were treated to more sartorial splendor, and a marvelous breakfast prepared by Melanie. Matthew forages early in the morning on his scooter, visiting local food purveyors to select the best and freshest items. A different meal every day, each wonderfully prepared and accompanied by great conversation.
And the rooms are roomy, with a separate, comfortable sitting area, although you can’t stay in the room too long if you want to make a healthy dent in Matthew’s long list of recommended places to see and eat.
We will return!!”– Phillip G. Seattle, WA. December 2018.

