The Staybridge is located at the foot of the central business district, close to Harrah's, the river, the Rivercenter Mall, steamboats, about 5 or 6 blocks west of the French Quarter. Its not a four diamond, or even three, but it met our needs well.

We had a two br suite which had a very large open area for a living or common room. Each br had two double beds with a small bath, no separate shower, and a single sink/vanity outside the bath. The bath has the extended curved shower curtain rail. There is a small kithchenette in the common room with a FULL sized fridge, toaster, microwave, dishwasher, no stove. Plates, silverware, lots of juice, regular drink glasses, wine glasses, pots and pans, kitchenware. Plenty of drawer space in chests both in the bedrooms and the common room. Three flat screen tvs, one in each br and one in the common area in an armoire.

But, the d/w didn't work and door handles were off two of the four french doors leading to the bedrooms. One smoke alarm missing its cover and batteries. Taken by previous guest? Also limited housekeeping and towel service.

Excellent breakfast, huge container of scrambled eggs, sausage good fruit selection, waffle maker, breads, yogurt, lots of options.

Downtown New Orleans has street people. Lots of street people. Supposedly 3000 before Katrina, supposedly 6000 now. If you go north up Canal as far as IH-10, maybe a mile from the CBD, there is a tent city under overpasses there with hundreds of them. Two of the four days we were there a guy snuck in to the breakfast and I saw management removing another with a cup of their coffee in his hand while we were waiting checking out. Just be alert.

Besides the breakfast seating area there is a decent sitting area in the foyer and a nice hd tv with four home theatre chairs between the foyer and the breakfast area.

We found this to be a good central location for what we wanted to do. Its equidistant from the Quarter and the great WW II museum, a must see. Its also close enough to the three street car lines, riverfront, Canal and St. Charles. The St. Charles line is now completely open, we went all the way out to the end beyond Loyola and back. Staff was courteous and helpful. We would stay here again.

Great Place. Hotel is super nice and clean, they provided a full breakfast with eggs, sausage, cereal, muffins, pancakes, fixins, etc. They also had a sundown reception when we were there with a mexican style buffet that was really nice (free beer, yay!). Room was really big with a couch and kitchen fully stocked with cooking utensils. They even have free laundry on site (although some of the machines were not working). Staff was super friendly and accomodating. We had a wonderful view of downtown and the river from our room on the top floor. Everywhere you want to go is within walking distance... The walk to the French Quarter is really short. Area is safe. I would recommend this place to anyone wanting to visit New Orleans.

This hotel is in a good location, just a short walk from the French Quarter. However that is about the best thing going for it. I had asked when we booked the hotel 4 months prior to arrival for adjoining rooms or 2 rooms very close by as we are a big family. I asked again a few days before arrival. The rooms given to us were 4 floors apart! We asked for something closer but were told that we could spend the second night in a suite for all of us, but we declined as I did not want to pack up again. Then one of my kids got a pillow for another kid from the closet so they could sit and watch ESPN. My son smelled onions (!) and turned the pillow over, there was a lump which when we looked in the pillowcase was a half eaten dried out sub! So gross. Obviously no one had changed the pillowcase or the sub would have fallen out. I asked that the linens be changed because I was so disgusted, and they at least did that. I do not think the level of cleanliness or service is up to par, even for a moderate hotel. Will definitely not go back.

My family and I stayed here for one night, on August 1, 2007. I booked the hotel thru their website, mainly because of its location. We wanted to be close to the Aquarium and the Riverwalk.

Here is our review of pro's and con's with this hotel
Pro's
* Great location
* Sundown reception- Awesome. The night we were there they had hamburgers and hot dogs, perfect for us since we had our 3 kids with us. They also offered wine and beer, all free of charge.
* Breakfast also included in your rate.
* Appliances in all the suites. We had a full size refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, coffee maker and a small (2 burner) range.
* We had a studio with 2 double beds and a pull out couch, it was big enough for all of us.
* Ironing board/iron/hair dryer all in the room
* Room was clean (except for the towel- see below)
* Goody bag upon check in, which included a handy map of the city.

Con's
*No vallet parking. We parked across the street, for about $25/day.
*There was no one to help with the bags, which was quite challenging when you are dealing with 3 small kids plus bags.
* Signs of wear on the carpet, definitely needs replacing.
* A dirty towel still hanging in the bathroom. We called and asked for clean towels, since we weren't sure about the ones who were in the room. Not a problem.

There is a pool at the hotel, just 5 ft deep. It's on a courtyard, so the water was very cold. Not a bad thing on a hot summer day, unless you want a big pool.

Overall we had a great stay and will stay at this hotel on our next trip to New Orleans.