Hotels: 2016 Crawfish Boil

          Just a reminder, the crawfish boil is being held at Maison Lafitte in Mandeville, Louisiana on Saturday March 12, 2016. Maison Lafitte is only about twenty minutes from our office.  So we won’t have to travel far, but most everyone else will. With that in mind, we figured it would be a good idea to make some hotel recommendations for our out of town guests.

         Mandeville is on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. So we’ll divide the recommendations depending if you want to stay on the north shore or the south shore. For any one unfamiliar with the Greater New Orleans area, getting between the two is easy thanks to the Causeway that spans across the lake.

First, we’ll cover some accommodations in the Mandeville/Covington area. Covington has the standard range of visitors’ hotels, but we thought it would be better to recommend some places for guests who prefer a quiet location, close to the boil.  

In Covington, one of the best B&Bs is Annadele's.  Annadele's is a lovely plantation home near Old Covington.  The grounds are charming and the rooms nice. Doug’s eldest daughter had her wedding at Annadele's.  The restaurant is also usually pretty good, and would be a nice place for breakfast if you stayed there.

Maison Reve Farm is another lovely B&B about twenty minutes north of Covington in Folsom.  It is quiet, tasteful, and out of the way while still being close to the boil and New Orleans.

Meanwhile on the south shore, New Orleans boasts a bevy of great places to stay. We recommend that visitors make their accommodations in the city as much of the trip to Covington is on the Causeway. And if you’re going to stay in New Orleans, you may as well stay in the French Quarter (especially if you’ve never been to New Orleans before). Staying in the Quarter is a unique experience and puts you right into the action.  Most of the city's tourist attractions are easily accessible and there’s always something going on nearby.

Cafe du Monde in the Quater: beignets are good any time of day. 

The Royal Sonesta Hotel is a good place to stay in the quarter.  It is right on Bourbon Street which is a plus in many ways, although you will find it to be bustling, especially in early March.

Jamie likes the W New Orleans - French Quarter hotel.  She and her husband have stayed there before and recommend it highly.  Its restaurant, Bacco, is good, and the hotel is in a quieter part of the Quarter down on Chartres Street, but still only a couple of blocks from Bourbon.

The Omni on St. Louis is also good place to stay, and a bit more luxurious.  You'll find rooms with a lovely view of the St. Louis Cathedral.

The JW Marriott is on Canal Street, and is very close to the Quarter.  Here you can be within easy walking distance of the Quarter without being surrounded by it.

For the wedding of Doug’s younger daughter the guests stayed at the Courtyard Marriott, down by the river walk.  It is not in the quarter, but still close to the action.