Hi, Ladies!
We are going to have an extended stay in New Orleans for about 10 days. We are going to have our our 3 year old daughter and a newborn. We are going for personal reasons and not necessarily for a "vacation". I found a place in the Garden District right off St. Charles. Would this be a good/safe place to stay for our family? I could really use any help or advice that you have.
Thank you so much!!!
We too stayed in the Garden District pre Katrina. It was a wonderful location then... I remember a super restaurant right upstairs from where we stayed, and so great to be right near public transportation.
have a good trip!
I grew up in New Orleans...
what through street is it near?
The Garden District is normally a safe area.
Like visiting all places that you are unfamiliar with, exercise normal precautions and be aware of your surrounding.
The Garden District is a beautiful place to stay (or visit) but I have not been to New Orleans since Katrina so I really don't know whether anything has changed.
I have been back several times since Katrina and its cleaned up nicely, not that it was hit w/the amount of water other areas had. I haven't stayed off St Charles but you will be fine. It is busy enough through dinner time that there will be plenty of activity. Plus, you will be right off the St Charles streetcar line - that is a HUGE plus. Plus, there are some great places to eat off St Charles that you could walk to, unless you are all the way down by the Tulane/Audubon park.
Let me know if you need ideas on what to do...I lived there for a month in a hotel w/my 18 month old while my husband worked for FEMA, so I had to find things to do w/a small child. And NOLA is always our quick weekend getaway destination. We go at least twice a year, if not more.
The Garden District is a wonderful, historic area of New Orleans. There is a lot of charm and just "coolness" to the area. It's probably fairly safe, but I wouldn't walk around at night in that area. I'm sure others have different feelings. I had a friend that lived right on St. Charles, I always lived in the Subburb of New Orleans (Metairie), so I was always leary of downtown. It would probably depend on where in the Garden District. There are some bars in the area that we frequented when we were in college, so I wouldn't want to be in that area, but there are also some gated communities with million dollar homes in that area too! I would probably stay in a hotel around Poydras if I had the choice. You could then walk to the French Quarter, River Walk, & Aquarium (if you stay close to the end of Poydras, not by the interstate and Poydras), and you may even be able to walk to the Children's Museum (GREAT place for kids) (I'm a little fuzzy on how far that is from Poydras). There is one hotel right by the interstate, and I would stay away from the interstate area. Towards the end, there is Canal Place shopping center, and that's where I would concentrate. I'm trying to think of some names of places, I know there is a Wyndam, and maybe a Doubletree in that area. I hope this helps!
