The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

M Bistro, we dined with Oretha, service was amazing she gave us excellent service. A wealth of knowledge and very sweet.

Our family stayed three nights at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans and it was the perfect home base for exploring the city. The location on Canal Street made it easy to walk to most of the areas you’d actually want to experience in New Orleans, while still feeling like a refined retreat away from the nonstop Bourbon Street energy. One of the biggest surprises was how conveniently located the hotel was to entertainment. Saenger Theatre is just about a block away and regularly hosts major touring acts, concerts, and Broadway musicals, which added another layer to the trip. The valet process was also incredibly smooth and efficient. Whether we were heading out for nearby bayou excursions or driving to parts of the city better reached by car, getting in and out was easy and stress-free — something that really matters in a busy city like New Orleans. A major highlight of the stay was the Jeremy Davenport Lounge. The atmosphere was exquisite and felt exactly like what you hope for in a luxury New Orleans hotel experience. Jeremy Davenport’s performances completely filled the lounge with energy and elegance, making it one of our favorite nightly stops during the trip. Another underrated perk was the back exit of the hotel leading you directly toward some fantastic local food options. If you’re craving a po’boy, you won’t have to go far. And then there were the afternoon beignets near the check-in counter — absolutely worth the line every single time. We found ourselves timing our afternoons around them by the end of the stay. The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans delivered the perfect balance of luxury, convenience, live music, and authentic New Orleans charm. We would absolutely stay here again.

This is a beautiful hotel can’t recommend it enough, the staff are amazing, nice coffee machine in the room there was bottles of water put in the room twice a day loved every minute of our stay here

The hotel was nice, but not the upper level experience we were expecting. The property itself has some beautiful aspects, but needs some TLC. • The name on the very front of their marquee entrance is peeling off. • The furniture in the restaurant and bars are very worn, the veneer is coming off in serval places and as they don’t use table cloths during breakfast you can really see the groves, cuts, and marks. • The brass panel in at least one of the elevator doesn’t close properly so hangs open a bit, and the wood in the elevator was worn in several places. Service is a mixed bag. • While checking in the folks next to us got a rundown of all their perks due to the card they were using, but although using the same card we didn’t and had to ask which he apologized for. Obviously not terrible, but not a good start to our stay especially when every other hotel we’ve been to always brings it up. • The lady running the tea service in the Davenport room was great, however, I couldn’t recommend it. The tea was delivered 20 minutes into the 90 minute experience so I assumed it had been seeping and full of flavor but it wasn’t and the guy who delivered it just poured it into our cups and it was absolutely tasteless. It was another 15 minutes before the food arrived and tried the tea and even then it was just OK. Luckily there was champagne! • The Davenport room is also their bar area and the tea service isn’t separated at all so folks are constant walking by on their phones, flipflops, cutoff shorts, baseball hats, and flopping down at any available space. It’s certainly not the image they present on their website as an elegant catered experience. A few panels separating the space and a sign indicating this area is for tea service would have been welcome. • They allow their black SUVs to double park in the lane outside the hotel requiring taxis and car shares to maneuver to the curb. Since the SUVs are stopped in a traffic lane folks driving are understandably upset, horns are constantly blaring, we saw one taxi driver get out and almost get into a fist fight over this and the folks in the SUVs and doormen just ignore it. Not the classy entrance to the Ritz one might expect. • Breakfast was usually very nice and the gentleman making the omelets was great, however, Saturday they seemed very overwhelmed. Eggs took a while to come out the kitchen (should have just stuck with the omelets) and my husband was done with his two plates well before I received mine. I also had to ask for cream twice as the server forgot and had to ask for refills. Other days there were no issues and things ran smoothly. • For the most part enjoyed the food, especially dinner where the gumbo stood out. Our last night we just wanted a little snack so ordered room service but the chicken strips they delivered were some of the worst I’ve tasted. I know we’re talking chicken strips here but this is the Ritz and I would expect better than some cheap mass produced frozen rubbish. I’ve worked in several restaurants and know there are much better products out there, even if they are frozen. We were hoping for more from our first stay at the Ritz, especially given their reputation, but have heard from folks this particular property isn’t indicative of the others.

The employees is what makes this hotel!! Yes the rooms are nice. Yes the decor, lounge, bar, spa is beautiful but service is what keeps repeat customers. After a hectic travel day where they delayed our flight 5x and then eventually cancelled it, we decided to drive from Atlanta to New Orleans. We were exhausted by the time we checked in. Sander was great and gave us a mini tour of the hotel. We then went to the lounge to get something to eat. We were warmly welcomed by Kennedy right away who was such a big help that night. She suggested places to go see and where to go to eat. Even gave us a map of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade. Same with the AM staff with Janice & Rochelle. All lovely ladies at the lounge that always made us feel at home everyday of our stay. I met Russel and also Verlinda more towards before we left but they were all great and friendly. Fifa from guest services was messaging me to make sure all is well and gave us a present during our stay for our anniversary. We also had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us in our room. Now I can't forget about the Spa. I don't even know where to start. I miss Nelly. She was my massage therapist and she was absolutely fabulous! That's the only word to describe her. My husband & I were planning to do a tour one day and we cancelled it so we can go to the spa again the following day. She's that good!! My husband had Star also both days and she was excellent as well but since I'm writing the review, I have to rave about Nelly. She's one of the best massage therapist that I've been to in my life! And I'm picky. She even beat my top two therapists that I've been to in Paris and Madrid. Andrea was helpful in helping me rebook our spa appt from when our flight was initially delayed. Calling her from Atlanta airport and she made it seamless to change my appt for another day. And she also gave us a gift for our anniversary which was so sweet. Andrea and Angelica inside the spa were also great. Always checking in on me to see if everything was ok and if I needed anything else. They kept the inside spotless. Now I'm not going to forget Hillery at the front desk of the spa! He was so helpful in scheduling our appt again the following day and worked his magic so I can get Nelly and for my husband to get Star again. Exceptional service. His personality is so contagious and he is such an easy person to get along with. We just loved talking to him while at the spa. All these people that I mentioned provided us with the best possible service. They are what will keep us loyal to that hotel when visiting New Orleans again in the future. The location of the hotel is ideal and is close to all.