Element by Marriott New Orleans Downtown

We checked in 3/5/26. On 3/6/26, the fire alarm sounded and an announcement said it was a false alarm. The next day, 3/7/26, the alarm went off again with an announcement that fire had been detected in the building, but no further announcement. My wife, daughter, and I were on the 18th floor. I’m disabled and have trouble walking, but I’ve been in several fires, including a high-rise fire when I was younger, so I went down all 18 floors to the lobby. Construction workers were sitting around. When I asked if there was a fire and where people were evacuating to, they laughed and said nothing was wrong. As we headed toward the lobby, workers mocked us in Spanish. I won’t repeat what they said, but I guess they didn’t know I understand some Spanish. The lobby staff said nothing was wrong and cleared the alarm. I asked why there hadn’t been an announcement that it was a false alarm, and they said a manager had to do that. Water was leaking from pipes onto the fire stairs, making them slippery. I pointed it out and got only stares. Evacuating an 18-story building is serious even when an alarm is false. No one in the lobby checked the medical status of guests who had come down the stairs. We met an elderly couple on the way down and saw them again in the lobby. I emailed the manager and got no response. I wanted to raise concerns about the exits and water, but it seemed safety wasn’t important, or perhaps the staff just thought it was funny. Then I found there was no water in the room: no shower, just one toilet flush, and no water in the kitchen sink. The front desk said they could see about moving us. We were checking out that day, and they said maybe they could give me some points. No one was there to investigate the problem, so we’d have to wait until they came in.

The new building felt fresh and very clean, and even though construction wasn’t finished, we never heard any noise. The hotel is central, about an 8 to 10 minute walk to New Orleans Square, and I’d absolutely stay again. Everything worked for me: breakfast was included, tea was available in the lobby, and they had a little early-evening happy hour. There were lots of TV channels, a cute kitchenette, and the place was meticulously clean. Most of all, the bed was so soft and cozy that I slept like a baby. There was nothing I’d change. I’d highly recommend it!

We spent a week, Tuesday to Tuesday, here for jazz fest and would stay again for the price. The hotel was clean and spacious, the gym was more than adequate, and housekeeping came once and did a great job. Front desk staff were polite and greeted us whenever we came or went. Tea time and the happy hour with free beer and wine were a pleasant surprise. Our view faced the back of a parking structure, so it was kind of blah, but that was my only disappointment. We had no water issues and zero fire alarms, just one tornado warning, haha. Breakfast had plenty of grab-and-go choices, though getting a hot plate took a long time. Maybe they could use another person preparing breakfast.

The hotel looks stunning and was very clean. Page and the other front desk staff were polite, professional, and did everything they could to help us. But the building’s systems and safety procedures didn’t feel ready for guests. On our second night, the AC gave off a strong smell of burning electrical components or ironing, so we shut it off for our family’s safety. The first night, we sweated in bed because the unit wouldn’t cool the room below a stifling temperature, even though it was set to 64°F. I’m a disabled veteran with back injuries, and they assigned me an ADA room on the 17th floor. During a planned fire drill, no assistance or evacuation plan was provided for guests with mobility issues. I had to walk down 17 flights of stairs, which caused severe pain and meant I needed medication right away. We also waited hours for basic linens before my wife had to go to the lobby to get them herself. Opening issues are one thing, but electrical burning smells and requiring a disabled guest to walk down 17 floors are serious safety problems. We no longer felt safe and checked out early. Until management addresses these building-wide and life-safety issues, I can’t recommend staying here, especially for guests with disabilities.