Maison Pierre Lafitte

The Canal Street location felt strange. In the evenings, hot rod three-wheel motorcycles with huge built-in speakers and subwoofers cruise by and make a ton of noise. Do yourself a favor and stay in the Garden District. What the website shows and what you get are very different. The AC was so loud it shook the whole room, which smelled of mold and moisture. The windows were painted over and wouldn’t open. The built-in closet had nowhere to put clothes, no rail or hangers and no shelves. In the bathroom, grout was missing from the floor tiles and the ceiling was moldy.

For what we needed and the price, the place worked, mostly because of the location. We parked in a garage, had dinner, went to a concert, then got an amazing meal from Cleo’s at 1:30am. All on the same street. The guy at the desk was really nice, offered champagne when we arrived and donuts when we left. We’re local and booked for NYE without checking reviews. Reading them a few days beforehand made me nervous. We just needed somewhere decent to sleep near The Orpheum Theater. It’s an old building, and in NOLA you have to worry about mold in buildings built before 2005. There weren’t visible signs of mold in our room, 301, but my allergies reacted as if there was. The room was a one bedroom and every room seems different based on reviews. Ours had a full size bed with a mattress that wasn’t the best or the worst, a tiny bathroom, and a small smart TV in the living room, but no TV in the bedroom. There was no balcony in the room, though we could access one right outside it. We had no noise issues, but we also stayed up well past midnight. Depending on how long you’re staying and what you plan to do, this may or may not be the place for you.

The balcony wraps around the corner block, so you can see everything instead of being stuck with a small individual balcony. There was an outdoor sofa and a couple of chairs, but no tables. A public, well-lit parking garage is right across the street, with a spot reserved by the front door for checking in and unloading luggage. The automated locks on the front and room doors worked without any issues. I was on the second floor and didn’t have trouble with street noise, though they provided disposable ear plugs. The room was mostly clean, and the AC worked well, but the online photos were misleading. My room was much older than the ones shown and felt a bit like someone’s attic, kind of dingey. Almost all the outlets were loose and coming away from the wall, and the bathroom outlets didn’t work. The AC vent was super dusty, with black buildup on the wall around it. When I sat on the corner of the bed, the whole mattress tried to lift up, and I’m only 155lbs, so it wasn’t on my end. It has potential and wasn’t awful, but a few changes could make a big difference.

The second and third floors had balconies with outdoor furniture, a nice place to sit with coffee or a drink and watch people, trolleys, and other traffic move along Canal Street. Our room had a fairly large refrigerator, microwave, two-eyed electric cook top, mini sink, toaster, and coffee pot. The overall room included two private bedrooms and a decent-sized bathroom with a tub and shower head. Some rooms had large tinted windows with an outside view in one direction and interior drapes. Our family had a wonderful stay and would return to Hotel Maison Pierre Lafitte. It has a tasteful, comfortable 1930s feel, with an old-time look and close access to Canal Street and the French Quarter. The staff were all very nice and willing to help. We had to double-park at first to unload our luggage, but luggage carts were available. Then we circled the block and parked at the nearest garage on the same street. Some evenings got a bit noisy from music, car horns, and other sounds on Canal Street, but the room had foam ear protection.