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OT: Trip to New Orleans

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Don't rely on the streetcars to get you somewhere at specific time. There isn't a real schedule and they breakdown and have more track issues than MetroNorth. It can be a nice ride across town but my gf and I nearly missed a reservation.
 
@UConnTrumbull , I sent you a PM with the compilation of my food and music recommendations. If you can tell me when you are going and for how many nights I can give better input on hotels, but in general my preference in recent years has been the downtown/warehouse district, which is pretty central to any place you'd want to walk.

It's a great city to Priceline for 4-star hotels because there are so few zones that have them that you can bid repeatedly by adding zones that you know do not have them and increase your bid incrementally. I've stayed in almost all of the 4-stars in those areas and am happy in any of them. On our most recent stay I couldn't do Priceline or Hotwire because there were so many of us that wanted to be at the same hotel, but with different arrivals and departure, so after much research we settled on the Drury Inn & Suites and were very happy (we all got suites). If the price is right I would definitely stay there again. Great location, clean, quiet rooms with good space. Nice rooftop pool. Mellow scene. The nearby Ace hotel can be very pricey (but has some deals) and very hipster, but I gotta admit that their rooftop pool and bar area is a very cool spot to hang out. If you can swing it, I'd bet that would be a great spot for your purposes, with a much younger scene than the Drury, if the scene at your hotel matters to you. Most of the time it doesn't matter to me.

As for other advice, avoid ever walking alone, even in seemingly safe parts of the city. It transitions very quickly and with no notice. It is a great city for Uber and Lyft.
 
uconn1999 said:
Verti Marte in the FQ makes some kick ass sandwiches/po boys. The muff traveled well.
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Unless it's hot and sticky and goes more than a day without a shower.
 
8893 said:
@UConnTrumbull , I sent you a PM with the compilation of my food and music recommendations. If you can tell me when you are going and for how many nights I can give better input on hotels, but in general my preference in recent years has been the downtown/warehouse district, which is pretty central to any place you'd want to walk.

It's a great city to Priceline for 4-star hotels because there are so few zones that have them that you can bid repeatedly by adding zones that you know do not have them and increase your bid incrementally. I've stayed in almost all of the 4-stars in those areas and am happy in any of them. On our most recent stay I couldn't do Priceline or Hotwire because there were so many of us that wanted to be at the same hotel, but with different arrivals and departure, so after much research we settled on the Drury Inn & Suites and were very happy (we all got suites). If the price is right I would definitely stay there again. Great location, clean, quiet rooms with good space. Nice rooftop pool. Mellow scene. The nearby Ace hotel can be very pricey (but has some deals) and very hipster, but I gotta admit that their rooftop pool and bar area is a very cool spot to hang out. If you can swing it, I'd bet that would be a great spot for your purposes, with a much younger scene than the Drury, if the scene at your hotel matters to you. Most of the time it doesn't matter to me.

As for other advice, avoid ever walking alone, even in seemingly safe parts of the city. It transitions very quickly and with no notice. It is a great city for Uber and Lyft.
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Rare to find another that knows how to USE Priceline.
 
uconn1999 said:
Rare to find another that knows how to USE Priceline.
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I'll admit that I had no idea what a friend was talking about when he tried to explain the "adding no 4-star zones to instantly rebid for 4-star hotels" strategy to me several years ago, but he directed me to betterbidding.com and after a little reading I understood enough to try it. Then I became hooked, especially for New Orleans, which is the perfect city to use it because of the layout, distribution and zones. Love the rush of adrenaline while waiting to see if the bid is accepted.
 
I actually love just sitting in Felix's and having oysters and beers and watching the world go by.
 
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A unique place to eat is Coop's Place near the French Market. It's like the diviest of dive bars (my GF is a good sport but it took her a few minutes) with great food. The two fried chicken breast dinner was only 12 bucks. Awesome. I guess the cajun food is good there as well, but I can't speak from experience. Plus I liked drinking at the bar. It was good mix of tourists and locals when I was there.
 
Waquoit said:
A unique place to eat is Coop's Place near the French Market. It's like the diviest of dive bars (my GF is a good sport but it took her a few minutes) with great food. The two fried chicken breast dinner was only 12 bucks. Awesome. I guess the cajun food is good there as well, but I can't speak from experience. Plus I liked drinking at the bar. It was good mix of tourists and locals when I was there.
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Big fan. Jambalaya Supreme is the signature dish and it's tremendous. Smoked duck quesadilla and Creole Green Beans with Bacon Sauce (yes, you read that right) are also great.

Worst bathroom ever, however. Go elsewhere if you need to go. It could ruin your meal. Seriously.

Waquoit said:
@8893 @uconn1999 What is your strategy as to when you do your bidding?
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www.betterbidding.com is where I learned it, but here's the skinny as well as I can explain it, as pertains to the example of a four-star hotel:
  • As you know, you can only bid once a day unless you change a variable other than price.
  • Obviously, you're not usually changing your dates, and in places like New Orleans I don't like to go below a 4-star if I can avoid it, so I'm not changing that. That leaves the zones.
  • I haven't checked recently, but my memory is that New Orleans only has three zones that contain 4-star hotels: French Quarter, Downtown and Warehouse. They may have since broken down the downtown area even further, into Riverside, Convention Center and maybe one other, but the bottom line is that they are all totally fine and easily walkable to all the places you'd want to walk, and all of the 4-star hotels are fine. You can figure out the highest star level of each zone by clicking on each zone individually, as though you are getting ready to bid, and seeing which star-level allows you to click on it. This is the key--do this in every city you want to go to go to see how effective this strategy will be, depending on how many non-4-star zones you have. Basically, that is the number of free immediate rebids you have.
  • So, most important is to figure out the zones that have NO 4-stars. That way you can start with the zone you want most and start with your lowest bid; then you can add the other zones you want each time your bid if not accepted, adding one zone at a time, and increasing your bid, say, $5 each time--immediately. Then you can add each one of the zones that you know don't contain 4-star hotels, because there is zero risk of you landing there, but Priceline still considers it another variable change, so you can bid again immediately.
Does that make sense?

Northbound said:
I'd also recommend Central Grocery for a Mufulletta
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Absofreakinglutely. The original and best imo. Also travels very well, both for putting in hotel fridge and eating late-night; or for bringing home on the plane.
 
Waquoit said:
The two fried chicken breast dinner was only 12 bucks.
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I don't think I've had Coop's fried chicken, but I love Fiorella's fried chicken (I prefer the spicy, but they have both) literally across the street from Coop's, on the same block.
 
.-.
8893 said:
Big fan. Jambalaya Supreme is the signature dish and it's tremendous. Smoked duck quesadilla and Creole Green Beans with Bacon Sauce (yes, you read that right) are also great.

Worst bathroom ever, however. Go elsewhere if you need to go. It could ruin your meal. Seriously.



www.betterbidding.com is where I learned it, but here's the skinny as well as I can explain it, as pertains to the example of a four-star hotel:
  • As you know, you can only bid once a day unless you change a variable other than price.
  • Obviously, you're not usually changing your dates, and in places like New Orleans I don't like to go below a 4-star if I can avoid it, so I'm not changing that. That leaves the zones.
  • I haven't checked recently, but my memory is that New Orleans only has three zones that contain 4-star hotels: French Quarter, Downtown and Warehouse. They may have since broken down the downtown area even further, into Riverside, Convention Center and maybe one other, but the bottom line is that they are all totally fine and easily walkable to all the places you'd want to walk, and all of the 4-star hotels are fine. You can figure out the highest star level of each zone by clicking on each zone individually, as though you are getting ready to bid, and seeing which star-level allows you to click on it. This is the key--do this in every city you want to go to go to see how effective this strategy will be, depending on how many non-4-star zones you have. Basically, that is the number of free immediate rebids you have.
  • So, most important is to figure out the zones that have NO 4-stars. That way you can start with the zone you want most and start with your lowest bid; then you can add the other zones you want each time your bid if not accepted, adding one zone at a time, and increasing your bid, say, $5 each time--immediately. Then you can add each one of the zones that you know don't contain 4-star hotels, because there is zero risk of you landing there, but Priceline still considers it another variable change, so you can bid again immediately.
Does that make sense?



Absofreakinglutely. The original and best imo. Also travels very well, both for putting in hotel fridge and eating late-night; or for bringing home on the plane.
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I use this website, BiddingForTravel.com Forums,
While the steps were explained well, it's still important to perform the due diligence to establish your starting bid otherwise you'll be wasting your time or over bidding.
 
Galatoire's on Bourbon St. for Creole food. And at least one late night visit to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar on the corner of Bourbon and St. Phillip. Also, some restaurants may require long pants or a sport coat so check first.
 
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