A boutique lodging experience

The 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans

Life is exciting... and relaxing!  You, too, can spend an idyllic romantic getaway in the orange house with blue shutters located right in the middle of Esplanade Avenue, one of New Orleans' most picturesque thoroughfares.  Walk to the French Quarter to enjoy cool jazz on a hot night.  Walk to City Park to enjoy shady strolls alongside placid lagoons.  Some of the city's finest dining establishments are found in our neighborhood.  It's where the smart set go to meet, greet and get great eats.  

I'm working on a marketing brochure.  Can you tell?

We've been very busy since two weeks before Mardi Gras.  Hardly an empty room in the house, not that anyone notices because there is plenty of room for everybody.  It looks like we'll have a day off this upcoming Wednesday and then it's a full house again until the middle of April.  If you are planning to come to New Orleans in the middle of April, check our website for what's available.  Every suite is filling up fast.

Did I mention that we have a new website?  You can still go to whaleheadking.com but it will redirect you to our new web address: labelleesplanade.com.  As much as we liked the handcrafted look of our old site, we've been in business a little over a year and a half now.  If we are going to be professionals, we may as well look the part.  Don't worry, we aren't going corporate.  It is still Frau Schmitt and your humble narrator who will be answering the doorbell.  It's still just us and Tammie the Housekeeper.

The new website has some new features.  For instance, you can now compare the amenities in the different suites on one page.  Huzzah!  The people who helped me design it told me this is a nice feature.  I suppose it is, so I included it.  They had a lot of other advice that I chose to ignore.  I am ignoring it at my peril.  

"But these other things will get you more web traffic," they said.  That may be, but we've been doing okay doing things counterintuitively. Some things may be good for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but those things are just plain boring to read.  Not like this at all.  I found a lot of their suggestions off the mark.  Like having a soundtrack.  Or a background color other than white.  I like things in black and white, except for walls, ceilings, and shutters, of course.

We have an interesting variety of people who choose to stay with us because we do things differently.  If you want to wear a suit off the rack, you can shop at TJ Maxx.  If you want to wear a fancier suit off the rack, you can shop at Men's Wearhouse.  If you want a bespoke suit, you will go to a tailor.  

If you want a predictable vacation in predictable room, you can stay in a chain hotel.  If you want a fancier stay in a predictable room, you can make a reservation in a fancier hotel.  If you want a boutique experience in a part of New Orleans where the locals live, you will stay in a small bed and breakfast inn run by gracious and eccentric hosts who care about what you want to see and what you might enjoy.  Frau Schmitt is the gracious one.  I'm the eccentric.  Tammie is the housekeeper.

Tammie the Housekeeper

Here are the countries of origin of our guests this past month or so: Scotland, England (twice), Canada, the Netherlands, Germany (twice), France, Kenya, and Australia.  It's been an interesting mix.  Everyone spoke English, but Frau Schmitt got the opportunity to speak her native German and a chance to practice her French.  I tried out a little Pig Latin but no one could understand what I was trying to say.  We all had a good laugh, though.

Here are the States our recent guests came from in the past month or so: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.  A lot of people from Texas stay with us.  I'm not sure why, but we are always happy to have them.

Remember the flags we had flying out front last year?

Last year's flags

They were Haiti and Corsica, recommended by our neighbor, the vexillologist who lives in the blue house next door.  He recommended them because of New Orleans' close historical ties to Haiti and because Napoleon was Corsican.  No one really understood the connection and the flags were getting a bit tattered, so I asked our neighbor for a fresh recommendation.

"K.I.S.S." he said, and when he said it I have to admit I was puzzled.  I thought he was talking about this:

KISS

Turns out, he was talking about this:

Our new flags

He likes to talk in acronyms.  He's an old navy man.  Keep It Simple, Stupid.  Of course.  Our new flags are testimony of the states from which Frau Schmitt and I hail.  They are the flags of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and the State of Connecticut.  

Both states have Latin mottoes.  Hamburg's is: Libertatem quam paperer maiors digne student server posteritas."  Translated into German, it is: "Möge die Nachwelt bemühen, die Freiheit von unseren Ältesten gewann preserve."  In English: "May posterity strive to perserve the freedom won by our elders."

Connecticut's motto appears on its flag.  It's a bit more succinct: Qui Transtulit Sustinet.  In English: "He who transplants, sustains." Translated into German, it is: "Er, der Transplantationen, trägt."

I haven't asked Frau Schmitt if my German is correct, so don't blame her if it's off.  The only other language I'm fluent in besides English is Pig Latin.

As I told our recent guests from Montreal,
A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.