The Grooviest B&B in New Orleans

Is this place really Squaresville?

Frau Schmitt and your humble narrator take their jobs of being New Orleans ambassadors seriously.  We try to know everything we can about the city we call home.  All the better to make recommendations, my dear.  

I was talking to Tammie the Housekeeper the other day.  It turns out that some of the B&B housekeepers in New Orleans meet for lunch every month.  This month they were at Jack Dempsey's, down in the Bywater.  

738 Poland Avenue, New Orleans, LA

I love Jack Dempsey's.  The walls are unfinished particle board.  The food is pretty good, too.

Tammie the Housekeeper

Tammie the Housekeeper was making the bed in La France Suite when she mentioned that La Belle Esplanade doesn't have a reputation for being the grooviest B&B in New Orleans.  "That's what Miriam LaRue said, anyway, and Lucille agreed with her."  I suppose it all depends on who you ask.

So what B&B is the grooviest in the whole city according to the informal poll taken at Jack Dempsey's Steak and Seafood House the other afternoon?  Tammie the Housekeeper didn't want to tell me but she finally relented after I had pestered her into the Clio Suite across the hall.  "They say it's the Lookout Inn," she finally said.  

Well, like their web address says, Look Out New Orleans.

I went over yesterday to spy on the competition and take some pictures:

The grooviest B&B in New Orleans

As I was snapping that photo above, Kelly, the innkeeper, was taking out the trash.  Caught in the act!  Luckily, we know each other and she invited Frau Schmitt and I over for dinner.  Nancy from Auld Sweet Olive came, too.  

After dinner, Kelly and Mark (her husband) gave us a tour of their inn.  Let me tell you, it's like a palace in there.  They have four suites: the Mission Suite, the Mardi Gras Suite, the Elvis Suite and the Bollywood Suite.  Did I mention the Mardi Gras Suite?  The whole place is pretty groovy, I have to admit, especially the Elvis and Bollywood Suites.  The Wall Street Journal mentioned them in an article a while ago.

The place is clean, too.  Even though it was January, the whole place smelled like April freshness.  Most B&Bs do.

Frau Schmitt and I talked about the Elvis Suite after we got home.  "I think La Belle Esplanade is groovy enough the way it is," Frau Schmitt said.  She is usually right about these things.  "That's what Tammie the Housekeeper said, too," I said.  "Tammie the Housekeeper also called me an old fuddy duddy," I added, "Imagine that!"

"Tammie says that about everybody who's over thirty.  Even herself and she's only 31," Frau Schmitt told me.

The pool at the Lookout Inn (a pool!!)

If you want to stay in the hottest neighborhood in New Orleans, the Bywater, here's a recommendation:  the Lookout Inn.  If you want to stay in the Marigny, here's a recommendation: Auld Sweet Olive.  If you want to stay in the West End, here's a recommendation: Rose Manor.  If you want to stay on Esplanade Avenue, well, look at the top of this blog.  No place in New Orleans is Squaresville.  That's not entirely true, of course.  Some places are, but we're not going to name them here.

Wherever you stay, you'll have a good time.  Good memories are made in New Orleans.

When I was taking pictures of the Lookout Inn, I asked if I could take a picture of Kelly.  She graciously agreed.  I was so nervous that that camera jiggled in my hands.  All I could capture was a snap of the top of her head.  Here it is:

It should be crowned with a tiara

À votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.