Ugly New Orleans.

You've heard the story of the ugly duckling that became a swan.  This is the story of the ugly New Orleans that became the place where good memories that will last a lifetime are made every day.

If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck.  If it soars like a pelican, you're in a New Orleans state of mind.

Quack!  Quack!  New Orleans!

Someone noticed my eyeglasses the other day and asked if I knew where there was a good optical shop in "N'awlins."  I answered that New Orleans has a few, all of them Uptown.  I go to Art & Eyes on Magazine Street.  

"Oh, you must be new here.  It's pronounced 'N'awlins.'" she corrected me.

I said, "Ummmm, no.  People who live here say New Orleans.  We never say N'awlins.  Never.  We may write NOLA for shorthand, but we never pronounce it Nola unless we're talking about Nola.com.  It's an informal city but we call our city by its full name.  It's New Orleans.  We respect how lucky we are to live here and to be a part of this culture."

She said, "I moved here last week and I've been saying N'awlins and Nola and nobody has corrected me."

I said, "Let me guess: you're living in the Marigny right now."

She said, "I do."

Most of the alligators you'll see in New Orleans are painted, not real.

I'm not going to tell you the rest of the conversation.  If you spend enough time in New Orleans you know where this conversation concluded---on the best of terms.  

I deduced her address not only from her outlook but by how she was dressed and what she was drinking (this situation unfolded at a bar, where else in New Orleans?).  The Marigny isn't ugly New Orleans.  Far from it.  There are very few places in New Orleans that I would call outright ugly.  I'm trying to think of a neighborhood right now.  No dice.

I'm no native.  I am always up front about that.  There is no point in pretending to be something I'm not.   I am a New Englander by birth and by natural inclination.  I've made my home here in New Orleans for the past nine years.  Frau Schmitt has, too.  Frau Schmitt is the better half of this operation.

A view of authentic New Orleans.  This can be your headquarters while you visit this wonderful city we call home.

We were talking to Patrick the other day in a bar (where else) and Pat told us that we should officially be called New Orleanians.  "Us old timers know more about the city before Katrina than you do, but you know about the city after Katrina than we do.  You belong here.  You two aren't part of ugly New Orleans."  That is a real compliment.  Thanks, Pat!

Your New Orleans goodwill ambassador.

You a friend in New Orleans.  I know two of them that live on Esplanade Avenue.  You'll make more friends when you are here.  There are no strangers in New Orleans.  Everyone is a friend you haven't yet met.  

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 (and #2 in the U.S., and #16 in the world), La Belle Esplanade is a small craft hotel with only five spacious and unique suites.  Plan ahead early and make that reservation today.  Go to our website: LaBelleEsplanade.com. You can spend a lot of time there whetting your appetite of some authentic New Orleans adventures.  To see what we have available when you'll be in New Orleans, the "Check Availability" button is light blue and it appears in the top right of your screen.

We look forward to meeting you.

Have a great New Orleans day, today!
-La Belle Esplanade

You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.  The best New Orleans memories are made on our street.

You Have a Friend in New Orleans

When do you wish the wind to stop blowing?  In New Orleans in summer, let it blow.  Let it blow.  Let it blow!  Every breeze is welcome.  You have a friend in New Orleans.  I know.  I live here.

Breakfast is served.

Everyone is happy to be in New Orleans.  If you are bored here, you've got a whopper of a hole in your imagination.  Everyone is happy in New Orleans.  Everyone has a friend in New Orleans.  Even the ducks:

Quack. Quack.  Quack!  Quack.

19 million tourists visited New Orleans last year.  That's more than the number of people who visited Hawaii.  If the great State of Louisiana can be compared to the great State of Hawaii, then New Orleans is Wikiki.  Fun and frolic.

In Hawaii they have "aloha culture."  In New Orleans, we have "laginiappe culture."  What's lagniappe?  It's a little something extra, a small top-off surprise after you've paid for what you bought.  Lagniappe is more.  Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind.

You a friend in New Orleans.  I know two of them that live on Esplanade Avenue.  You'll make more friends when you are here.  There are no strangers in New Orleans.  Everyone is a friend you haven't yet met.  

We look forward to meeting you.

Have a great New Orleans day, today!
-La Belle Esplanade

You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.  The best New Orleans memories are made on our street.

You'll Never Guess What I Saw in New Orleans.

I'm often surprised that more children's books aren't set in New Orleans.  You'll never guess what I saw in New Orleans.  It was a pleasant surprise, as most things that I see in New Orleans are.  In New Orleans, even more than in Chicago, it's your kind of razzmatazz and it has all that jazz.

New Orleans is a city full of magical vistas.

Life and death.  Pleasure and pain.  Angels and devils.  Samaritans and Philistines.  Gain and loss.  Providence and misfortune.  Laughter and tears.  A rollercoaster.  Orange and blue.  Sunny and rainy.  Day and night, and day again---and night, again.  

Shall I list all the streets where you can find pleasant surprises in New Orleans?  Not here.  We don't have the space.  There are books written about New Orleans street names.  You'll never guess what I saw in New Orleans.  You won't find it any book unless Frau Schmitt chooses to publish my posthumous memoirs.  Frau Schmitt is the better half of this operation.  I doubt she would inflict my memoirs on the world.  Tulane University Press, though, that's another story.

Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind.

Life is a parade.  More so in New Orleans.  Life goes on.  It goes on, and on, and on, and on, & on, & on, & on....  One blessing follows the one before it.  Guess what's going to happen tomorrow?  If you said more blessings, you're right.

Spend a week in New Orleans.  Let New Orleans get under your skin, deep in the heart of you.  Let it get so deep that New Orleans will become a part of you.  Then, you'll be changed for the better.  Outside the Garden of Eden, there is no place so nice on God's green Earth as New Orleans.  Many people leave their heart here; then they come back to find it.  New Orleans never disappoints.

You'll never guess what I saw in New Orleans.  We live in a kaleidoscope of a city.

New Orleans is calling you.  You know where you should stay, dontcha?  La Belle Esplanade, the #1 place to stay in New Orleans (according to TripAdvisor) since April 2014, and the #2 small hotel in the United States and the #1 small hotel in the world (as I never get tired of repeating).

You should read the blog on our official website, too.  Here, you are getting a different version.  La Belle Esplanade gone acoustic and uncensored.  On either site you can spend a lot of time trawling through the archives to discover New Orleans secrets and get yourself into a proper New Orleans state of mind.

Speaking of the New Orleans state of mind.  Follow La Belle Esplanade on Facebook.  We post items 2, 3, 5 times a day to share what it is like to live in this wonderful city we call home.  No pictures of Bourbon Street and rarely pictures of the French Quarter.  La Belle Esplanade is located in authentic New Orleans, the part of the city where people live out their lives and make good memories.  You can make good memories here, too.  You should.

Get off the tourist radar and stay at La Belle Esplanade, a small craft hotel on the second-most beautiful street in the city.  Our address is in a very interesting neighborhood full of small museums, nationally famous restaurants, off-the-beaten-path diversions, and all the things that will help you know what it means to love New Orleans.

We're here for you,
La Belle Esplanade
Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

We are just simple micro-hoteliers here at La Belle Esplanade.  I know more than one person just spit coffee out their nose when they read that sentence.  To be honest, Frau Schmitt, who is the better half of this operation, is the nicest person you will ever meet, and I, your humble narrator, am a raconteur extraordinaire (I didn't give myself that moniker), a dandy, and a man-about-New Orleans. La Belle Esplanade, the small artisanal hotel we run, is ranked highly on TripAdvisor, and we know it is unlike any other hotel, but we don't like feeling too big for our britches.  Price is what you pay.  Value is what you get.  La Belle Esplanade is no Hilton.  

That's a good thing, too:

La Belle is the orange house in the middle.

I don't like to boast or to brag, and, even though I usually post our TripAdvisor award badges at the end of each post, I don't think too much of them.  Not that I dislike them, mind you.  Frau Schmitt and I are humbled that La Belle has been ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014.  And, we are even more humbled to be counted among the 0.0001% of hotels awarded the Travelers' Choice Award every year.  For those of you who don't know, this award is bestowed on the top 25 places to stay in each country and then the top 25 in the whole world.  We've been named the #2 place to stay in the United States and the #16 place to stay in the world.  Price is what you pay.  Value is what you get.

That said, the wall next to our breakfast buffet table is starting to look a little TripAdvisor heavy.  We don't really need all these framed certificates to go all the way to the ceiling.  We have twelve-and-a-half foot ceilings in the house:

Sure, there's still empty space but when is enough enough?

We just got two more certificates in the mail today: our 2019 Certificate of Excellence and our 2019 induction into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame.

I haven't framed them yet.  They're just laid out on a table.

Again, I'm not complaining but I don't think anyone outside the hotel industry, knows what it means to be in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame.  While La Belle Esplanade is flattered and humbled to be inducted, once again, does Joe or Jane Doe care?  They will when they get here and experience what we offer as a small artisanal hotel but before they see the certificates on our wall and ask about them, will they know what the Hall of Fame even is?

It means we've been awarded a certificate of excellence five years in a row.  A certificate of excellence is not a Travelers' Choice Award.  One is a chicken egg, the other is caviar.  Both are good but one is commonplace while the other is sublime.  We're aiming for five Travelers' Choice awards in a row.  Three to go.  

Our TripAdvisor ranking is all based on reviews from people who have stayed at La Belle Esplanade.  Frau Schmitt and I have no control over our ranking.  It is all driven by how our guests have experienced their stay at our small craft hotel.  You know how the best beer comes from a small craft brewery?  It's the same way with hospitality at a small craft hotel.  The best New Orleans memories are made on our street.  Visit like you belong in this wonderful city we call home.

Let your imagination be your guide.

As of this moment, we've received 646 reviews on TripAdvisor.  634 of them rate our inn Excellent.  12 rate our inn Very Good.  Nobody has said their stay is Average, Poor, or Terrible.  Why would they?  La Belle Esplanade is like the Ritz, if the Ritz were in a colorful old mansion and run by only two people.  Only a churl could not be delighted by a gourmet curated breakfast accompanied by good conversation about all things New Orleans.

Price is what you pay.  Value is what you get.  We try to deliver better value than what our prices lead you to expect.  Why?  Because in New Orleans there is the theory of lagniappe.  Lagniappe is a Creole word that means something extra.  At La Belle Esplanade you will always get something extra, be it personally tailored recommendations, candies on your bed, a selection of locally brewed beer and soda, or, most importantly, a chance to be inducted into the authentic New Orleans state of mind.

There is touristy New Orleans.  You don't need me to tell you about it.  You'll find it.  Your friends who have already visited for bachelor parties or professional conventions or destination weddings or cruise ship stops have already told you about that part of New Orleans.  Then, there is real New Orleans, the authentic city where people live, laugh, and love as they go about their lives raising families and building legacies.  Ours is a city with a culture that is densely woven and richly textured.  You never know what pleasant surprise you'll find when you turn a corner.  New Orleans is not just sugary alcoholic drinks, dueling piano bars, and novelty tee shirt shops.

Walk your boots to La Belle Esplanade.  This is real New Orleans.

When you are ready for real New Orleans off the usual tourist treadmill, you know where to find us.  We are the bright orange house with blue shutters on Esplanade Avenue.  New Orleans is called "America's Most Interesting City" for very good reason.

Check out our website: LaBelleEsplanade.com.  Read our blog there.  There are three years (at least) of archives.  If you think we'll be a good fit for your New Orleans expectations, make a reservation.  The "Check Availability" button is in the upper right of every screen.  Plug in your dates to see what suites we have available.  We only have five suites so we tend to fill up early during the busy seasons.

You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue,
-La Belle Esplanade   

Price is what you pay.  Value is what you get.

THIS is real New Orleans. Really REAL New Orleans.

New Orleans misses you.  If you've been to New Orleans before, New Orleans misses you.  There is more here for you to explore.  If you haven't been to New Orleans before, New Orleans misses you.  You belong here at least for a week, maybe more.

New Orleans is calling you.  Answer that call.

Trust your heart.  You belong in New Orleans.

I spend most of my waking life in New Orleans so I feel kinda qualified to speak as an amateur expert, albeit one without sheepskin credentials or portfolio.  I'm just a regular chap who lives in this interesting city we call home.  I put my pants on one leg at a time.  I make no claims to greatness.  If greatness wants to find me, it knows where I live: in the bright orange house with blue shutters in the 2200 block of Esplanade Avenue.

We call that a mystery shot in our business.  Follow your dreams to La Belle Esplanade.

We live in a city saturated with serendipity and plump with pleasant surprises.  New Orleans is a city that marinates in hopes, prayers, daydreams, idylls, schemes, aims and enterprises, desires, visions, good intentions, celebrations, and attainable aspirations.  New Orleans isn't a fool's paradise.  New Orleans simmers on high until its broth is extra-concentrated to savory perfection.

A wild egret in City Park, at one end of Esplanade Avenue.

My heart goes where the wild egret goes and my heart knows what that egret knows.  Wild Egret, Brother Egret, which is best?  A wandering fool or a heart at rest?  

I rest my head in my bed on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans.  You should, too.  Sleep the sleep of the contented.  The best memories of all are made on Esplanade Avenue.  I have a lifetime's worth of them stashed in my heart.  You should add to your cache of treasured memories by staying in our neighborhood when you visit New Orleans.  We are close to the tourist attractions but far enough away so that you'll get a good night's sleep and be able to explore the real New Orleans where Orleanians live.  Welcome to authentic New Orleans.  

Read over this blog post.  Read some entries from the archives.  Does a regular hotel write a blog like this?  No.  

Welcome to our world.  This is real New Orleans.  Visit like you belong here.  You do belong here.  Trust me.  You wouldn't have read this far if you don't. 

You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans,

-La Belle Esplanade

There is a physical New Orleans and then there is a New Orleans of the heart.  Keep your eyes open in this wonderful city we call home and you’ll learn what it means to fall in love with New Orleans.  We’re here for you.  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.    Follow our other blog, or, follow us on Facebook, subscribe to our newsletter (which you'll find at the bottom of our website's page).  Keep yourself in a New Orleans state of mind.  

There is regular happy, and then there is New Orleans happy.  When you are ready to visit, you know where to find us: we’re in the bright orange house with blue shutters.  Good memories are made on our street.

We only have five suites.  Ours is a small artisanal operation.  You know how you get the best beer from a craft brewery?  Well, you get the best hospitality from a craft hotel.  We know what we’re doing.  Let us share the real New Orleans with you, not the off-the-rack version.  Plug your dates into our calendar and see what we have available.  Plan ahead.  With only five suites we tend to fill up early.

Stay as long as you can.  No one ever says their visit to New Orleans is too long.  They always say it is too short.  The longer you are here, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to discover and explore.  There are good surprises around every corner.  New Orleans blooms with happiness.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us, that’s what we’re here for.  We look forward to meeting you in person.

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 for very good reasons:

One of the top 0.0001% of places to stay in the whole world.  We are also in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame.  You can choose a lot worse places to make your New Orleans headquarters.  Use your better intuition.  Stay at La Belle Esplanade and learn what it means to really fall in love with New Orleans. 

New Orleans Is a Full City

I could be wrong, or I may be right about everything I say about happy-go-lucky New Orleans.  New Orleans is a multi-faceted city, a fun-house of a city, mirror-faced and self-reflective.  Look in the right end of the telescope/microscope to make sure what you're seeing in New Orleans is right-sized.  New Orleans is an, open-minded, well-respected, up-to-date, devil-may-care merry-go-round of a city.  New Orleans is a fully hyphenated city.  Come see for yourself.

Your humble narrator: an amateur lexicographer

New Orleans puts the 'nous' in 'Nouveau.'

It's not polite to say this but people often do: New Orleans puts the 'fun' in 'Funeral.'

Joie de vivre and je n'est c'est quoi are the orders of the day in New Orleans.  If you think you know where you are going to be in the next hour in New Orleans, you're wrong.  Every day is an ongoing parade.  Let the good times roll.

Someone is shooting off Roman candles a block uptown from here.  The sky is full of parti-colored sparks.  It's another New Orleans evening.  It is somebody's birthday.

When you are in New Orleans, you are in the free world.  

Take a ride on Esplanade Avenue

When was the last time you met someone who won 2nd prize in a beauty contest?  When was the last time your bank paid you a dividend to $50.00?  Advance to Esplanade Avenue.  

Frau Schmitt is the better half of this operation.  She agrees with me, your humble narrator, that we are very fortunate to live on the downtown side of New Orleans.  We have grown to fall deeply in love with this side of Canal Street.  Though they share many similarities, the two halves of New Orleans are very, very different.  

I was talking to Kettle-Head on Monday and he told me how he had discovered a dead dog that had been hidden under a parked car on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter.

Kettle-Head told me, "The car pulled away and there, in its spot, was a dead dog lying flat.  It had rained that morning so the street was wet, except for where that dog was laying.  The dog was in a dry spot as big as the car.  The dog had been dead for so long that it had rigor mortis." 

In other news, I say a puppet show on Tuesday.  

Some of the neighborhood gang has written a puppet play and they are rehearsing right now in their front yards.  First the stage will be on North Miro Street, then it will move to St. Philip Street for a few days, then to North Rocheblave Street, and so on, and so on until the script will be perfected.  It's all great fun.  I can't way to see the finished product.  It should be done before schools starts in August.

So far, the play has something to do with a dragon and an alligator and a bunny.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I walked Li'l Tater home.  His mother had lost track of him while she was gardening so I saw him two lots down where he was picking marigolds out of Mrs. Estelle's garden. I stopped him, took Li'l Tater's hand, and toddled him back to his own front porch where his mother was looking for him.  Naughty Tater.  He's a curious tyke.

You never know what you'll find in New Orleans

Today, I saw a voodoo sign painted on an oak tree's trunk.

This week isn't even over yet!

À votre santé,
-La Belle Esplanade
Thursday, June 20, 2019

There is a physical New Orleans and then there is a New Orleans of the heart.  Keep your eyes open in this wonderful city we call home and you’ll learn what it means to fall in love with New Orleans.  We’re here for you.  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.    Follow our other blog, or, follow us on Facebook, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.  Keep yourself in a New Orleans state of mind.  There is regular happy, and then there is New Orleans happy.  When you’re ready to visit, you know where to find us: we’re in the bright orange house with blue shutters.  Good memories are made on our street.

We only have five suites.  Ours is a small artisanal operation.  You know how you get the best beer from a craft brewery.  Well, you get the best hospitality from a craft hotel.  We know what we’re doing.  Let us share the real New Orleans with you, not the off-the-rack version.  Plug your dates into our calendar and see what we have available.  Plan ahead.  With only five suites we tend to fill up early.

Stay as long as you can.  No one ever says their visit to New Orleans is too long.  They always say it is too short.  The longer you are here, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to discover and explore.  There are good surprises around every corner.  New Orleans blooms with happiness.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us, that’s what we’re here for.  We look forward to meeting you in person.

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 for very good reasons:

Kinky Boots in New Orleans

I know that Cindy Lauper is somehow involved with the Broadway production of Kinky Boots, and with the traveling ensemble show as well.  That's about all I know.  When you live in New Orleans, things from the outside world make very little impact.  We live in a self-contained city.

What happens in New Orleans may affect the music and culture of the rest of the world but what happens in the rest of the world rarely makes even a ripple in New Orleans.  We live in a microcosm all out own.

Wanna see some kinky boots?

New Orleans kinky boots

There they are in all their glory.  There is a story behind the pair of motorcycle boots left standing in the road in front of La Belle Esplanade but it isn't a story worth repeating here.  It is a New Orleans kind of story, one full of small scale mischief and magic and charm and delights that doesn't translate well if you live in another city or in a hamlet.

Kinky Boots is playing at the Saenger Theater soon.  I love going to the Saenger because it is beautifully and majestically restored post-Katrina.  That said, Frau Schmitt and I rarely go to the Saenger because it tends to be touring broadway shows and national touring acts.  Weird Al Yanokovic was here last week and I wanted to go, but we had other things to do.  When we want to see a real theatrical performance we usually go to the symphony, which plays at the Orpheum Theater, around the corner from the Saenger.  

What's kinky about New Orleans?  It depends on your definition.  I prefer not to think about it.  A lot of things happen in this city of flagrant and fragrant delights.  I don't need to be privy to all of them.  I just need to know that many itches get scratched in this kaleidoscope of a place.  Me?  I'm a man of simple tastes and uncomplicated dispositions.  I enjoy wherever I am and whatever I'm doing.  Ask Frau Schmitt.  She's the better half of this operation and she's got me all figured out.  

Beware of kinky boots on the side of the street in New Orleans.

It's been awhile since I've taken a recent picture of myself.  This one is about a month old:

Your humble narrator

As we gin the blog up into fighting trim, I'm realizing how much more there is to do to get in proper blogging shape in order to deliver all the relevant information in a timely fashion.  Don't worry.  I'm in training.  Our routine will be established soon enough and you'll know when to expect more exciting updates.

More is always better.

In the meantime, if you are thinking about visiting New Orleans, you know where you should stay: AT LA BELLE ESPLANDE.  

Monday, June 18, 2019.

-You've got two friends on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans.

There is a physical New Orleans and then there is a New Orleans of the heart.  Keep your eyes open in this wonderful city we call home and you’ll learn what it means to fall in love with New Orleans.  We’re here for you.  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.    Follow our other blog, or, follow us on Facebook, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.  Keep yourself in a New Orleans state of mind.  There is regular happy, and then there is New Orleans happy.  When you’re ready to visit, you know where to find us: we’re in the bright orange house with blue shutters.  Good memories are made on our street.

We only have five suites.  Ours is a small artisanal operation.  You know how you get the best beer from a craft brewery.  Well, you get the best hospitality from a craft hotel.  We know what we’re doing.  Let us share the real New Orleans with you, not the off-the-rack version.  Plug your dates into our calendar and see what we have available.  Plan ahead.  With only five suites we tend to fill up early.

Stay as long as you can.  No one ever says their visit to New Orleans is too long.  They always say it is too short.  The longer you are here, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to discover and explore.  There are good surprises around every corner.  New Orleans blooms with happiness.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us, that’s what we’re here for.  We look forward to meeting you in person.

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 for very good reasons:

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014.

Ranked in the top 5 places to stay in the U.S. and the top 30 in the world.

New Orleans Skies

I love the sky in New Orleans during Summer.  The sky is beautiful every season of the year in this wonderful city we call home but in Summer, because we live in the swamp, the humidity rises and rises until it condenses into the biggest, puffiest, cloudiest cumulus confections you've ever seen.  Cumulo-nimbus, too.

Another beautiful New Orleans day.

None of the photos I've chosen to illustrate todays installment feature much of what I'm talking about.  In the late morning or the early afternoon, when the clouds in the sky are at their most plumpest, I don't take pictures of them with my camera.  I study them.  They slowly expand, very slowly.  If you pay attention you can see them growing and growing.  It's a breathtaking thing to pay attention to.

I do sketch the cloudscapes.  You don't know this but, when I was much younger than I am today, I went to art school.  I was a practicing painting until I turned 40.  I am turning 53 this year.  I don't hold gallery exhibitions and I don't paint much anymore but I'm starting to get an itch in my palette thumb.  I've got some ideas for new paintings burbling up in my idea hopper.  Why?  Because I am inspired by New Orleans skies.

Daydreams and sweet dreams.

Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies---that is where the fabric of their dreams lies.  Anyone who is stoop-shouldered and spends all their time looking at the ground doesn't have inspiring dreams.  Their dreams are mired in mud and puddles and litter.  That's my opinion, at least.

Aim high.  That way, if you fall short, you'll still get somewhere.

I love clouds.  I love daydreams.  I love the New Orleans state of mind, which is mostly made up of fairy tales, daydreams, flights of fancy, and the most improbably things.  If something might be true in New Orleans, it probably is.  Nothing improbable is impossible.  It's a way of live.

Summer is the slow of year in New Orleans from a tourism viewpoint.  Very few people visit the city, much to their loss.  Yes it is hot.  Yes it is humid.  Guess what?  No one else is visiting.  The only people in New Orleans in July and August are the people who live here.  You don't have to wait in line for anything.  You don't have to make reservations beforehand.  You can come and go as you please, like you own the city---like you belong here.

You do belong in New Orleans.  There is no other city on this great green-and-blue ball we call home (third planet from the Sun) that is so welcoming, so accommodating, so happy to have you here.  Welcome to New Orleans.  Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind.

Look up.  Even the clouds are happy you are here.  There are portents in the heavens.  All signs are favorable.  Good memories are made in New Orleans.  The best memories are made at La Belle Esplanade.  Use your better intuition and get your good self down here.  Get your head nailed on street.  New Orleans cures all ills.  take it from me.  I see it happen every day.  

À votre santé,

-Your two friends at La Belle Esplanade

Sunday, June 16, 2019.

There is a physical New Orleans and then there is a New Orleans of the heart.  Keep your eyes open in this wonderful city we call home and you’ll learn what it means to fall in love with New Orleans.  We’re here for you.  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.    Follow our other blog, or, follow us on Facebook, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.  Keep yourself in a New Orleans state of mind.  There is regular happy, and then there is New Orleans happy.  When you’re ready to visit, you know where to find us: we’re in the bright orange house with blue shutters.  Good memories are made on our street.

We only have five suites.  Ours is a small artisanal operation.  You know how you get the best beer from a craft brewery.  Well, you get the best hospitality from a craft hotel.  We know what we’re doing.  Let us share the real New Orleans with you, not the off-the-rack version.  Plug your dates into our calendar and see what we have available.  Plan ahead.  With only five suites we tend to fill up early.

Stay as long as you can.  No one ever says their visit to New Orleans is too long.  They always say it is too short.  The longer you are here, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to discover and explore.  There are good surprises around every corner.  New Orleans blooms with happiness.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us, that’s what we’re here for.  We look forward to meeting you in person.

Ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans since April 2014 for very good reasons:

The 2020 awards will be announced next January.  We hope we'll get the chance to meet you and share our part of New Orleans with you before then.  Cheers!