The Celestine

What a wonderful stay it was my boyfriends 60th bday wanted a New Orleans vibe not hotelish was perfect atmosphere we loved it. Especially for a new experience. Walkable to every thing we wanted to do great restaurants around. The bar had great drinks awesome bar tenders. And cute courtyard.

Generally a very nice hotel, but with some 'dualities'. What do I mean? Well, the location is pretty darn good, right in the middle of the French Quarter, and easy stroll from most of the big sights in that area. Easy to walk around, easy for Ubers to pick you up. Great. The problem... the location. It's about a half block from Bourbon Street, which is a rather noisy street. The hotel realizes this and will provide ear-plugs, and they were necessary through the weekend, though not so much after Monday. The bar downstairs was not noisy, and they made really great drinks. The back patio was nice, with a cooling fountain, and the hotel often had little events going on... a pop-up sushi bar and live music, very cool. The bathroom amenities, shower gel, shampoo, etc, were really nice, smelled great, but we did have to chase after them a bit to get replacements. The balcony of the room was pretty neat too, it was great to head out in the cooler evenings with a bottle of wine and watch the moon rise over the city.

The Celestine is a very cool boutique hotel that is a little respite just steps from the French Quarter. I got there before check-in, but the room wasn't ready, which was understandable. Coco went above and beyond, though, offering me a free drink at Peychaud's, the attached bar (which we loved so much we ended every night there). When my room was ready, she came and got me and got me set up. I will say, if I stayed here again I would specifically ask not to be put in room 2. It's cute, but it's right off the courtyard and bar, so it's incredibly loud. After a long travel day I was going to take a nap, but a big celebration in the courtyard (which I'm not exaggerating is literally right outside the room door) with a band and everything made it pretty hard. The AC and fan, plus white noise and ear plugs, does help, but you generally can hear the music/band, people hanging out, doors slamming and glasses breaking from the bar (particularly as they close up each night), etc. It's easily the loudest hotel I've ever stayed in. It's also very small -- much smaller than my colleague's room, which was the same price (her room had to be three times the size). They should at least charge far less for this room. But, it's also a boutique hotel, so it's not going to be exactly like a boring chain place. And there are a lot of positives. The staff is great -- friendly, welcoming, helpful. The mini bar is a step above almost any other mini bar, with a really wide selection of options -- I had some tinned octopus on a Spanish torta cracker right after checking in because I was starving. And the prices aren't insane. The bed is incredibly comfortable -- big fluffy blankets, soft mattress. Excellent. I normally hate when hotel rooms don't have coffee because it means I have to put on clothes just for a coffee, but luckily room 2 is just steps away from the check-in area where they will make you a great espresso-based option. The toiletries are amazing. I normally don't care about toiletries, but they have this salt scrub that was incredible. I used it every day and then ordered some online even though it's more than I've ever spent on anything like that. You also get two free drinks at Peychaud's, which is a legitimately fantastic cocktail bar that makes excellent drinks. And it's next door to The Will and the Way, another great cocktail bar/restaurant. And the whole place just has great New Orleans vibes. Like I said, it's right off of the French Quarter, so it's very centrally located. But it feels just quiet enough -- cool old building, dark wood staircases, courtyard to have drinks in, weird paintings on the wall, old antiques as furniture, etc. You FEEL like you're staying in New Orleans, which you want in a city that has such a strong vibe. And like I said, the staff is great.

We booked this couples trip as our second trip to New Orleans, our first time staying at The Celestine. We loved the location, and it was close to stores and restaurants but quiet enough that our sleep wasn't interrupted. We had a room with a balcony facing the courtyard. The courtyard was a favorite location in the morning, and it was ideal for winding down late at night. The couple we traveled with had a room with a balcony facing the street, and we spent a lot of time there relaxing with drinks and people-watching. The rooms were clean and cozy; the bed was comfortable. We were planning our next stay at The Celestine before leaving to go home. The customer service was the reason for our excitement about rebooking at this location. Ian was our main point of contact at The Celestine, and he made our stay that much more enjoyable. Ian quickly provided recommendations and was charming and engaging. We made it a point to pop into the lobby throughout our stay to say hello, get background on the hotel's history, and get new restaurant recommendations; mostly, we stopped to chat. We are thankful that Ian was there throughout our entire stay, as he was the most hospitable person I have encountered in all our travels.

This is one of the very worst hotels where I have ever stayed, due to the lack of professional management. Before you arrive, you receive numerous emails about how taxis may not be able to find the hotel, and the street may be closed off, and there is no elevator, When you do arrive, the door is more or less unmarked, and there is no one visible inside. You drag your luggage up and down through a courtyard to find a human being to check you in. Immediately and without warning, your credit card is charge for the whole stay, so you cannot leave after the place turns out to be a disaster. The HVAC unit in the room blows cold air in December. You are asked if you want turn down service, but when you say yes, there is no turn down. The worst thing is breakfast. When I went downstair early looking for a cup of coffee, I was told that if you wanted breakfast, you had to order before 2 am. There was supposed to be a piece of paper in the room with this information, but of course there wasn't. And even if there had been, this information should have been provided face-to-face to the guest, rather than leaving it to chance that the guest would stumble across the piece of paper. In any event, it turns out that the only choices (even if you order by 2 am) are yoghurt with berries and some bagel options. When I complained at the front desk in the morning, Ian at the front desk was dismissive, and put the blame on me for not finding the piece of paper, that was not in the room anyway. When I asked Ian to contact the manager, he said that the manager worked a 16 hour day the day before, so he would not call him. This "boutique hotel" is also expensive. I plan to call American Express to dispute the charge.

This is a little boutique hotel right off of Bourbon street. It’s not really trendy, and not super upscale, but it’s nice and a good spot to crash if you want to stay in the quarter. They have a coffee shop and bar within the confines of the hotel. Nothing to write home about, but it’s nice that it’s available. There’s plenty of other great places within a short walking distance.

James and his team have made the Celestine an amazing place to stay in the French Quarter! Beautiful remodel of a historic property with a really cool story. Excellent bar and coffee bar, connected access to Peychauds bar (those guys are great too!), beautiful courtyard and fantastic location. We walked everywhere we wanted to go. James and his team provided excellent service and history, and we can’t wait to stay at this boutique gem again!

Overall it is solid but not sure pictures accurately reflect the space. It’s very tight. The bar is terrific but it is very loud. They offer ear plugs but I guess for me, for the price, I seek a quieter atmosphere. It is currently 8:30 on Wednesday and the music is pumping. Last night at 1 am, the noise outside my room was equally loud. Just be forewarned- it is more a party atmosphere than a restful respite in the quarter. On both mornings, there was no coffee either. Small but important detail. Overall, I think you are better served choosing someplace else.