I booked a week's stay at the Avalon to coincide with the first weekend of Jazz Fest 2012. As many of the other reviews tell you, this hotel is out of the way, "out in the east" off Interstate 10. There were few choices as I reserved in March and anything closer to downtown or the French Quarter was booked up or prohibitively expensive. For Jazz Fest, book in January they tell me and your options are many.

From the Avalon it's a $30 round trip cab ride to the French Quarter and a $100 round trip cab ride to the N.O. Int'l Airport. If you're part of a tour group or in town for a convention and have arranged your own group transportation, booking the Avalon may save you a few dollars. Otherwise, for a single person like me meeting friends daily either at Jazz Fest or in the Quarter, getting around basically ate up whatever money I had saved staying there. And forget about renting a car; parking is slim to none downtown and in the French Quarter and quite expensive.

The major factor in my booking the Avalon was that I was told the hotel offered a shuttle to and from Jazz Fest and even to and from the Quarter (for $20 round trip or $27 to Jazz Fest, to French Quarter and back to the hotel). This shuttle ONLY ran for the three days of Jazz Fest (Fri, Sat & Sun) so I was forced to take a cab for the days before and after Jazz Fest when I wanted to go and explore downtown or meet my friends for dinner, etc in the French Quarter.

NOTE ABOUT THIS SHUTTLE....the pickup and dropoff point in the Quarter was at THE CHEVRON GAS STATION on Basin Street, four blocks from Bourbon Street and eight blocks from Jackson Brewery, Cafe du Monde and the heart of the Quarter. The prospect of walking all the way back across the Quarter back to a gas station to await pickup is not convenient and I wouldn't call it safe either.

Part of the reason for this arrangement is that this shuttle service is privately owned, with a limited number of vans and drivers, serving about five hotels around the city. Call for pickup and you wait, sometimes up to an hour or more. Despite the inconvenience, the drivers were very friendly and informative. One driver even offered up a cool tip on grabbing some of the best home cooked soul food in New Orleans right outside Jazz Fest (at "Momma's House" - thanks Marlin!). For $8 I got a loaded take out container and never ate better.

A note about the hotel. Built in 1972, it looks and feels every bit its age. That is to say it's clean and functional, but lacks modern amenities,especially in-room internet access (there is a business center on the 7th floor with two PCs and on-again, off again connectivity and the printer does not work), My king bed was VERY comfortable, a saving grace.

In the shower it was impossible to get a constant temperature. It was like chasing your tail trying to get the temp *just* right, only to step in and moments later get practically scalded or cold-showered. It reminded me of how my mom used to make me and my brothers take shorter showers as kids by yelling "time's up" before turning on the hot water in the kitchen, giving us the the cold boot. But I digress.

I complained to hotel personnel and they suggested I shower earlier or later. Obviously a problem throughout the hotel. I can't imagine how the retirees who just rolled in off the tour bus were going to feel tomorrow morning.

I'll be back to New Orleans next year, hopefully for both weekends of Jazz Fest. There are so many other things left to do! The Avalon is an experience I will not repeat, however.

We stayed at this hotel during the Final 4 Tournament. It was affordable but out of the way. Taxi prices are a fortune in New Orleans. It cost us $60 for 3 of us from the airport. Taxi drivers kept asking us why we stayed on the East side. We stayed on the 5th floor which was ok, but I think a 3 star rating was too high for this hotel, it was a 2 star at best. Our friends stayed on the 7th floor and I do agree the smell was horrible. My friend had a horrible headache from it.

After staying at the Best Wester Avalon Hotel for two nights, I could say that the hotel did have some charm to it. Although the building it self was older, it was well kept including a bright and welcoming lobby, nice restaurant and clean pool. The staff was friendly and helpful, but the Wi-Fi didn't work (unlike they said it did).

The room was average, with comfy and clean beds. The room smelled somewhat musty however, but it was quickly cleared once the A/C was turned on. The TV did not work too well (Which was a let down if you were bored during the evening.)

The area is extremely out of the way, and is located on a small service road outside of a busy highway in the area of Slidell. The surroundings of the hotel seemed as if the development in that area crashed during some economic collapse, as there were many stores and malls that had completely closed down and boarded up.

Overall I probably would return if I had to, but otherwise I would find something that is perhaps a little closer to where all of the action in Louisiana is.

Our trip collided head on with the NCAA final four competition, which meant all the prime hotel locations were booked up. This hotel is located in Slidell in an area that seems to have been hit hard economically as evidenced by the many closed up stores and stalled projects. Still, the hotel itself was busy enough and welcoming.

Staff members were friendly and helpful, although our room was not made up (busy?) each day. The room was charming and clean, and most importantly to us quiet. Since we had a car the remote location was not a huge issue although it would have been nice to be able to walk to things.

We could not get the wifi to work in the lobby, staff was unable to assist. No wifi in room. There is a "business center" on the 7th floor with 2 workstations and a printer however that we used briefly. A coin-op laundry was also a nice feature on-site.

There is a free continental breakfast with th usual fare (+ waffles): best to come early because it gets busy. We did not use the restaurant itself but the facilities look quite nice.

If the location works for you this is a decent place to stay.