Had a nice surprise recently when staying in New Orleans. I was on a business trip and scored a great rate with my Hotels.com app at the Le Pavilion. At first impression i was a little concerned. Looked dated and tired initially upon entering the lobby. But as I was warmly greeted at the check-in desk, peeked into the restaurant to see it full of happy diners and the smells of delicious regional cuisine being served, I started to warm up to the place.

The room was quite nice. A large room with a high ceiling, walk-in closet, small but deluxe black granite bathroom with expensive china lav, and all the cool amenities and soft fluffy white towels, ceiling fan, oil paintings, desk and sitting area, with a well stocked mini-bar. The bed was comfortable and I slept very soundly - hotel was quiet and had effective black out drapes.

Staff was super friendly and helpful. I neglected to put my in-room breakfast door tag out the night before, but in the morning decided to get some work done in the room, so I called room service 20 minutes before they even opened (6:10) to see if I could order in some granola and yogurt fruit and coffee. The person who answered the call not only was polite and took my order with an apology for being closed, but they'd get it to me as soon as they could. Wow. Not only did they give me a heads up call when the food was on its way up, but it was in my room all set up on the nice sized table near the window by 6:30. I was very impressed. The granola was house made and very good, and the coffee was hot and delicious. Perfect!

The new hotel shine may be long gone from this historical hotel, but all in all it was an incredibly enjoyable experience. All of the staff was friendly and helpful from check-in to check-out, and I would certainly book again.Don't miss the home-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches served from 10 to 11 pm every night in the lobby. Great time to mingle.