I stayed at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside 7 to 12 September 2011. I was there for a conference but had plenty of time to enjoy other things. Checkin was easy. Checkout had a little glitch where they tried to charge twice for the valet parking. Took a while to fix that but it was fixed. I stayed in two different rooms while there. I shared with two other travel professionals at the conference. The first room included a fridge which was nice to have. The second room, in Building 3, was not as well appointed. No fridge. Everything else was similar. The bathroom in the building 3 room had some mold on the ceiling with peeling paint. The halls in the main building were being papered while I was there. It looked very new and fresh. The rooms were clean and smelled good. The air was controlled by a thermostat in the room and was very efficient in taking the temps up or down as needed. I have no big complaints about the hotel.
The price of a taxi to the airport is set at $33. The price of the taxi to the port is $7 per person. This WAS a problem since we took a taxi to the French Quarter and it was about $9. The desk clerk told us that the charge to the port would be about that or less so 5 of us shared a taxi to the port and expected to pay about $2 each. instead the driver charged us $7 each. Some did not pay him but it really was posted and we should have asked as we got in. The $7 per person to go about a half mile was a big ripoff but it is what they charge. Not happy with that at all.
The trolly is just outside the hotel and runs along the river walk in one direction and to the French Quarter and French Market in the other direction. You can buy a day pass for $3 or one way for $1.25. If you buy the pass, you can get on the trolley at Canal street and ride all along the garden district and lots of other places. Unfortunately, I did not find a map of their system so I don't know everywhere you could go. If you get the pass, you can get off and on as much as you like all day. It is a great bargain.
Bourbon street is not for the faint of heart. Avoid going there on Friday and Saturday nights if you dislike lots of crowds. You can walk there easier on weeknights. From this hotel it was very easy to walk to the French Quarter and back. Probably about a mile each way. You are directly next to the Riverwalk mall so shopping and eating are easy if you like malls. The River is adjacent to the mall. Some of the rooms have a river view. Mine did not. You could easily walk to the Aquarium, Lafayette Park, cruise port, Mardi Gras World, French Quarter, Canal Street and Bourbon Street.
