La Belle Maison Parking and Travel Tips

[Jethro37]

Hey Folks,

Planning on traveling to New Orleans soon. We are driving in so are interested in affordable parking tips. Also any other suggestions while we're in town are welcome.

Sincerely,

Jethro37

 

[troy12n]

There's some tricks, but it involves spending a little time at the Harrah's casino.

If you are a Wyndham VIP owner, and a Wyndham Rewards member, you can automatically become a Platinum rewards member just by linking your Club Wyndham membership number to your Wyndham Rewards.

After you do that, you can be entitle to an automatic "status upgrade" in Caesars Total Rewards to Diamond level. At Diamond level, you get free parking at any Caesars property, including the Harrah's New Orleans, which is 2 blocks away from the resort... I've utilitzed this several times.

Or if you aren't VIP, you can just get a Caesars Total Rewards account, and play penny slots for a minimum of 30 minutes each day, and be entitled to free parking as well. If you do this, you have to move your car once a day for the trick to work

 

[cbyrne1174]

I'll be there in March. Here is a link to the parking garage I found that's a 4 min walk to the resort but is significantly cheaper to park at. The spaces are small, so don't expect to park a giant SUV easily. Also, If you plan on using your car once you are checked in, I would just pay the hotel fee. This garage doesn't allow re-entry but will save you a decent amount:

Book a parking space

Also, I would look into the river cruises that are a 10 min walk from your room. They are at the dock at the riverwalk. I booked mine using Groupon at $20/person. It isn't as cheap now though. I booked it during an MLK sale.

There still is a pretty good Groupon available for dinner M-Thurs. The restaurant is a 10 min walk from the room and the ratings are good. It's $31 for $60 of Creole food.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/new-orleans-creole-cookery-2

Also, FreeToursbyFoot has some amazing tours that are pay-as-you-want. They have a Youtube channel showing what the tours are like. I booked the Voodoo tour. It goes over how the enslaved West Africans managed to keep their religion alive (mainly in Congo Square) behind the backs of their oppressors.

This is a discounted bus tour that also gets you access to St Louis Cemetery #1. You can only access the cemetery if you are on a tour. There aren't any public access options.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/adventures-in-new-orleans-2-2

 

[ambere]

One of the most reasonably priced and enjoyable things we did on our trip to New Orleans last week was taking the redline Cable Car from the French Quarter to the City Park (just $1.25 each way) and walking around the beautiful park and sculpture gardens.

From there, you can walk (or Uber/Lyft) about a mile to Luizza's at the Track for an amazing po'boy - two of their specialties are the Barbecued shrimp po'boy or the garlic fried oyster po'boy - about $18-$20, but we split it between us with a side of gumbo, and was plenty for 2. They also have local Abita beer on tap for $4 or some of the best Bloody Marys for $7. https://neworleanscitypark.org/

 

[weems637]

Best advice, park it and leave it. Use the city buses and street cars. A three day all day pass is like $8, one day all day $3. Great ride thru the Garden District, and a life saver going to the French Quarter and Jackson Square.

 

[OutSkiing]

The National WWII museum is a surprising and interesting find in New Orleans.

 

[lynne]

The National WWII museum is a surprising and interesting find in New Orleans.

Agree, it is a must see if you are at all interested in history

 

[lynne]

A couple of other fun things to do while in town:

New Orleans Glassworks (near the WWII museum) lets you go into the studio and watch them at work)

New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio

Breathtaking, free daily demonstrations, open-working studios, cutting-edge facilities, and first-class workshops instructed by master-craftsmen.

neworleansglassworks.com

New Orleans School of Cooking (a fun day of learning and eating)

Cooking Classes | New Orleans School of Cooking

Discover the fun, food and folklore of Louisiana at the New Orleans School of Cooking. We teach the basics of Cajun/Creole cuisine in a way you'll never forget.

neworleansschoolofcooking.com

 

[troy12n]

I'm going to share my 2 cents about the streetcar is that if you are staying at La Belle Maison it's not super useful as a transportation option. It can come in handy if you want to make a run out to the garden district, or city park, or if heading out to the Cemetaries way out by Navarre. But for movement in town, it's not of much use, slow, cramped, packed and in my opinion not worth the time.

If you are staying at Avenue Plaza then that's a different story, as it can get you to "town" faster and cheaper than uber. But if staying at La Belle, I would say, avoid it unless you want to see the novelty