Suite Dreams: Two New Orleans Options

The Big Easy is hard to beat for an easy getaway full of fun, frolic and fabulous food.  If you're looking for a comfy place to rest your head in the French Quarter, here are two terrific options.

The Soniat House is a dream of a New Orleans lodging experience.  Comprised of three historic townhouses and located on one of the most charming blocks in the charm-defining French Quarter, the Soniat House will take your breath away.  The two floors of guest rooms surround a lovely courtyard  lush with vegetation.  The soundtrack is trickling water and chirping birds. 

Rooms are gloriously decorated, with four-poster beds and period antiques you'll actually covet.  Rooms with street-side balconies offer one of the most romantic French Quarter views imaginable.  For a New Orleans lodging experience that delivers a transporting vacation, this is your spot.

Also in the French Quarter is the newly remodeled Hotel Le Marais, located half a block from Bourbon Street, but a calm oasis nonetheless.  It calls itself an "upscale boutique" hotel, which means W-like design on a much smaller scale.  Rooms are modest in size, but quite nice, with black marble bathrooms and crisp cotton linens. 

Many have small balconies overlooking a central courtyard, which features cushioned couches and chairs surrounding a lovely soaking pool.  There's nothing especially gay about the place, but it's got an unassuming staff and low key attitude that make for a viable alternative to the larger design-focused hotels which are mostly on the outskirts of the French Quarter.