Loft 523 New Orleans

Only right for a very few

The hotel is a superb example of minimalist interior design and a thoughtful renovation of an historic downtown building. The sparse setting and simplicity follows through to the hotel ammenities as well, although the staff was friendly and helpful as needed, this is not the hotel to stay if you are accustomed to a high level of service and attentiveness. The hotel does have services available from a neighboring hotel that it is affliated with, but these are also on the sparse side. Rooms are ultra modern, but not uncomfortable, although the platform beds are very firm, and the pillows and sheets are maybe two star caliber. The serenity of the lobby and overall hotel changes with aplomb at around 10pm each night when the micro lounge opens downstairs adjacent to the lobby. An uber-Miamiesque crowd of twenty to thirty somethings converge into this tiny space to listen to DJs spinning the latest and loudest dance and tecno tracks. The atmosphere changes rapidly from peaceful and serene when you first check in, to throbbing and frenetic until 4-5am. The hotel suffers from a severe "Jeckyll and Hyde" complex. A few other small issues included leaks from the ac units on the 4th floor producing a musty smell, noisy hallways, extended waits for valet, and overall room quality and condition that puts this hotel, aside from its gorgeous design, clearly in a two and a half star category.

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Under no circustance stay on the second or third floor, unless you do not plan on sleeping at all. Ear plugs are given out at check in, but do little good once you are awakened at 2am from a sound sleep.

Unfortunate proximity to downstairs bar

We thought the hotel was nice overall but unfortunately, we discovered on the first night, around 9:00 PM, that the music to the adjoining bar cranks up so loud as to vibrate the entire hotel. The music continues to pound until 3:00 AM in the morning! When we mentioned this at the desk the next day, we were told that there was nothing they could do about it but did offer us complementary earplugs. Even though we enjoyed the hotel, we also enjoy sleeping so we’ll go somewhere else on our next visit to NOLA.

Don’t stay here if you want to sleep!

This hotel has very trendy, contemporary interior design and decor. The rooms are beautiful and comfortable. Unfortunately, this very small hotel contains a very loud bar with dance music pounding through the hotel rooms until well past 2:00am. Even the bed vibrated to the beat. Earplugs were required to even have a chance of sleep, and I am not that light a sleeper. For a place that prides itself on design, putting bedrooms right on top of a nighclub is truly bad design!