Friday, January 11, 2008

New Orleans Area - Holiday Inn, West Bank, Gretna, LA

This hotel is easy to find and convenient to the West bank area of New Orleans. It is located right off of the Westbank expressway and you can see the Holiday Inn sign as you approach the exit. It is an old style Holiday Inn with rooms that open to the outside. I arrived not expecting a hotel with outdoor corridors and as a female traveling alone I do not like this style of hotel. The website photos do not show the location of the rooms. The lobby is nothing to speak of with just the front desk and a large display of travel brochures. The outside of the hotel appears old. There were three women behind the front desk but none of them seemed interested enough to ask me why I was standing there for several minutes. Finally one of them asked if I needed something - as if a woman standing there alone must only be wanting something and not there to check in. While she was trying to check me in the phone rang several times and she had to answer it while the other women talked on their cell phones or talked to other employees so the check in process was longer than necessary. I found my room easily enough and also a fairly close parking space in spite of the hotel being very full due to the football game. There is a centrally located elevator. The parking lot is not well lit and I saw no evidence of any kind of security on the property. The room was the same configuration I saw in Holiday Inns many many years ago. I had to take a room with two doubles due to the hotel being so full. I was afraid the beds would be small and hard but I was surprised to find nice soft comfortable beds with three nice fluffy pillows each and the bedding looked new and clean. The ice machine was right outside the door to my room so I was awakened up a few times during the night with people getting ice. The bathroom was small and looked old. There were mold or mildew stains on the grout under the soap dish and hair and lint behind the door. The outside corridors and stairs look dirty and like the concrete has never been cleaned.

I do have some positive comments about this hotel. I ate the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant every morning and it was wonderful. For $8.95 you get scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, potatoes, yogurt, cereal, fresh fruit and many other selections along with a pot of coffee or tea. The hostess and the waitress were both very nice and after the first day the waitress recognized me and knew my preference was for hot tea instead of coffee. There is a free hotel shuttle to the ferry to New Orleans. This could be a convenient and cheaper option for someone wanting to go to New Orleans but not wanting to stay in the city.

I am not sure I would stay in this hotel again. The restaurant was wonderful but the cleanliness of the bathroom concerned me and I prefer a hotel with indoor rooms, however if it was a last resort for me like it was this time I would stay here again without too much hesitation.


HOLIDAY INN
100 WEST BANK EXPRESSWAY
GRETNA, LA 70053

Hotel Front Desk: 1-504-366-2361

No comments: