Bourgoyne Guest House

The Bourgoyne’s have a wonderful spot on Bourbon street that is a gem to stay at. I’m hesitant to write about it as I’m not sure I want to complete with all of you when I want to stay there!
I’ve stayed there more than once and each time, it was magical, relaxing and down right fun.
I’ve only stayed in the Green Suite each time as I love being on the 3^rd floor with a private balcony over Bourbon street. There is nothing better that puts you into the Big Easy state of mind that waking up to the sound of hooves clopping along the street down below.
I can not help but leave the window open at night to take in the sounds of New Orleans at night.
I just can not imagine staying in one of the expensive hotels that are scrubbed clean and sterile of what makes New Orleans unique. Yes, it is old and that is what makes it magical. The Courthouse is a hidden heaven. If you are hungry, no matter the hour, within 3 minutes, you can be at the counter of the Clover Grill.
If you have a few more minutes, Café Du Monde is just a short walk.
You are near every sight and site of the French Quarter.
Please do not request this suite during Mardi Gras, I want it then!

Our stay at the Bourgoyne was nothing short of amazing. We came for Jazz fest in May 2014 and wiill definitely be returning again this year. The location and price are unbeatable and the hospitality of Jay, the inn keeper, was outstanding. Beautiful courtyard, clean rooms, and tons of charm. It’s situated just beyond the loud/​wild area of Bourbon, so it’s pleasant to return home to. The rooms are modest with a queen bed, tiny kitchenette and bathroom but if you’re visiting Nola you’re missing out if your planning on spending most of your time in the room anyways. Make sure to sit and chat with Jay he is super knowledgeable about the area and will certainly leave a lasting impression.

We had a good experience staying at the Bourgoyne Guest House during our Unilocal Spring Break trip. The owners are both named Jay and are very friendly.
We were looking for something cheap, with no bedbugs. A surprising number of cheap NOLA inns and hotels had bad marks on one of the bedbug registries, but not this place — in fact, one of the Trip Advisor reviews specifically mentioned that they carefully searched for bedbugs but didn’t find any.
The studios are an amazing value for being in the middle of Bourbon Street and the French Quarter — $ 95 plus only a $ 0.50 tax per night!
We found our bedroom to be charming, and we loved the gorgeous courtyard with tons of tropical birdsong every morning. Our studio had a small kitchen with a stove and fridge, but no microwave.
Given that this building is from the 1800’s, it’s not totally spotless, but I thought it was fine and I’m normally kind of OCD about this stuff. If anything, the slight griminess was more of a rustic patina. Very New Orleansy :).
On the last day of our trip, we were hoping we could keep our luggage with them for pickup very late in the night, and they were very nice about letting us store our stuff right outside their front door (inside the locked gate).
There were a few downsides: As you can see from one of the photos, the bathroom was cramped to the point that it was a little tricky to maneuver yourself onto the toilet. Also, the shower pressure was so weirdly strong that I wondered if it was going to give me a bruise. They didn’t have shampoo, conditioner, or a hair dryer, but there was plenty of soap.
One other thing that ended up being kind of frustrating was that they required that we send a check in for the deposit — the first one we sent was somehow delayed an entire month, and after two weeks we had to issue a stop payment order which cost $ 35. Of course, even with that factored in, it was still the cheapest of the options we were considering. They do accept credit card for paying off the rest of the balance.
Some notes on the location:
— A block away from the amazing super-​ancient Lafittes Bar, probably the only Bourbon St bar that locals actually like!
— The street noise was not too bad, but there’s definitely some random yelling at times. Bring ear plugs if you’re a light sleeper.
— A bit of a sketchy area at night. Either there’s extremely drunken, impolite Bourbon St tourists, or there’s almost no one and it’s dark and potentially dangerous. Definitely take a taxi back home when it’s past dark.

We stayed at the Bourgoyne Guest House in May 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our primary goals when picking a place to stay were 1) A location near or in the French Quarter, 2) Reasonably cheap rates, and 3) A place with unconventional charm — no cookie-​cutter hotel that from the inside looks like you could be staying in Anywhere, USA.
We lucked out on all three counts with the Bourgoyne Guest House. Check-​in involved going across the street to the Clover Grill at Bourbon and Dumaine to get the keys from the guy behind the counter. We stayed in the studio apartment in the back off of the lush, green courtyard and heard no street noise whatsoever even though the action was happening just down the block on Bourbon. Our room had a stocked mini kitchen, and there was no phone or tv (which was fine by us). The room was clean and quaint, and was a nice setting to come «home» to after a full day of running around town.
The first morning there we met the owner, who lives on the premises. J is a neat guy with lots of good recommendations for local eats, is a great storyteller, and just plain pleasant all around. We saw him frequently throughout our stay, and it was always nice to run into him and stop for a chat.
If I had to say anything less than stellar about the Bourgoyne Guest House, it’s that our apartment’s bathroom was a bit on the snug side. This is my only reason for four stars, and who knows, maybe the other rooms were more spacious in that regard.
Overall, we loved the Bourgoyne. Great location, decent rates, and first class New Orleans charm.

I almost don’t want to write this review because the owner is so nice… but, I feel that I need to give a non-​biased opinion of the bad as well as the good on Unilocal!
Let me start by saying that the suite we stayed in was HUGE — 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and private balcony… right on Bourbon Street… $ 150 per night… sounds too good to be true? Yup, it is. It is horrendously noisy! Kind of run down and not the cleanest. It was fine, the owner is very nice, but I wouldn’t stay there again and certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
But, if you are going to be drinking until 4:00 am and just want a cheap place to crash that is centrally located, then this might be just the place for you.