Jean Lafitte House

Excellent location & excellent service. Stayed over memorial weekend & will definitely book this place again. Just a couple blocks from bourbon st. The manager was awesome & there to answer any questions & make sure we had everything we needed. Super safe feeling street walking back at 1am with a group of girls.

Jean Lafitte House is one of the best values you can get in the French Quarter area (It’s technically in Marigny on the border of the quarter). It’s location on Esplanade is perfect, as its quiet but about a block from the jazz clubs on Frenchmen in Marigny and very close to the French Market and Bourbon street.
The hotel itself embodies the charm of New Orleans, full of historic character, a nice courtyard with pool and spacious guest rooms. The rooms either offer balconies overlooking Esplanade or have exterior entrances with courtyard views. The room has everything you need, as well as a full refrigerator, a stove top and dishes. Bathrooms and kitchen are newly renovated and the guestroom furnishings are antiques. And the most important part… the beds are comfortable.
Service was personable and relaxed, exactly what you want on a NoLa vacation. I will gladly be back to stay here on my next trip.

Great place to stay in New Orleans! Location is very convenient as it is walking distance from a ton of restaurants, shops, the French market, Frenchman street and all the fun you could have. Manager was super helpful and accommodating. The house has lots of character and history, wish we could have stayed longer! We would love to return for a longer stay.

Old world charm and grace right in the seat of the French Quarter! The staff was so friendly and helpful and the Office Manager, Jason, was so personable and gave us a lot of good tips as to the local flavor! it was just perfect for our needs! We stayed in the one bedroom suite and it was lovely, lots of exposed brick and old style furniture as well as all of the creature comforts of home! Whatever wasnt readily available in the suite, we had to just ask and receive! The absolute BEST part? Within walking distance of everything! The French Market, Bourbon Street, Decatur, the Mississippi River, SO many little restuarants and stores and things to see! Cant say enough good about this place!

If you love the eclectic, bohemian vibe of this city, you must stay at The Jean Lafitte House on Esplanade. It is a completely authentic experience of the history and culture of this city. The staff is friendly and very accommodating and they have now expanded the office hours.
The units are spacious and well equipped including full kitchens, marble baths, exposed brick walls, balconies WiFi, and parking.
The Jean Lafitte House is not a resort/​spa type of place, it offers something much more, it offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in what makes New Orleans special, and after all isn’t that why we come???
Luvdaqtr

Wonderful stay, cannot recommend this place more! Responsive staff and very clean room. Two blocks from the best area in New Orleans.

Really bad place to go, un organized, not clean, first of all when we arrived we had no way getting in because nobody told us the code to get in the street door. The office is only staffed during the day. The place was not clean and had no clothes hangers when we got there the keys were posed to be in some box in court yard, but our envelope was out of the box laying there was one key missing. On the good side great location air conditioner worked great, but It had a bathroom and bedroom up a narrow spiral staircase with the closet downstairs. We were in the older units in the back so it was very quiet for us even in the morning. Late at night when we walked from Bourbon Street up to our place, it seemed a little eerie, but we were told by others, it’s not a bad area. Your real close to the local hang out area of Frenchman and farmers market. If you’re used to staying in a clean hotel or motel with service available it’s not your place. But if you’re into something that’s old and historical it’s a cool place. But when you open and close your door to get in to your room they are old and not very secure easily can be pushed in.

Let’s just say if you want more of an historic feel this is the place for you. If you want to be at the Ritz Carlton then that’s what you should do. We stayed on the top floor in the 2 bd/​2bath and loved it. We went while the Essence Festival was going on and enjoyed all the great music and food on Decatur Street. The French Market was also great. Very cozy. The office is across the courtyard for checking in, but staff is friendly and gives you all the information for access you need.
I really enjoyed less of the hustle and bustle of the tourist stops and more of the great local spots. I think this area is great for adults, I’m not sure if I would bring my small childern whenever I stay.
Overall great spot to hop a cot, and location is great. If you need to get cabs I would suggest walking down Decatur. Café Dumount was also close!

We stayed in Unit 1 during the last week in August. It was very clean and beautifully decorated. We arrived at 9 in the morning due to an early flight in from NY. My husband, myself and two children, ages 9 and 1 ½ took a drive around 10 am to the Jean Lafitte House to see what time we could get into our room. George called housekeeping and said our room was ready and we could get right in. This was such a wonderful gesture and greatly appreciated as we would have had to drive around and find things to do with the kids for 6 more hours until check in time at 4. They allowed us to use the washing machine and dryer at no extra charge. Such genuinely nice people working there! Situated in a nice neighborhood and an easy walk to French Market and everything in French Quarter. Even the streetcar stop is a few quick minutes away. The office does have limited hours, but there is a phone number to call at anytime. We rented a car, which is not necessary unless you are traveling further out of the French Quarter such as to the plantations and the swamp tours. There was a daily parking fee to park in their private lot around the corner, but well worth it. Parking is very tight and hard to find around the Quarter! Felt very safe, they had a combination locked door to get into the complex. Courtyard was very cozy. Small pool to take a dip and cool ourselves. Bedroom was very large, had a comfortable bed and a queen pull out bed for the kids. Antique furniture and beautiful brick exposed walls with very high ceiings. Oh, we miss it already! Thank you Jean Lafitte house for a wonderful stay! We will be back one day!

We arrived prior to the official 4:00 PM check-​in listed on our confirmation. There was no sign outside indicating that we were in the Jean Lafitte House, but thankfully we had our confirmation with the address listed on it. We opened the large wooden door and walked into the resort down a long hallway. There were no signs indicating where to go. Finally we saw a tiny sign that read «office» on one of the doors on the other side of the courtyard. We approached the closed door, started to knock, and then the adjacent door opened and the housekeepers were greeting us. They were very friendly and helpful, but said nobody was in the office and someone «may or may not» be in later, but checked our name off their list and gave us two keys. That was our check-​in process. Basically, there’s no front desk staff/​check-​in desk and even if there was, there’s nobody to man it. Because of this, there are also no activities, nobody to give you directions and advice, and most importantly for us, nobody to get us a taxi back to the airport. You’re basically on your own. Later that evening, envelopes (with keys!!) were left in the hallway for everyone to pick up their own. Ours was out there, too, with more keys. Anyone could have picked ours up, opened up our door, and taken our belongings while we were out.
The staircases to the rooms can be a challenge. Ours was up one flight, through a low doorway that we had to duck through, and up another flight. We were okay, but others might have difficulty climbing these stairs that are kind of oddly laid out. The rooms were fairly nice, and we loved the rustic brick walls and super-​high ceilings. They made the rooms seem much larger. We could have used more furniture in the living room area. There was only one sofa to sit on for four people (although the two-​bedroom suite we had can supposedly sleep up to 6). There was a nice big flatscreen TV in the living room, as well as one in each bedroom, and tiny flatscreens in each of the bathrooms.
The kitchen was a makeshift kitchen, so it was pretty useless to us. There was a small refrigerator and a mini fridge. A very tiny sink attached to a two-​burner «stove.» (I use the term loosely.) And the counters consisted of a couple of old console tables. Underneath one was something I can only call a busboy’s plastic box that contained the pots and pans.
Both bathrooms seemed fairly modern with marble floors and updated sinks and showers/​tubs, but the towel racks in the bathrooms were loose and/​or broken. And, while the TVs in the bathrooms were interesting to find, they didn’t work. I think putting the money toward a kitchen would have been a better use for the money.
The bedroom closets each had a big metal rack thrown in them, which seemed out of place. Why not just put up a bar? It was so bulky, took up a lot of unnecessary space, and was awkward to hang anything or put my suitcase in it. I also had to decide which one item of clothing I would hang on the one clothes hanger I was given.
There are no resort amenities to comment on, and I’m not sure why there’s a tiny swimming pool in the middle of the courtyard. It’s not really maintained and the space might be put to better use.
Lastly, we felt a bit uncomfortable with the lack of security in our resort. First, the keys to the rooms were left out for anyone to take. Second, we had doors that opened out to a shared balcony which didn’t latch very well. One small push and someone could have easily have gotten into our rooms. We slept with chairs against the doors, as if that would have helped prevent an intruder from getting in. To top it all off, on our first night, the power went out around 11:30 p.m. Now we had unsecured doors, nobody on the premises… and no light. It was a bit nerve-​racking. We called the emergency number for the resort and advised them about the power outage. We were told that it was like that all over the city. Well, except for every house across the street from us, next door to us, and on the buildings and skyscrapers we could see peering over the well-​lit houses across the street. They said they’d look into it. At around 4:00 a.m., the power finally came back on.
We were awakened every morning by the goings-​on of the city. Our rooms were right along the street that was quiet in the evening, but crazy busy in the morning. Cars would drive by, horns would honk incessantly, city trucks would drive by, garbage trucks stopped every morning to pick up trash, etc. It was like being in NYC.
Was the resort clean? Yes, definitely. Was it in a good location? Yes, it was on the edge of the French Quarter. You could easily walk to everything within the Quarter. Would I stay there again? Probably not, for all of the reasons listed above. I like a minimum amount of little bit of service and attention when I travel. But at least we didn’t have anyone begging us to go on a timeshare tour!

I like the fact that the Jean Lafitte house is off the beaten path a bit, but still very close to all the action. We stayed there through a timeshare deal, but I believe it is not just for timeshare folks.
There are only 12 rooms, so the atmosphere is cozy and you’ll quickly meet the other folks who are staying. The interior courtyard is partially shaded by a huge old tree, so it is a great place to sit and read or talk during the heat of the day. Or you can take a dip in the pool (small, but goes to 5′ deep). They do have wireless although we were unsuccessful in getting my brother’s ancient iBook to connect (some WEP madness, I suspect). The rooms are small, but what are you doing staying in your room anyway, right? It has a fully equipped kitchen, too.
They are still in the process of renovating after the storm, so there were some oddities like patched holes and mismatched furnishings. Nothing dumpy, but it just wasn’t «put together» yet. The big oddity was that the only bathroom was up the spiral staircase. That’s great if you’re already upstairs, but it isn’t fun to maneuver when you’re in a hurry or drunk (or both). I think the bathroom issue is only for the rooms on the top floor (different layouts for different floors).
The staff was very friendly and were happy to make recommendations or reservations. All in all, a nice spot.