The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

Disappointed

I booked the this hotel for our wedding anniversary. While this is a very nice hotel, it didn't meet our expectations for a Ritz-Carlton or the room price. We were greeted graciously when we drove in and were escorted to the check-in desk. Then the disappointments began. We were given our room key and directed to the elevators. However we found that our room was on the same floor as the lobby, down a long back hallway. The bed was so soft and worn we couldn't sleep. The room key cards stopped working twice during our stay. The bathroom lighting was inadequate and the make-up light was burnt out. On the positive side the bell and valet parking services were top notch. The courtyard, and lounge are elegant; and the location is perfect.

Mouse in my room

I had a mouse in my room. The front desk staff didn't seem to care...it took them an hour to get somebody there. Even the help staff was very surprised with the lack of assistance we were getting.

Not up to Ritz standards

Just about everything was well below expectations for a Ritz-Carleton. Sparse decorations in the executive suite, no hotel information or guides in the rooms, daily service was spotty and did not replace water or coffee in the in-room service bar. Worst of all, the toilet in the powder room was backed up and when the maintenance guy showed up to fix it he said "Yes, we knew this one didnt work. There is something stuck in the sewer line that we have to fix." We had to vacate for the afternoon to let them do their messy work. There seemed to be constant confrontations between guests and the reception staff that were played out in full view of other guests. Sometimes these caused a 15-20 minute backup. On the plus side, the Concierge Desk was wonderful -- the restaurant recommendations were spot-on and well handled The bellman and front door staff were also great and remembered us immediately. Hotel management needs to take a cue from these folks.

Hotel was great, valet service was a disaster

The valet service misplaced my car keys and spent over an hour trying to find them at 5am on a Sunday morning. At one point they brought me another guest car and argued with me that it was mine. I was in town for a major athletic event and had to be at the race sight by 6am on a Sunday or risk disqualification from the event. I was forced to get a ride to the event from another hotel guest that I had never met before while my friend stayed behind waiting on my car. I was not the only guest that had this same issue, eventually guest waiting on their cars pushed the hotel staff out of the way and started searching for their keys and cars on their own. The hotel only allows valet service for your car and charges $36 a day, they need to provide quality service for that price.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Not Ritz Carlton Caliber

Not that there was anything wrong with the hotel but I had to wave at the bartenders behind the bar doing nothing to get me a drink. Turn down service the last night consisted of a couple of mints thrown on the nightstand. Did not remove pillows, turndown bed or close curtains. TV's were small old TV"s maybe 25" at best. Bathroom had good products but shower was so-so. I could go on with these little things but it was just not what you expect in the Ritz Carlton name

Ok room, very small, NO service

The hotel must retrain and refocus its service levels across the board (front desk, lounge, room service & gift shop). Housekeeping basically non-existant. This was a BIG let down for a Ritz Carlton

not worth the money

I paid extra for a room with a view almost double for the view of the rooftop air condition.

Needs higher level of service

Our room had a broken toilet seat, which we reported immediately after checking in. No action was taken to correct it. The front desk staff was abrupt and unhelpful. Not at all what I expect from a Ritz

Horrible service

I stayed at the Ritz Carlton on Saturday, August 4, 2007. I live in New Orleans and regularly stay in area hotels for little weekend getaways in French Quarter. I have stayed in majority of the city's best hotels, but chose the Ritz Carlton because I knew it was the best hotel in the city. I found this to not be the truth. I waited over two hours past check in for my room. I stood and waited to be seated in the restaurant for 15 minutes and finally we sat ourselves. After thirty minutes in the restaurant I went to the manager and asked when someone would come to our table. We ordered drinks and appetizers, which were cold upon arrival. The hotel was beautiful as was the room. The other guest left in the morning to run an errand. He said that when he gave his valet slip to the two men in the garage went and spoke to another female worker for ten minutes before they went to get the car. We checked out with no one as much as asking us how we enjoyed our stay and then waited thirty minutes for our car. The Ritz Carlton New Orleans is lacking in staff and the staff it has are not concerned with customer service.

Needs Improvement

The men who took care of our car and the door and brought our luggage to our room was great, but inside on 3rd floor lobby, there needs improvement with the front desk. The small hotel refrigerator that holds drinks was missing and it took five calls and three hours to get one. The lamp shades were broke on two lamps and the makeup mirror in the bathroom did not work, although we called the front desk several times to complain and was told they would get right to us, they never did. We checked in at around 5 p.m. and it wasn't until 8:30 p.m. that a fifth person showed up with the fridge. My dad is 85 and he brought me (62 yr old daughter) and his great granddaughter to see what luxury was like for one night. We would have stayed another night but my dad was so unhappy with the service. The next morning we called room service and asked for a big pot of coffee and three cups. They brought a pot of coffee and one cup. We tried for 30 more minutes to get them to answer and they never did. By now it is 10:30 am and we need to get ready to check out. We call for luggage help and no one comes for 45 min. and we end up taking our own luggage down to the car. It was awful and inconvenient for my dad who cannot walk well, to watch him and drag five bags down the long two halls to the elevator on the ninth floor and get to the lobby on 3rd floor and have to drag the luggage down to other set of elevators to get down to the floor below where the car is setting, and doing this all the while other hotel people are watching us and saying nothing. Then the night before we pushed paid for the game to work on the TV for the great granddaughter and the front desk said they were having difficulty, however, the following morning the front desk said they were not aware of any difficulty. I have never stayed in a 5-star hotel before, but our experience was not pleasant. We will not stay at this particular hotel again. The only good thing was the bed - it was comfortable.