International House

Great Location, Some Hiccups

The IH lobby/bar area was beautiful (definitely a good happy hour spot for guests and partygoers), but the room didn't quite live up to the initial impression. The room was on the small side, not a big con since we spent very little time in the room itself. However, the furniture was very worn and both the small bedside table and the tiny lamp table were flimsy and uneven, which couldn't be ignored since there was no other storage space in the room. Our bathroom floor space was considerable, but, to our consternation, the sink area itself was extremely tiny (and consumed by the hotel provided tray & toiletries, which weren't replenished our entire stay) and there were no shelves in the shower or the rest of the bathroom. The light in the bathroom --and the room--was terribly dim. The strange terrycloth 'towel' bath curtain was stained, as was the bedspread, and the room itself was dusty. While the bed was comfortable, the pillows were ridiculously soft and we were forced to use our travel pillows for comfort. The room was supposed to include a flat screen TV but did not. There was still no available room service in the hotel (the restaurant was open but kept restricted hours), and the recommended delivery menus left in the room were outdated, though again, this only became an issue once since we were out and about most of the time. Absolutely no problems with noise--the room was extraordinarily quiet--and our limited interaction with the staff was pleasant. The selection of CDs by local artists in the room was a nice touch, but the CD player didn't work properly, and the CDs were available for purchase for $20 when local stores and online vendors offered them for $9.99. With the emphasis on local culture, it was a shame the hotel offered no local papers or event goings-on, only the national daily for the 13th grade (you know the one). The location of the IH is its biggest draw, as we walked comfortably to Bourbon, the WWII museum and various other must-sees. I must

What a disappointment...

After reading the other comments, I was very excited about staying at this hotel. The lobby was great, but the room was such a disappointment. It was small with tiny windows, a TV set at least 15 years old with a broken remote, and a bathroom with nowhere to put your toiletries. The hair dryer broke the first day, and the toilet broke the last. The staff was very helpful, but nothing could make us forget the terrible room.

Small room for the money

The room was the size of a shoebox. For the rate I paid, I could have had two rooms down the street and thrown a party.

Great service, terrible hotel rooms

My wife and I arrived at the hotel at night. The lobby, bar, elevators, and hallways looked nice. We got up to our room, opened the door and looked at each other in shock and started laughing. We couldn't believe how small and uninviting the room was! Barely any room to fit our bags. No counter space in the bathroom. The first night the air conditioning couldn't keep the room comfortable, even with the ceiling fan on. The windows were so thin we could hear EVERYTHING on the street. The bed was very uncomfyand the TV was ancient. We ended up getting no sleep the first night. In the morning I spoke to the front desk about leaving. The wanted us to stay so they changed our room to hopefully a better room. The next room was a bit better larger but smelled like mold. Still another uncomfortable bed, poor air conditioning, and ancient TV witha remote control that didn't work. We went right across the street and booked a room for the next 2 nights over at another hotel. This hotel has great customer service from the staff, but the hotel itself is not worth it at all!!! I don't know how it is getting such high reviews from other people. Don't be fooled by the pictures and good reviews.

Parking is a complete rip off

paking was 38 dollars a day. Total rip off

Dated and tired

While the hotel is well situated, it has seen better days. The rooms are very drab and decorated in beige tones from 1992. For a supposedly hip, boutique hotel, they are missing modern amenities like flat screen tv's and ipod hookup sounds systems. It WAS nice to have free wi-fi, but that didn't make up for the overall appearance of the room. Also, people should know that as a boutique hotel, room service is over by 10pm. In a city like New Orleans when people get home much later than that, you are out of luck if you want to order anything "after hours".

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terrible

Room was smaller than a motel six, approximately 10x10, parking was $30.00 per night.

Disappointed

I was disappointed with this hotel and I am usually very easy to please! I stayed for four nights and had to request a room change after the second night because of a strange smell in my room. There were not many amenities (tea/internet/stationery) that I usually see in similarly-priced hotels. Finally, as I was leaving, the wait staff was incredibly rude and really cast a bad pall over my total experience.

Worst Service Ever

I know it was labor day but it took 40 minutes to pull my car around when we decided to check out. There was no coffee available anywhere in the hotel on a Tuesday morning?? Had to walk across the street in the rain to pick up a cup from the Omni. The restaurant was closed for memorial day so there was no room service available. No one greeted us upon our arival. Unloaded and walked my bags in by myself and actually gave my keys to the employee who was checking me in. There was hair that was not mine all over the bathroom. There are no ice machines anywhere in the hotel.

tiny room, REALLY hard beds, not worth it

Pros: cost - $100/night location - walking distance to attractions quiet street - no night noise restaurant/bar - good food, great drinks staff - for the most part seemed friendly - didn't go out of their way, but were fine. Cons: Room was TINY. barely enough room to walk around the bed Bed was really really hard. so uncomfortable that my back hurt after 2 nights, and didn't really get better for a week - 10 days later Visit the bar or the restaurant, but skip the hotel. I'm sure there are better places that pay more attention to comfort. the I-house presents itself as a boutique, and while the lobby area is really nice, the rooms are very lacking. Yes aveda shampoo/conditioner, but nothing else. Our room, while it did have a window, looked onto a wall. When I come back to NOLA, I'll be staying somewhere else.

Needs service improvement

The hotel location, rate, and room are great but don't expect too much from the staff. I needed to retrieve items from my auto and the inquiry about this subject made the front desk clerk mad due to an interrupted personal phone call. Due to my poor timing, I had to track down a valet in another bldg on my own to access the car. In the process of climbing into the car on the storage rack, I ruined a $150.00 pair of boots. I mentioned this situation to the next desk clerk (very nice lady) and asked for the mgr to call my room to discuss the situation. She never called and ignored me during checkout process at the front desk the next day. The valet did not assist with my luggage and stood on the steps with his arms folded and told me to have a nice day. I don’t know if this was related to the previous situation because he was an older gentlemen but who knows.

Parking costs ridiculously high

Besides the ridiculous cost for parking, the hotel seems a bit tired. Its one of those "Ian Shrager" copies that now seems very dated. Although very clean, the room was small, the wall paper was peeling and curtains looked stained.

Very noisy hotel! A/C difficult to adjust.

The $40+ valet Parking fee is a rip-off! Window have only a single glass and the noise coming from the street is unberable (taxis'horn constantly), loud voices at night. Noises all night long!