In New Orleans, the saying “go big or go home” comes with the territory. Visitors don’t hold back here, and neither should you when booking your bachelor party hotel suite (even though you may not spend a lot of time in it, considering NOLA’s famous attractions and unrivaled nightlife, you may not spend a lot of time in).
The worst mistake you can make on such an epic occasion is getting a standard room. Most bachelor party groups bring the party back home. The bigger the room, the better the bachelor party, and these awesome suites were seemingly made for such celebrations in mind.
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Ritz Carlton New Orleans
The Ritz Carlton Suite The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, Canal Street, New Orleans, LA, United States
The preferred hotel for visiting royalty, politicians, athletes and A-list celebrities is as posh as you’d expect. The service is back-bending, the location is perfect (right on the brim of the French Quarter on Canal Street), the facilities (from spa with indoor pool to fitness center) are top-notch and the air of exclusivity is surprisingly unstuffy.
To go full baller, book the 3,000-square-foot The Ritz Carlton Suite (about $5,000 a night). It feels like your rich uncle’s crashpad, only way nicer (with a billiards table, separate living room with fireplace and kick-ass terrace with views of the French Quarter). You also have access to the Maison Orleans lounge, one of the best club-level lounges for a Ritz Carlton, featuring all day dining, booze, snacks and dedicated concierge. It feels like a Lower Garden District home, with priceless paintings, centuries-old antiques, and dapper staff dressed to the nines. If having a balcony overlooking the French Quarter is a priority, the balcony suite (575 square feet) is still substantial, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg ($700 a night).
3,000 square feet | terrace | Maison Orleans lounge
Pontchartrain Hotel
Melpomene Suite The Pontchartrain Hotel, New Orleans, LA, United States
History resonates at Pontchartrain Hotel, a 1920s hotel that reopened in 2013. It was the place for high society locals, and playwright Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire here. The guestrooms feel like a century-old timewarp, but they’re also straight out of Architectural Digest with palettes of mint green and cornflower blue, custom-designed retro-rattan furnishings and design features like antique medicine cabinets in the bathrooms. The room to book is the two-bedroom Melpomene Suite, which has a living area, galley kitchen and stellar views of famed St. Charles Avenue. You don’t even have to leave the building to party. The downstairs bar (where the New Orleans Saints were officially signed) is a great dim-lit watering hole and the indoor/outdoor rooftop bar gets all the action in the Lower Garden District. At only $300 a night (that’s not a typo), the best suite in the house is a steal.
two-bedroom | views of St. Charles Ave | 300/night
W New Orleans
Studio Suite W New Orleans - French Quarter, Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA, United States
W Hotels is legendary for its raging party vibes, but bachelor parties can expect a more intimate (yet thriving) affair at W New Orleans. Inside a centuries-old building in the French Quarter, W New Orleans is more chilled out and smaller than the typical W (only 97 rooms here). Guests congregate around the outdoor pool in the central courtyard day and night. While the Fantastic Suite is the highest-category room, with a private balcony, the Studio Suites are more bachelor-party friendly.
The ground-floor suites have a private, backyard courtyard with huge Jacuzzi, which makes for perfect weekend headquarters. There are four Studio Suites, but only two of them have the backyard spaces, so you’ll have to specifically request them when you’re booking (the other two have balconies). A night in the Studio Suite will set you back $560, which is double the size and only a hundred bucks more than the next room category down (Fabulous Room).
private backyard | jacuzzi | balcony
Four Points French Quarter
Junior Suite Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter, Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA, United States
The low-budget, barebones Four Points hotel chain, generally a favorite for business travelers, is low on the totem pole for blown-out parties in general. But Four Points French Quarter is a rare exception. Aside from Royal Sonesta, it’s the only hotel on famed Bourbon Street, the pulse of all the action in the Quarter, and a magnet for party groups. It’s where you’ve likely seen mad drunk girls and dudes throwing beads, shouting out of megaphones and fist pumping from the famed balconies that look right onto the wildest street in America.
Meet anyone at any of the bars below, and they’ll usually end up partying with you on your balcony. The hotel is famous for its booze-fueled soirees, and the Junior Suite is at a comfortable 528 square feet with a King bed and a couch, so you can squeeze four dudes in here. The suite starts at $582 a night, which isn’t too bad for the prime location. While it’s slim on amenities, the outdoor pool is perfect for post partying.
Bourbon Street | 528 square feet | outdoor pool
Ace New Orleans
Ace Suite Ace Hotel New Orleans, Carondelet Street, New Orleans, LA, United States
While relatively new, the Ace Hotel New Orleans has officially become the ultimate party hotel for locals and visitors alike. The rooftop pool boasts a solid day-drinking-slash-after-hours scene, the lobby bar gets packed any given night of the week and the event space on the same level sees everything from live concerts to DJs.
While the rooms here have gotten a reputation for being dark and moody, there’s really no room like the Ace Suite. In fact, it’s like nothing else in New Orleans and feels like it was built especially for all-night fiestas. This two-level suite is equipped with king bed, massive living room with leather sofa and loveseats, turntables and acoustic Martin guitar, a small kitchen/wet-bar area with microwave and cocktail kits and an expansive outdoor terrace that’s bigger than most hotel room balconies in the city. Rates start at $875.
two-level | massive living room | outdoor terrace
Old No 77
Artists Loft Studio Suite The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans, LA, United States
Inside a former warehouse, Old No 77 is an industrial-designed hotel gem that has the same appeal as Ace New Orleans just a few blocks down. It’s located in the burgeoning Central Business District (just a short walk to the Quarter), and steps from the riverfront, the casino, Canal Street and several amazing bars, even though the signature restaurant and bar Compere Lapin (helmed by Top Chef contestant Nina Compton) is the coolest spot in the vicinity.
Old No 77 feels like a slice of Brooklyn in The Crescent City, and the loft studio suites are a bargain at $400 a night. The suites—brick walls, hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows—are individually designed by local artists, and the minibar is stocked with locally sourced purveyors. The suites are more for the type of guy who prefers style over bling.
slice of Brooklyn | local artist designed | style over bling
