During a recent visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, I stayed at The Eliza Jane Hotel. This is a review of the hotel which is full of history and character. As a bonus, it can also be booked with an affordable number of points from a major US hotel chain.
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Location
Many of the activities that tourists visit New Orleans for are located close to the French Quarter, the Central Business District, or the Warehouse District. Staying in one of these areas will allow visitors to walk to the vast majority of attractions. This saves a lot in Ubers, Lyfts, or taxis. The French Quarter, Central Business District, and Warehouse District also have a ton of restaurants and nightlife. While New Orleans has a lot more to offer than these three areas, you won’t lack a multitude of options in any of these areas.
The Eliza Jane is positioned in a prime location of the Warehouse District. It is located approximately halfway between Canal Street and Poydras Street. The hotel is only a couple blocks from Harrah’s Casino and the waterfront. The front of The Eliza Jane is located on Magazine Street. Magazine is a major street in some parts of New Orleans. Thankfully, in the Warehouse District, Magazine Street is a smaller one-way street. The road noise in this area shouldn’t be bad.
Guest Rooms
Since The Eliza Jane is a boutique hotel, room types vary widely. While there are subcategories to each of these, the major basic room categories are one king bed, one queen bed, and two queen beds. These come in different categories with more or less desirable views as well as deluxe rooms with more square footage. The standard queen bedroom is the smallest room at about 255 square feet. The standard king room and the two queen room come in at 290 square feet and 330 square feet, respectively. The deluxe rooms add quite a bit of additional space with the king room measuring 430 square feet.
In addition to the standard rooms, The Eliza Jane also offers a number of suites. Similar to the room types, there is quite a variety of suites. Some of the smaller suites are about the same size are the deluxe king room and just feature a corner of the hotel with a sitting area. Other suites actually feature separate living rooms and approach 700 square feet. These can be used for a special occasion or for a family who needs the extra room.
During a recent visit to this hotel in fall 2022, my wife and I stayed in a standard king room. The following are pictures and a review of this room type. Despite just having 290 square feet, the two of us didn’t feel cramped in the room. It felt adequate for the weekend that we stayed there. However, if you are wanting some room to work or had a young child, one of the larger rooms would have been preferred.
Bedroom
Our bedroom was nicely appointed but didn’t have a ton of free space. The main portion of the bedroom was anchored by the bed with nightstands flanking it on either side. Each side of the bed had either a lamp or a wall sconce to provide a reading light. There were also outlets available behind each nightstand which were convenient for charging phones and other personal devices.
Adjacent to the bed was a storage cabinet with a refreshment station on top. The inside of the storage cabinet housed the mini fridge on one side, and the other side housed available shelving for guests. The Eliza Jane provided a Keurig, a selection of K-Cup coffee and tea, mugs, water, and an ice bucket in the beverage center. All of this was provided to guests at no cost.
Opposite the bed stood another piece of furniture pulling double duty as both an entertainment center and a chest of drawers. The drawers and cabinets provided ample space for a couple of people to unpack their bags for up to a week’s stay. The bottom drawer also held the in-room safe in a very out-of-sight location. Finally, a nice-sized television sat atop the chest. To the right of the television, a small attached table provided a work surface in the room. While this “desk” will do in a pitch, it’s not a great spot for working. I would much rather perform any business I needed to in some of the common areas on the first floor.
All in all, the room was well-appointed and decorated. The feel of the room was clean and modern, but at the same time, there was a boutique feel. I found this a nice combination that forms a middle ground between a large international hotel brand and a local spot.
Bathroom
The bathroom was located just off the entrance hallway once inside the room. Prior to entering the bathroom, guests would find the “open-air closet.” There wasn’t actually a closet in the room so the hotel placed freestanding closet rods and some closet shelving outside the restroom. This furniture was nice and went with the décor of the room. However, it didn’t do anything to hid our clothes or provide a space to store luggage.
The actual bathroom was very nicely appointed. A large marble-look counter spanned the length of one side of the bathroom. This provided a large amount of countertop space in the bathroom which is always nice for storing toiletries and getting ready. The bathroom also had a shower/tub combination that is typical of many bathrooms. While a shower/tub combination doesn’t scream luxury, The Eliza Jane definitely upgraded the feel of this bathroom with a textured subway tile and unique gold fixtures. The green bathroom door with inlaid frosted glass and dark hexagonal tile completed the well-designed bathroom space.
Restaurant
Located immediately adjacent to The Eliza Jane is the restaurant Couvant. This restaurant can be accessed through the hotel lobby or through an entrance off of Magazine Street.
As the name would suggest, this restaurant mixes French cooking-styles with typical New Orleans and Southern specialties. In line with the ambiance and experience throughout most of The Eliza Jane hotel, Couvant is an upscale dining experience. It’s not to the level nor price of a full white tablecloth dinner, but entrees will still cost $30 – $50 per person.
Couvant is very popular for dinner. Like most restaurants in New Orleans, a reservation is highly recommended ahead of time. Needing a reservation weeks in advance is fairly unusual in the world of hotel restaurants. However, this is both a testament to the quality of the restaurant and the requirements of dining in New Orleans.
If the Couvant dinner experience isn’t what you are looking for or it’s more than you want to pay, you are still able to enjoy Couvant for breakfast or brunch. Visitors can make a reservation at Couvant for these, but it’s generally not required as the restaurant doesn’t fill up unless there is a special event. Breakfast and brunch can be eaten in the restaurant dining room or the courtyard if it’s a nice day.
While I did not have the opportunity to enjoy Couvant when I stayed at The Eliza Jane, it looks like a nice restaurant. If you enjoy a nice breakfast while on vacation, the breakfast menu has limited options but still looks good. If there are reservations available for dinner, I would definitely give it a look if it fits your dining needs. This restaurant is nice but also doesn’t break the bank like some restaurants in New Orleans would.
Bar
Another very nice aspect of The Eliza Jane that I wasn’t expecting was a really stylish hotel bar and comfortable lounge. I am not typically known for going to a hotel bar unless I am on a business trip by myself. I almost never go to a hotel bar with my spouse or a group. However, The Eliza Jane’s bar was very elegant and had none of the typical hotel bar feel. For this reason, we actually spent time at the bar both nights of our trip to New Orleans.
The L-shaped bar anchors the lounge area at The Eliza Jane. There is a lot of seating available at the bar, but there is also many other pockets of seating located throughout the lounge area. This includes several groupings of sofas and chairs that are able to seat groups (including large groups of 8 – 10). In addition, the courtyard is available for guest seating. This can be a great way to enjoy the drinks and to relax as a group when the weather is nice.
The bar is well stocked, and the bartenders were very knowledgeable about their craft. When the bar isn’t busy, the bartenders were always happy to discuss your tastes and craft something for you. They were also happy to provide some education and history on the cocktails that are famous to the area and the cultures of the people who settled in New Orleans.
This bar definitely caters to cocktail drinkers, but you could order wine or a beer. If you do order beer, it will come from a can or a bottle as there is no beer on tap. The bar is definitely worth a visit if that is your thing. The ability to use this area as a gathering point for our group was great during our trip, and it elevated The Eliza Jane when selecting a place to stay in New Orleans.
Cost
Given the nice guest rooms, common areas, lobby, and overall hotel amenities, you might expect The Eliza Jane to be fairly expensive. Well, it’s not cheap, but it is still much cheaper than many comparable hotels in the city. I picked a random weekend in February 2023 as a comparison point. The Eliza Jane was showing a minimum of $330 per night. Any room type bigger than a queen caused an increase in price. While there are many other hotels in New Orleans at a similar price point, you can find cheaper. Hotels like the Hampton Inn, Old Number 77, and the Crowne Plaza could all be booked in the mid-$200s. While The Eliza Jane is much nicer than all of these, I am personally not a traveler who would pay that much more for a hotel room.
Where The Eliza Jane gets interesting to me is the points price. This boutique hotel is a partner of Hyatt. Therefore, World of Hyatt points can be used to stay at the hotel. The Eliza Jane is a category 4 hotel. This means that rooms are normally 15,000 points per night. However, this rate can fluctuate up and down a little based on the peak vs off-peak schedule. I think this is a great rate for staying at a hotel like The Eliza Jane. This return on points is over 2.2 cents/points ($330/15000 points). This is well above a reasonable redemption value around 1.5 – 1.8 cents per point that is typical of Hyatt making this a good deal. Finally, as a category 4 hotel, this is a great option for using a Hyatt free night certificate for maximum value.
Bottom Line
At the end of the day, it’s hard to beat The Eliza Jane. I stayed on points so the value proposition for the hotel experience I got was very high on the scale. If you’re looking to stay away from Bourbon Street and the French Quarter enough to avoid the crowds and sounds but be close enough to enjoy that scene for a little while, The Eliza Jane is a great option to check out. I would highly recommend it and would personally look to stay there again when in New Orleans.
