Rose G.
Yelp
Sunday morning, 7:45 am. Sitting on the balcony in Room 13. Cool September breeze whipping the leaves around on the sidewalks. The sound of the cars zooming by and the trolley car's clankity-clank sounds in the distant background. It's the reason why we always get a little teary-eyed every time when it's departure day. NOLA is a town of dreamer seekers, failed dreams, bachelor(ette) parties, bad mistakes and lots, and I mean lots of booze.
Our 2nd stay in NOLA and this time I chose the Fairchild Bed & Breakfast. Why you ask? Because 2010 was a great stay and I wanted to duplicate this experience with my friends, whom have never been to New Orleans.
The check-in was a little long. But hey, the guy checked-in the newbie to NOLA in front of me, and did a great job. We were not in a rush, so it was alright. (Have to remember 'I'm on vacation. I'm on vacation. I'm on vacation') Guy comes back, my check-in was a breeze. Showed me the two rooms, took my $$ and we were done.
Room 9: Larger standard room. Down small hallway in back of house. Has a door that takes you to the courtyard. Nice accommodations for $89/night. TV didn't work. Was an old tube TV. I would have preferred that was working and upgraded to a small flat screen. But our friends weren't staying there to watch TV, so not a star killer for the review. FB&B did get an -1/2 star for the door that takes you to the foyer of the house. It was also broken so the door would not shut without having to lock it every time they came to our room.
Room 13: The balcony suite. Great view of street. Loved the day bed in the sitting area. Chair sitting against armoire was a bit weird. Oh wait (moves chair), it's keeping the armoire doors closed..... mmmm, ok. Goes to open window to get outside, from sitting area, gets a splinter trying to do this and hits shoulders on low window pane. What a pane in my arse... corny pun intended. Wish they would have some brass/metal handle on the bottom to keep the splinter from happening. Bed was nice. A little soft for my liking, but I'm a guest in an old home... So no big deal. Bathroom lacked the umph I was hoping for with the suite room. Small, small shower where, me being 5'6 could barely move around in it. I heard my husband bumping around in it while he tried to shower. So it made for good comedy when I was putting on my make-up. Shower head was broken. Water was coming out of the top of the head, around the seam of the head and just about everywhere else except the holes where water is suppose to come from. Oh well. I can take a shower. That's all that mattered. I could tell there was a picture that was on the fire place. Wish it was there... I wanted something to look at when I woke up. Oh well, again. Outside there was not a table. We would out our drinks on the floor and because of the angle of the porch, our drinks would fall over if a breeze moved it good enough. Room was always cleaned after our day out. They did a wonderful job on cleaning.
Breakfast: Last time I stayed there was a phenomenal egg dish that was made. I was really looking forward to something similar. Went down to see what was available at 9:00 am, and there was just cereal, bread(s), some fruit and drinks. M'eh.
The lack of accommodations and breakfast was the other -1/2 star. Why you ask with the full star deduction after quite a few smaller complaints; because it's NOLA. You don't come for the room, you come for the history and experience. What makes NOLA unique from other old port towns is that there's so much dark and mysterious history you tend to get lost in the enchantment of the grimy streets and artists trying to make a decent living on the street corners. Normally this would be about a solid 3 star rating, but because we're here for making wonderful memories with our friends, the room was not something that weakened the experience. it actually made it more memorable.
Thank you, Beatriz and your team for making this a great experience for all of us! She's a wonderful innkeeper and so warm and welcoming.