Josh G.
Yelp
Repetition is a big part of Yelp. You like something enough you'll continue to go back (hence dukedoms). Well, I don't think two visits three years apart constitutes anything close to even a "regular" status, but I guess that says something about Omni Royal Orleans.
Ya see, my buddies and I traveled down to The Big Easy back in 2015 and stayed at this Omni with true loving (nothing weird) of the place. So when my family and I planned this recent trip, Omni Royal Orleans on St. Louis Street was numero uno on the hotel list. Rightfully so. Omni hotels have a level of class and attitude not seen at some other lesser hotel brand names. Now when those pieces work perfectly, we're talkin' an easy five stars. Unfortunately, we lost one in the process, but let's get to the other four first.
Like I said, the classiness of Omni is prevalent especially when walking through their doors (usually held open by a bellhop). The lobby has an upper class southern charm while not being overly snooty in appearance. Once in the room, you'll find a lovely set up. Nothing technologically advanced, but respectably clean and well kept. Though if you're going to hang at the hotel, head to the seventh floor and see what really rocks this establishment. Who wants to go for a swim? Me! The pool on the roof, complete with bar, food, and an observation deck of the French Quarter is a piece worthy of your stay alone (that and it's amazing proximity to just about everything in the area).
Okay, the star loss...we headed out our first morning and returned to our room around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. At that time we saw our room wasn't made up. There was a maid truck in the hallway so we kept leveled heads and went back out. At around 4, my padre returned to the hotel to see that things were still amiss. This warranted a call to the front desk and a quick visit as well. We were told things would be taken care of and not to worry.
Post dinner, we popped into the hotel for a sec (remember, proximity to everything rocks) around 8:30 and still nothing had been done. I went down to the front desk and was told it would be taken care of right away because the desk clerk had just talked to the head of the maid service. Welp, that didn't happen.
So at around 11:30 at night, with a dirty room still at hand, things were goin' down. The friendly man at the front desk severely apologized and hooked us up with a couple of $50 vouchers good anywhere in the hotel. I definitely appreciated this as it was a nice way to make up for the problem that occurred, but you won't get that final star, Omni. When you're blatantly lied to by an employee (multiple employees for that matter) then I can't condone five starlets. Nothing else went wrong the rest of the days and everyone else in the hotel was super friendly, but that one experience is worthy of mentioning and bringing things down to four.
Overall, Omni Royal Orleans is still a really wonderful hotel. It's got such a great location with plenty of beauty, and (mostly) helpful employees that I would most surely stay here again. My first experience three years ago rocked, and this trip, beyond that blemish, was superb. So if you're looking to make your way to New Orleans, check in (a bunch of times perhaps) with Omni Royal Orleans.