voco St. James Hotel, an IHG Hotel

Edit: added 1 star. Apparently we were upgraded to a quiet part of the hotel. It was quiet. No loud trucks or other noises. My husband and I stayed here on our last night in New Orleans. The hotel itself is beautiful, although much of the old world charm is slowly being replaced by the uncharming new. The lady at the front desk told us she upgraded us, but it didn't seem that way to me. We were in the back of the hotel with no view. I've been looking at pictures other guests have posted and we did not get any of those rooms. Some even had balconies. Not ours.. Maybe one wasn't available, I'm not sure, but putting us in the back of the hotel across the little courtyard was like being made to go in the back of the restaurant so no one sees you. The view from our room was blocked by a wall and below was a very small courtyard that is not accessible and looked like it was closed off for years now. This was NOT the courtyard with the little pool in it that you see in the photos. All in all, the room was not at all what I consider an upgrade. And you can't open any windows, they're all nailed shut. Such a shame that no one can enjoy the beautiful front balcony either, which was one of the reasons we chose this place and is, to me, part of the charm of New Orleans. We won't stay here again. I'm sorry, but maybe they should let their guests - whom they say they are "upgrading" - pick out the room from whatever is available instead of shoving us in the back and saying it's an upgrade. What was the upgrade exactly? The front door man was very nice. We liked him a lot and gave him a tip plus some beer we had left and couldn't take with us on our flight. He was very helpful and courteous. I'll leave a different review for the restaurant next to the hotel. I forgot to add the barkeeps were great! They were friendly and easy to talk to and the drinks were really good. I also saw another customer who mentioned they didn't give us two bottle of water. There were two of us on the reservation. I don't understand this when they reuse and refill the bottles anyway!

Very nice older building that’s been remodeled at some point in the past. The room was quite large and spacious. Hot water took a while to heat up. Very close (about 2 blocks) to the French Quarter, nice easy walk there from the hotel. Everyone we interacted with there was very nice.

Receptionist not the most welcoming and the £42 per person fee for amenities is a bit of a rip off the hotel pool is tiny and situated in the middle of the hotel block. The rooms are a little bit dated there is a safe but it wouldnt work. However none of our stuff was taken and the cleaning team as well as being trustworthy were also very good the room was cleaned daily and spotless the bed was super comfy and very big. We stayed Saturday 10th and checked out Tuesday 13th during mardi gras season everyone was in a great mood very friendly and it was a great experience the only issue is the roads get barricaded off for the parades so we ended up having to pay a uber $126 to get from the airport to the closest point we could for the hotel and still had to walk 10 minutes through the crowds with our cases to get to the hotel due to the hotel being on magazine st which is the route for the parades.

Positive: The hotel is absolutely beautiful and located in a great location downtown close to canal Street and many other attractions. There is a great steak house next door for fine dining. I would totally stay here again. Negative: I could hear the conversation of the guests in the rooms next to me. Housekeeping knocked on my door at 9 am when checkout is at 11, the staff is not friendly and there is no bellhop to help with your bags Negative: ""

Pretty average stay, but welll located for all we wanted to do. A little disappointed we had to wait until exactly 4pm to get our room. I'm sure rooms were ready prior. It is what it is. Our first room, the AC, wouldn't shut off it ran continuously. Because everyone's room was ready at the same time there was only one person to check you in, very small lobby, so it was loud because people chatting and the guy behind the desk had to lecture people like they were children that he couldn't hear. I didn't think it was necessary and certainly not good customer service. What were people supposed to do sit in silence? Also there were 2 people in our room why give one complimentary bottle of water and one candy? Also seems a little absurd. We had 2 different rooms booked for different days because we were on a times share visit the first basic room had the AC problem also hot water was not good. The second room, much nicer with a large balcony, was perfect.

Staff is amazing. Super friendly and accommodating. Place is adorable, doesn't feel like a regular old hotel. Had a small hiccup with the room, through no fault of their own, and they instantly made everything more then right. Location is great. Short walk to any of the good spots, but the street itself is very quiet.

Staff was absolutely amazing! The night manager was really helpful. Pulled out the wheelchair as I was injured on an electric bike I rented. And he insisted I get in it as he wheeled me around from the smoke are to the bar !! Great manager great crew

There's nothing to this place. Service is nothing to speak of (including the lazy reply to this review). It looks charming in pictures, but it's not. Definitely don't even think about it for anything outside of a balcony room. As an IHG member, I arrived and realized I should've booked up the street at the Kimpton, but they refused to cancel my reservation at check-in. They apparently need the business. There's no amenities to speak of either. The rooms are spartan (pretty much nothing provided, and what is provided is bolted onto the walls) and are lazily maintained. Here's some additional fun facts: for the left (South) side of the building, there's a garbage truck that services the surrounding buildings in view and hearing of all room windows around 3 am. Additionally, housekeeping at this hotel appears to come between 8:30 am to 10:30 am. They run around slamming trash cans and knocking on doors during that time apparently to remind people they have to check out (what is this, a dorm?). You can hear it all. Charming indeed. Wouldn't stay again, and did not want to when I first saw it in person. This property is resting on days past, with top reviews mentioning things they don't provide anymore (to be clear, no free breakfast or croissants).