I really wanted to love this place, but it was kind of a story of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s start with the good. The location is fantastic. It’s a few blocks from Canal Street across from the French Quarter. It’s close enough to be an easy walk (even in the heatwave NOLA was experiencing when we were here), but far enough away that you don’t get quite the noise you do in the French Quarter itself. The bedrooms were windowless, which was great for filtering out light and noise from outside the hotel. The beds were comfortable. The building was secure (with a coded entry), so that also made us feel comfortable.
Now for the bad. Mostly there were just some design features that made no sense. For example, the main bedroom had a great walk-in closet (about 8ft by 4ft). It had one hanger rod with attached shelf at the very back along the narrow wall. It was over 6 feet high so I couldn’t even use the shelf (I was too short to really reach it). That’s it. There was plenty of space for shelves or a small dresser or something, but nope. There was no dresser or shelving at all in either bedroom. Even the nightstands were just glass tables with no bottom shelves or drawers. If it doesn’t get hung up, you’re living out of your suitcase while you’re here. There’s also no sound insulation—at all. The first couple nights were fine, but then a group checked in to the room that shares a wall with us and we heard everything—every conversation, every song they played, you name it. That’s probably a function of being an old building, but it definitely negated the whole “rooms having no windows” benefit.
Now for the ugly. There’s a line between shabby chic and just plain shabby and this crossed that line. I like shabby chic—threadbare oriental rugs, exposed brick that’s clearly been repaired a bunch of times, antique-y furniture. And all that is in this apartment. But, half the lightbulbs in the ensuite bathroom were out (we cannibalized some from the second bathroom), the knob for the living room lamp was missing so the only way to turn it off was to unplug it, neither drain cover in the ensuite bathroom (sink and tub) stayed open (so you had to take them out completely if you wanted water to drain), the faucet in the ensuite bathroom was not anchored properly, and two thirds of the lights in the elevator were out. It’s like basic maintenance simply isn’t happening here. Whether that’s because the cleaning crew (who should notice these things) isn’t telling the maintenance crew or there just isn’t a maintenance crew, I don’t know, but The Alexandre joined AirBnB in 2019 and I don’t think they’ve so much as changed a lightbulb since.
Overall, it’s not a terrible place to stay and the price was right (you kind of get what you pay for), but I probably wouldn’t stay here again.