THE BAD:
Wifi is spotty. I requested the router be reset but I’m not if it ever was. I could not stream a show without buffering. No matter how many times I reset my own devices.
A MARCHING BAND PRACTICES FOR HOURS A DAY IN THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE!!
There is no front yard to this place. It’s the street, a small courtyard for the school and then an entire marching band blasting 105 decibels into the house. For three hours straight.
When asked the host if this occurs every day he said “oh yeah, the acoustics are unfortunate, sometimes they are out here every day sometimes they aren’t” They played 4 days total during my 8 night stay. It was awful.
That seems like something that should be listed on the rental site. Because there’s is no way to escape the noise unless you leave the street. The noise came through every closed door and window, over the TV, the sound machine and noise cancelling headphones. That’s how loud it is. I literally bought a decibel reader to see what I was dealing with.
Not staying during the week? See below:
Some immediately noticeable cons:
Upon entering we found the fridge was turned off and not able to accommodate the groceries we ordered due to being warm.
The fridge works it just wasn’t turned on to be functional upon check in. It took many hours to cool down even with the small size.
There was a used and folded bandaid in the toothbrush cup on the sink. I left it there because, ew.
The ceiling had so much dust on it you could see the thick chunky line on each blade.
The stand up fan/noise machine, also dusty.
There was extra body towels and wash cloths but NO extra hand towel, NO extra sheets or blankets. NO towel for the dishes. For an 8 night stay.
The mini heater which was very needed was broken. And also was covered in a very thick layer of dust.
The only sponge available to wash plates with was disgustingly old. We got paper products.
The toaster oven still had food in it from the previous guest. The tray had baked on cheese and crumbs in it. Once again, we didn’t use that. There was no tin foil to cover the tray and I wasn’t spending time scrubbing someone else’s dinner off the tray.
When I stayed we had a three day cold spell. The night time temp dropped to 45° and was a high of 55° during the day.
I informed the host the mini heater was broken two days before the cold spell. I also informed them there there was no extra sheets or blankets. (For an 8 night stay) They agreed to give me an additional blanket and said they would turn on the heat. As we can not control the temp for this rental.
When we told them we were still cold and asked them to bump the heat they responded with “it’s already set on 70° what would you like it on?”
This phrasing irritated me. If I say I’m cold in the rental, just turn up the heat. No matter what. Just turn up the heat. They should not make the guest feel like they have to specify a certain temp in order for it to be adjusted.
They raised it to 72°. It was better but still quite drafty in places of the house. The heat comes out of the ceiling. The mini heater being functional and on the floor would have solved all of our problems.
Last of the complaints, it’s noisy. You hear the hosts (who live next door) flush their toilets, cough, practice their guitar when the marching band isn’t going. It’s all very noticeable BUT the inside noise from the general people traffic is tolerable and not constant.
Listening to the host play guitar was not pleasant but thankfully only bothered me one day I was working at the table.
THE GOOD:
Aside from the listed issues the house was generally pretty clean. Like staying at a family members house. You can tell people lived there but it’s not awful to the point you’re scared to sleep in the bed.
The bed was comfortable.
The house was an easy mile walk into town. and is definitely quieter at night than staying on bourbon street. I would take the Greenway into town. It’s a much nicer walk than Canal St.
Also take the Greenway to get yourself some breakfast. Flour Moon Bagels and Hey! Coffee are a half mile up the Greenway and delicious. If it’s a weekend between 10-11:30 be prepared to wait in line though. Especially if it’s a home game day for the Saints.
The area itself is under developed and underfunded so empty lots have weeds and homes look like they need repair. But I want to stress I always felt safe. The people are kind. The Greenway is beautiful.
The rental was perfectly fine for a quick trip, a bit stressful for a long one due mostly to the marching band across the street.
Even with the issues I had I would stay here again (whenever the marching bad is out of season.)