Carmen's place was great! We spent the the majority of our trip here in the Bywater, but we stayed at a hotel in the French Quarter our last night in town. Hands down, we preferred it in the Bywater. The neighborhood is quiet, but not too quiet. We had a great night out all within a few blocks (Bacchanal, Bar Redux, Vaughan's). The place itself is large and very comfortable. We were two couples staying here, and despite it being a shotgun style house we never got in each other's way. Oh, and there are cats everywhere! Carmen was awesome too. We met her at her bar down the street and she gave us some great tips, not to mention keeping the house stocked with every flavor imaginable of Zapp's chips (I'm embarrassed how many bags I ate). She stayed in touch the whole time, letting us know about neighborhood happenings and such. We felt safe 99% of the time. The 1% we didn't was when we walked home alone at night when we couldn't find a cab. It was probably OK, but it was hard to tell if the quiet was a good quiet or a bad quiet. Getting around by bike was great! Definitely recommended. If you like visiting places and just seeing all the touristy crap, stay in the Quarter. If you want a more unique experience and are curious about neighborhoods you may not have read about on travel websites, stay here!