Hotel at a Glance: Best Western Plus Landmark Hotel & Suites Metairie

The Best Western Plus Landmark Hotel & Suites Metairie may be just 8 miles from New Orleans, but the hotel makes it easy to relax and escape the city hustle and bustle. The hotel boasts a heated outdoor swimming pool, wh4ere guests can catch some sun rays. Or, they can pull up a stool for a cocktail at the Grotto Bar, set within the hotel’s elegant lobby.

• Welcome gift: two drinks on the house (per stay)
• The heart of Metairie: The hotel is located just a half mile away from plenty of shopping and dining, including the Lakeside Shopping Center.
• Explore New Orleans with ease—the French Quarter is just a 20-minute drive from the hotel.
• The Grotto Café: Pop into the on-site restaurant for a hot meal at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• Never miss a workout thanks to the on-site fitness center with cardio and weight machines.

New Orleans’s French Quarter: Let the Good Times Roll

“Stop thinking of New Orleans as the worst-organized city in the United States,” writes author Dan Baum in Nine Lives, his post-Katrina book. “Start thinking of it as the best-organized city in the Caribbean.” Some folks think there is something distinctly foreign about New Orleans, a place where people’s priorities seem inclined toward enjoying life and relishing the moment at hand. Nothing says it better than the town’s unofficial Cajun creed: “Laissez les bons temp rouler,” or “Let the good times roll.”

Historical buildings with intricate wrought-iron balconies line the narrow streets of New Orleans’s French Quarter. Here, street musicians often fill the air with jazz music, their trombones and tubas swinging back and forth. Just off the Jackson Square park and near the towering St. Louis Cathedral, the legendary Café Du Monde serves beignets under heaping piles of powdered sugar. The nearby Frenchmen Street, just north of the Quarter, provides a slightly less touristy taste of New Orleans nightlife. Some of the city’s most popular live jazz and blues bars dominate this historic two-block district, with each venue hosting world-class musicians nearly every night of the week. And then there’s Bourbon Street, where neon lights advertise frozen cocktails and crowds gather along 13 city blocks.