Grand Motel
During the week of the Super Bowl, it isn't just the private rental market that's jawdroppingly expensive. It's New Orleans' motel rooms — if you can find one.
On Dec. 27, 2012, we searched several popular travel websites, looking for three nights' lodging for one person over Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 1 through Feb. 4).
None of the travel sites we searched had any rooms available in the French Quarter, CBD or Warehouse District. Most had nothing available within the New Orleans city limits, and many didn't have Jefferson Parish either. On top of that, some rooms that had been listed just days before (including a $350 room at a less-than-luxe Tulane Avenue motel) were already gone.
The prices below represent the best deals at each travel website we searched.
HOTELS.COM
Extended Stay America (Kenner): $555/night
Suburban Extended Stay (LaPlace): $300/night
ORBITZ
Super 8 New Orleans (Chef Menteur Highway, eastern New Orleans): $287/night
TRAVELOCITY
Travelodge Westbank (Harvey): $200/night
Sleep Inn (Slidell): $299/night
EXPEDIA
Candlewood Suites (Avondale): $359/night
BOOKIT
Best Western Isabelle Court (Galliano): $149/night
PRICELINE
Flo and Joe Guest House (Uptown): $400/night
KAYAK
Quality Inn & Suites (I-10 Service Road, eastern New Orleans): $410/night
HOTWIRE *
2-star "Avondale area hotel": $342/night
2-star "New Orleans Airport area hotel": $523/night
* indicates a "blind bid" site, where the name of the hotel is hidden until purchase
