For our son’s birthday, our family decided to get together for a weekend trip to celebrate - coming from all across the USA - Colorado, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois. There aren’t a lot of times we have this opportunity to all see each other. So we started by booking a fully refundable 3-night stay in 2 deluxe queen rooms (each with 2 queen beds) at the Royal Sonesta New Orleans (February 9-12, 2024) far in advance (on September 19) via Booking.com as an option. Soon after booking, we requested connecting rooms, and then received a message stating our rooms were Non-refundable, and if there were no connecting rooms, we’d get rooms next to each other. So, we were stuck with a $4K cost, and we had no choice but to get our airline tickets, and make this New Orleans trip happen. Even though at the time we made our reservation, there were numerous options available to us - including reputable hotel brands in desirable locations with lower prices as well as Airbnbs - we chose the Royal Sonesta because our stay in 2019 was a great time. Plus, it’s a familiar convenient location; the lobby, bars & restaurants on-site are nice; and there’s a pool, private courtyard, security, balconies, etc. We chose booking.com because it was easy, we’ve been happy with the experience before, the cost was lowest and it said it was fully refundable. (Later, we did see lower costs, too unfortunately.) Close to our arrival date, Royal Sonesta texted us. We reminded them of our request for connecting rooms or rooms next to each other; informed them of our evening checkin time; and requested late checkout…no reply. We tried to call…no answer. Upon arrival, we had to carry our luggage a 1/2 mile through crowds to get to the hotel, and after passing several blocked entrances, got into the lobby (it’s Mardis Gras weekend, so OK with us - we were just excited to be there). However, at the reservation desk, we were told our rooms would be on separate floors far away from each other because all rooms were filled?! So, what was the point of our advance reservations and requests?! Eventually, we were able to get downgraded rooms on the same floor all the way down the hall from each other - a king room and a double-double bed room (with only 2 small pillows on each bed, only 3 bath towels, and no conditioner in the bathroom that had a cracked, dirty floor). It was more disappointing that both rooms actually had the option of connecting or rooms next door - and other guests checked-in to those rooms the next day. (So much for our family get together actually being together at Royal Sonesta…) On the first night, we decided to make the double-double our main meeting spot and thought we could watch some Super Bowl in that room on Sunday. But, that night as we were unpacking, we found a giant live roach in the closet! We caught it, smashed it, and put it in a cup with a book on top - just in case it was still alive. Needless to say, we decided against spending lots of time in the rooms - trying to sleep that night and every night knowing there could be roaches, giant roaches, crawling and flying all around us. We dialed the front desk from our room phone many times, but it was always a busy signal. Plus, they’d already told us there were no other rooms available. On the first day, after going out, we returned to no housekeeping. We went to the front desk, stood in line, and asked for some towels, conditioner and housekeeping because we were going back out for dinner. We got back at around midnight - still no housekeeping - but, at 1a.m. someone stopped by and knocked to drop-off a few towels. On the morning of the second day before showers, we tracked down a housekeeping cart and poured some conditioner in a cup. We requested late checkout, but were told no and to checkout at 11 a.m. even though on the bathroom door, it says checkout is at Noon. Additionally, we were charged an extra $35 per day for security - of which we were not informed until we asked about having our charge card deposit for incidentals returned! There’s more, but let’s stop there, and just say… Our stay at Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans was NOT a stay worth thousands of dollars at a 4-star hotel for our family’s weekend birthday celebration. This was an horrible, unacceptable experience for us. It was an overpriced roach hotel and a bait-and-switch booking.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.