Leisure Club International at New Orleans

I stayed in this resort Christmas week of 2007. Although in a good location, the unit was extremely dirty. Found hair on the floor, carpet was dirty, walls looked to have mold on them and other streaks of something?? The unit was supposed to sleep 4, two private, but there was no door to the bedroom. Sleeper sofa was broken. I would not stay here again...ever.

Overall, our trip to New Orleans was superb. THere is alot to do and staying in the French Quarter is convenient, adds to the charm of being in New Orleans and gives you access to most of the best music spots, bars, great restaurants, the French Quarter and Harrahs.

In particular, we found the resort to be different than any other timeshare we have ever stayed in. The courtyard is beautiful, the site manager is wonderful and overly accomodating. There are only 5 units. We were told that the building is over 200 years old so I am sure it is a challenge to maintain and renovate buildings that old. The furnishings complement the "old world" style of the buildings even though the carpeting and bathrooms need to be updated . Also, we stayed in unit #5 which we understood was the least renovated of all the units. Also,it is directly under an attic so I suspect it may even have an occasional pest problem. Units 1, 2 and 3 are all much larger, better furnished and newer. My suggestion...if you can get to stay in units 1,2 or 3, go for it! But stay away from units 4 and 5 which are in another detached building across the courtyard.

Leisure Club International, or Bonaparte's Quarters, is right in the French Quarter, between Bourbon St. and Royal St. It's about 3 or 4 blocks east of the bars and clubs on Bourbon St. in an area that is mostly small hotels or guest houses and residences, so it was reasonably quiet when we were there in October.

As you would guess, this is a very old French Quarter building. It is a small facility with less than a dozen units. The front entryway is right on the sidewalk, with a keypad you punch in a code to enter. Inside, there is a short walkway that leads to a small, pretty courtyard with a fountain, chairs, and a table that is nice for morning coffee or late afternoon wine. Our 1 bedroom, 1 bath unit (#1) was plenty large, with a full kitchen, microwave, coffee maker, tub with shower, and TVs in the living room and bedroom. The living room was pretty much as pictured on their web site with a beautiful old brick wall on one side with fireplace. The furniture was mostly very nice, with beautiful wood tables, hutches, etc. The exceptions were the upholstered chairs which were early Salvation Army rejects, and the carpet which was badly worn industrial type, coming up at the seams. Pity; they made it 90% of the way to being really elegant but ended up feeling a bit shabby. But still, we were very comfortable in the unit and certainly had plenty of room.

"Service", however, consisted of a notice to strip your beds and take your towels, linens and trash to the office when you leave, and that towels could be exchanged at the office on Tuesdays from 10 - 12. Very, very tacky; shame on them.

The manager is only there occasionally, and if you are going to arrive at other than 9 - noon, or maybe Friday afternoon, you have to make arrangements in advance to have your keys left there for you and get the keypad code. Make sure you get the manager's cell phone number in case of any problems.

Realistically, you stay here to be in the French Quarter (certainly not for the service). It is 300 yards (4 minutes walk) from the French Market, Margaritaville Cafe, and French Market Cafe (outdoors tables and always live jazz, even for breakfast, for just tips). 5 - 10 minutes walk to the Bourbon St. bars, clubs restaurants, etc. 50 yards from Royal St. with lots of shops, antique stores, etc. Less than 1/4 mile to the Riverfront streetcar station. Just over 1/4 mile to Jackson Square. Restaurants everywhere. Just up on Bourbon St., about 200 yards away, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop has a great piano bar.

I was a bit surprised/disappointed to find that Dixieland Jazz is kind of hard to find. Even the Bourbon St. jazz clubs had jazz that wasn't particularly Dixieland. Heresy - apostacy! However... the Palm Court Jazz Cafe on Decatur just east of Margaritaville, has real dixieland jazz on Wednesday through Sunday nights. It's just a 5 minute walk. The Creole food was great, and they also have a bar if you don't want to go for dinner. I also saw that at least one of the river dinner cruises had a dixieland band. And then, of course, there is always Preservation Hall.

At least once during your stay, you have to go have a drink in the revolving bar at the top of the World Trade Center building (the New Orleans one is still standing tall). It's a spectacular view. Their happy hour goes until 7 or 8 PM, and drinks were surprisingly reasonable (decent wine for less than $5). In about an hour, you get a full 360 degree view of the city, river, etc. You can catch the riverfront streetcar at Ursulines station and get off at Canal St. right by the building, or it's only about a mile to just walk.

All in all, our opinion is that when we go again, we would prefer to stay at one of the timeshares near Canal St. and the river - Quarter House, Club La Pension, Maison Orleans/Hotel de L'eau Vive, or maybe Plaza Suite. But if we couldn't get one of those, we would go back to Bonaparte's Quarters happily.

Our family stayed at this Leisure Club in June 2004. Our unit was on the 3rd floor up 39 stairs, but was the largest time share we stayed in during our tour. It had 2 bedrooms, full kitchen etc with full Air Con. It is in the French Quarter close to everything you may like to do in New Orleans. Would like to stay again at this timeshare. Cliff McDonald and Family. Taranaki. New Zealand.