I was at a trade show which was in the convention area of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. I stayed in the hotel property for three nights for the purpose of convenience while I on business. What I did not realize was that this hotel property offers an unusual food and beverage benefit.
Unusual Breakfast Benefit at Hilton New Orleans Riverside
The Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel property is difficult to miss, as it is located at the eastern end of Poydras Street near the Mississippi River.
The lobby area where the front desk is located is one flight upstairs from the ground floor level.
As I was checking in at the front desk, the cheerful and friendly agent was giving me information. “You get a food and beverage credit of $18.00 per day”, she told me. “You also get free breakfast each morning.” I asked her to please repeat that; and she confirmed what I thought I had heard: I get a food and beverage credit of $15.00 per day plus free breakfast. I was stunned. This is 2023. I wish more hotel properties offered this!
In addition to my plastic keys, she handed me vouchers for each morning for breakfast — and tax and gratuity are included with breakfast!
A bank of five elevators go between floors one and three; skip floors four through 15; and stop at floors 16 through 29. My room was on the 26th floor. Unlike the other four elevators, the center elevator has a view of outside.
Nice views of downtown New Orleans can be seen from the center elevator for most of the ride.
Windows near the floor of the elevator are available for children as well.
I was fortunate to see a sunset during one of the times I rode on the elevator with glass walls.
I have never seen a sign with the words “Help is on the way” in an elevator before.
A fleur-de-lis is on the floor of the elevator. How New Orleans can you get?
The hallways were a classic design with wainscoting.
The patterns on the walls — along with the design of the plates for the room numbers — were a significant part of that classic design.
The Room
The bed was quite comfortable. I slept well in it. Each side of the bed had a night stand. Both night stands had lamps on them; and the bases were equipped with electrical outlets and Universal Serial Bus — or USB — ports. The night stand on the right side of the bed had an alarm clock, which had another electrical outlet and another USB port.
The room itself was cozy and of an ample size; but it was also somewhat dated in terms of style and not extraordinary overall, which did not bother me. However, the lamp on the left side of the bed was not illuminated because…
…strangely, it was missing both bulbs. A member of the maintenance staff of the hotel property eventually replaced both bulbs.
A telephone was on the night stand on the left side of the bed under the lamp with the missing bulbs.
On the opposite side of the room from the bed was a small cabinet, a trash receptacle, a dresser with three drawers and a flat-screen television on top of it, and a desk with an adjustable chair on wheels.
A desk with two small empty drawers, a lamp, electrical outlets, USB ports, a chair on wheels, and artwork which hung on the wall above it was in a corner of the room on the left side of the windows; while a chair, ottoman, floor lamp, and small circular table was in the other corner of the room on the right side of the windows. The chair with the ottoman was actually more comfortable than it appears.
A telephone; a pen; small pieces of blank paper; and a way to electronically view the hotel directory, information about the hotel property, and a dining menu for room service was on the top of the left side of the desk.
Two glasses with napkins and a metal ice bucket with a plastic bag was on a tray on the left side of the top of the small cabinet. Below the cap on each of the two water bottles behind the ice bucket was a large tag with the following message:
Hilton HONORS Diamond, Gold & Silver members-just a little Thanks from us!
Enjoy two free bottles of water on every stay.
All Other Guests: $ 4.00
If you are a guest who had not earned Diamond, Gold, or Silver elite status with the Hilton Honors membership program and you are thirsty, watch out, as you will be charged $4.00 for each bottle of water.
On a tray on the right side of the top of the small cabinet was a coffee station, which included a Keurig coffee machine, two thick paper cups with two plastic lids and stirrers, PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans Carnival Blend of regular coffee, New Orleans Roast decaffeinated coffee, two bags of tea, two small cups of half-and-half, and assorted sweeteners.
Inside of the left side of the small cabinet behind a narrow door were three empty spaces; while a small refrigerator was located behind a wider door in the right side of the cabinet. A luggage rack, iron, ironing board, two robes, a safe, and eleven hangers were inside of the closet, whose two doors opened outwards. A large vertical mirror hung on the wall between the door of the entrance to the room and the small cabinet.
The Bathroom
The bathroom was of a typical size for a bathroom in a hotel room. It had a vanity with a countertop, a large mirror above the sink, a box of tissues, and a smaller mirror with magnification for applying makeup.
The handle to the toilet was loose and eventually broke, which rendered the toilet useless because it would no longer flush. The same member of the maintenance staff of the hotel property who replaced the bulbs in the lamp next to the bed fixed the handle on the toilet so that it would work properly again. On a wire soap tray in the shower was a loose bulk dispenser of cleanse + awaken shower gel from Crabtree & Evelyn. The Anystream shower head from Speakman was retrospective and had a few adjustable settings with a good flow of water. I could not tell if the bath tub itself was not clean or just old with stains.
I have no idea why the aforementioned bulk dispenser of shower gel was not mounted on the wall of the shower area with its brethren of cleanse + clarify shampoo and moisturise + renew conditioner. Three large towels were available on a rack above the mounted bulk dispensers.
On the vanity were three washcloths, a shower cap, and a bar of cleansing hand soap from Crabtree & Evelyn. An electric blow dryer was in one of the drawers of the vanity.
Breakfast
Le Croissant is where breakfast is served each morning on the ground floor at Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
The space of Le Croissant is rather expansive. Even with at least two conventions simultaneously occurring, the dining area was never filled to capacity at breakfast time.
The full buffet costs $32.oo plus $3.27 in tax for a total of $35.27; but I had my aforementioned vouchers — so for me, breakfast was included in the room rate. The buffet itself was rather expansive, with several types of hot proteins, an omelet station where eggs may be custom ordered, potatoes, waffles that had already been prepared, assorted baked goods, three types of juices, an array of condiments…
…and an assortment of cut fresh fruits and yogurts, oatmeal, and even smoked salmon with capers.
“Voodoo Donuts” were offered every morning. Blueberry was featured one morning; while strawberry was featured on a different morning. In the hole of the doughnut was some sort of creme filling topped with fresh fruit.
Despite not liking sausage, I just had to try the Alligator Sausage. It was better than I expected and full of flavor; but it was still…sausage. I did not finish it.
The View
I awoke to a sunrise behind what is known as the Crescent City Connection, which is a pair of cantilever bridges that carries United States Highway 90 Business over the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
The bridges of the Crescent City Connection are tied for the fifth-longest cantilever bridges in the world.
Unfortunately, the windows were rather dirty.
Although the room was quiet most of the time, one can clearly hear the blasts of the horns of the trains which travel on the railroad tracks below. One set of tracks is for the Riverfront Line of streetcars.
The remainder of the view was the building of the hotel property itself.
Final Boarding Call
I recommend staying at Hilton New Orleans Riverside — especially if you have earned Diamond elite status in the Hilton Honors membership program. The hotel property is conveniently located in the central business district of New Orleans near the west bank of the Mississippi River. Plenty of transportation options — including streetcars — are available within walking distance. A plethora of restaurants — such as Mother’s Restaurant — are also within walking distance.
As with a growing number of hotel properties within the United States that are full service under the portfolio of brands with Hilton, the Hilton New Orleans Riverside has no executive lounge — although I did find the room where the executive lounge once existed.
Interestingly, the official Internet web site of the hotel property has the following verbiage, as pointed out by a reader on Facebook…
Daily Mandatory Destination Charge includes: Premium guest internet access; daily $10 food and beverage credit; 1-hour tennis or pickleball indoor court rental, including equipment; daily $10 laundry/dry cleaning credit.
…but I was never charged that daily mandatory destination charge — nor was I ever informed of it. I do not know if having elite status had anything to do with it.
Hilton New Orleans Riverside
Two Poydras Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
United States of America
1-504-561-0500
Self parking is available in the garage of the hotel property for $44.00 per day with in and out privileges. Valet parking is available for $49.00.
All photographs ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
