The Mercantile Hotel, New Orleans! (July 2019)

Boutique living in The Big Easy

How to Get There

In order to get to NOLA we had to do a big road trip from St Augustine, Florida where we’d been staying the previous few nights. So logically we had to break the trip up a bit on the day so that we didn’t get car cabin fever. Our first stop was about an hour and 50 minutes from St Augustine, the city of DeFuniak Springs in Walton County. We spotted that Hotel DeFuniak was just opening for morning service when we arrived, so we grabbed some coffees there before after a little dander around the town, checking out the old railway depot and Lake DeFuniak. After this we hit the road again at about 10.40AM.

The next stop was about two hours later, just outside of Mobile, Alabama at a fantastic Fish Grill, called Felix’s Fish Camp, which served amazing Gulf seafood. The place uniquely finished and very inviting, with friendly staff. We spent over two weeks in the States and this was defiantly a highlight restaurant.

After stuffing ourselves we shot on straight to New Orleans via Golfport, taking about two more hours. We arrived in the city at about 4.30PM.

Location Location Location

The Hotel is located just off the Mississippi in the Warehouse/Arts District, so that’s a very easy walk if you want to go check that out. Getting into the city center is pretty simple too from the Hotel, just walk down St Peters Street, past Harrah’s and you’re on Canal Street, about ten minutes away from Jackson Square. The area itself felt very safe and relaxed. Harrahs itself is worth a walk in to and they have a Ruth’s Chris on side that you should check out if you’re feeling a bit flush. There’s a cracking wee bar along the way too, Ernst Café, where we enjoyed some cans from the NOLA Brewing Co.

The Place Itself

We stayed in the Mercantile for three nights in July, around the time the Essence Festival was in town, so the vibes around the place were fantastic. The hotel is based in the former site of The Henderson Sugar Refinery is wonderfully finished with a modern and aesthetically pleasing boutique look.

Check in to the hotel was very professional and friendly. I think our receptionist was called Anitra (?) and she was very welcoming. All the staff in the hotel were great though, especially Yaya and Donna, who were very friendly and helpful, serving out great drinks and craic at the bar. They had Zombie Ranger IPAS on draft, which I loved, but my dad who’s not an IPA man didn’t rate too highly.

The rooms each have a computer concierge which is cool if you’re looking for information about the city. The room itself was very spacious, even with three of us staying, with lovely views out onto the river. They even had a record player in the room with jazz records on standby.

There’s also a brilliant games room around the corner from reception where we coasted on a couple of pints.