Ace Hotel New Orleans

Not the best Ace

I enjoy the general aesthetic and vibe of Ace hotels, and I've always liked the playful elements they throw in that really add to the overall experience.

The room we were in was kind of terrible. Light switches were located in inconvenient and counterintuitive places, the bed was entirely too big for the room, the doors kept sticking (the room door had to be yanked open and slammed shut, repeatedly, which i'm sure our neighbors loved; the bathroom door closed just fine, but required patience and strategy to open), and the location of the bed meant that only one side got a nightstand. I ended up having to put my phone and glasses on the top of the headboard, which was kind of precarious. I hope this was just one bad room, but I honestly doubt I'll ever have a chance to find out if that's true.

Underwhelmed and disappointed

Pool, bar, restaurant, minibar, room service and location were great.

Our flight arrived early, around 1:00 so we checked in with the front desk, knowing our room probly wouldn't be ready. They checked us in, stowed our bags and got our number and said they would call when our room was ready. By 4:15 when we hadn't heard anything we headed back to see what was up. The front desk had just forgotten to call us...so went ahead and told us our room was ready and gave us a key. The hotel lobby/bar is so beautifully done. And then we got to our room... The Art Deco lighting, while cool in theory doesn't nearly shed enough light in the very dark rooms. Especially since one nightstand was missing it's lamp all together and the over head lighting fixture was only partially working. In addition the very heavy doors close behind you automatically and do not have a "soft close" feature so doors are constantly slamming up and down the hallway which is incredibly loud, especially while trying to sleep. To add to the discomfort neither the beds nor pillows were particularly comfortable. This was our first getaway without our baby and even as sleep deprived parents of a six month old... we weren't able to get a good nights sleep. This wasn't helped by the visit from housekeeping at 8:00am on the day of check out nor the 2 subsequent visits by staff to see if our room was empty all before 9:45am. Not quite as bothersome but still disappointing were stains on the bathroom linens, only one robe in the closet, and the cable box dangling from the tv that was mounted to the wall. There is a fine line when decorating with a minimalist aesthetic and unfortunately without proper upkeep the room just looked bare and run down. Not good for a hotel less than a year old. Lastly, and this is more of a design flaw, in my opinion, the beautiful large window in our room had 2 shade options 1) a sunscreen that offered a light filter from outdoor light and 2) full shutters that can either be open fully or closed fully. If you open them partially, the light that comes through shines directly on the pillows, so right in your face, and fully closed you are in a tomb, which is great if you want that...but good luck getting to the bathroom because it is pitch black. No small illumination option in the bathroom to light your way. Oh and the bathroom... no vent or fan in the room or bathroom, so if someone goes to the bathroom and you don't want to smell it, you pretty much just have to leave the room. No matches, either. (Sorry probably too much information, but...a real issue!) Also, the water pressure and temp were set so low after showering I contemplated waiting until I got home to avoid having to take another Luke warm shower. I hate writing this! I'm not a complainer, just honstly beside myself with this experience. I historically love Ace Hotels and have stayed at several of their properties and have great experiences, which is why I booked the room here for our New Orleans getaway. So disappointing, hope they improve.