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St. Vincent's Guesthouse Details
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St. Vincent's Guesthouse Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
“Filthy and Dangerous, Padlocked and Chained shut fire escapes” "Filthy and Dangerous, Padlocked and Chained shut fire escapes." Our Group was called two weeks before arrival and told our rooms and reservations were canceled -- after being pre-paid and pre-booked months ahead of time, Many heated phone calls later somehow we were reserved AGAIN. Too bad we insisted and checked in. I have been around the world 3 times and never seen filth like this, Sticky vomit?-stained carpets, Broken bed, Ceiling dripping god knows what onto the bed. Dirty sheets and a smell like old warm cat urine ... Unbelievably the windows were painted shut, and the 2 closest fire escapes were chained and padlocked shut!!!!! Broken/rotten rails on the second floor about 25 feet above pavement, And room doors that opened onto dangerously rotten second floor decks, With no marking or warning to stay off. seems like a bad accident waiting to happen. Avoid this filthy, Dangerous dump at all cost!!!!! — Lightfalling , U.S.A (2012-01-03) HORRIBLE AND AWFUL EXPERIENCE Avoid it! This is the worst hostel I have ever seen! The stuff was stoned, rooms nasty and full of cockroaches. Friends of stuff were wandering around our cars and attempting to get in! Furthermore they overcharged us 200USD!! — Anna , Czech republic (2011-10-09) We were overcharged. We reserved our room online for the rate of $25 per person, per night. There were two of us so the rate should have been $50 plus tax per night and shouldn't have been much more than $150 for our three-night stay. When we returned home, we discovered our credit card had been charged over $300 for the three night stay. The room wasn't worth any more than $50 per night. We have called and written trying to get the money owed us back. The manager is always unavailable and hasn't written or returned our calls. — Robin (2006-03-17) WARNING! They overcharged me $159. They messed up our reservation and were completely unorganized. Avoid giving them your credit card number at all cost and pay in cash and KEEP a record of it. I tried to contact them about the mix up and never got a call back. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and they still made no effort to even look into it. They also advertise that it's $25 a night; we ended up being charged about $38 a night with a 18% tax rate on the room and a credit card processing fee plus extra for breakfast. It's ridiculous! A three-night stay cost me over $200! The workers are incompetent and unhelpful. It's an interesting place, but not worth the headache. AVOID IT! — Jailee (2005-08-26) This hotel is a joke, the workers are a joke and we were only there for 10 minutes. The hotel check-in clerk was unbelievably rude. They got our reservations mixed up and would not refund our money. The whole place looked rundown, just like the workers. They should just bulldoze the place. NO STAR! AWFUL. — Sylvia Gonzales (2005-04-28) Clean and well-located, St. Vincent's is a bit rundown, but that's to be expected from a historic location in a historic city like New Orleans. One of the aspects I really liked, from my American standpoint, was that it was full of friendly Europeans. It made me feel like I'd left the run of the mill. We dined with some delightful Germans over the delicious breakfast. The breakfast is diverse and the staff serving it is old-timey Southern and very friendly. I especially enjoyed the photos in the lobby area of when St. Vincent's was an orphanage. My great-great-great-grandfather left Switzerland, lost his wife on the journey and dumped his first family at a New Orleans' orphanage before creating my ancestors. It wasn't this orphanage, but still, the history made it touching for me to be there. Anyway, I've read a lot of complaints about the cleanliness of this place on various sites and I can't imagine what I've seen printed. St. Vincent's is heavy on history and charm. Perhaps it's a little homey, but it's cleaner than my own home on its worst day. Try it. It's got a vibe that is inescapable. — Noma (2005-04-11) My experience was nice. I advise everyone to book here. You will pay $25 a night per person. For the price it was nice. I loved the location. The Magazine Street car/bus stops right in front (24 hours) and the St. Charles Street car is about 4 blocks away (it stops running at 12 a.m.). We stayed for a week and the maids did not clean our room until the fifth day. Other than that we had a blast in NOLA! Oh, and there is a coffee shop right across the street. If you stay: 1. Book through hostel world. 2. Bring all-purpose cleaner and a sponge. Compared to most European hostels, this place is the Ritz! Rating as a hostel, 4 stars. Rating as a hotel, 2 stars. — srr, USA (2005-04-08) I just spent a week at this place during Mardi Gras. I was pleasantly surprised. Our room was beautiful, no bugs to speak of. The carpets could have used a shampoo but that was really no big deal to us. The description says 10 minutes from the Quarter, but not on foot! I would say it's more like 30 walking fast but it's a pretty walk. The buses and streetcars are handy but don't expect regular service during Mardi Gras. They run way less and the routes change. The staff weren't all that handy but we didn't ask for anything. We didn't really expect towel service or garbage pickup when we there but the staff couldn't even tell us how often the bus ran. Overall, I would recommend this place for the money, but next time I would plan on staying closer to downtown. Cheers! — Anonymous (2005-02-12) This is an unbelievable value for the money. I stayed by myself so I had a private room (two beds, which actually turned out to be two entire bedrooms with a private bathroom to boot). This is a really impressive building. I just saw it in a movie called Candyman, and the school in this movie is actually St. Vincent's. The bed was comfortable. The staff were super friendly and very helpful. I had a phone in my room (that never happens when I stay at hostels). The pool was nice, too. I can't believe people spend triple (or more) what I spent and probably stay in a place with no character. If you want authentic New Orleans character, comfort, hospitality, great service, why would you go anywhere else? Oh, one final thing, it is only about a 20-minute walk from here to the French Quarter. It looks further on a map. The hostel is far away from stuff, but I found it very easy to get around. A cab to go back to the hostel (since I'm a woman who was travelling alone) cost only $7 or so. The bus was cheaper and picked you up right out front. But I could easily walk to the French Quarter and other big tourist areas within 20 minutes. — Christina (2004-10-30) We really enjoyed our stay at St. Vincent's. Our room was quite pretty, actually, and it was clean. The weather was really hot in July, but the room's air conditioner worked well, and the pool was really nice. We found it easy to get to the French Quarter--some days we walked, and some days we caught the bus, which came every 10 minutes. There were lots of cool restaurants right nearby. I had a great quesadilla at Juans' Flying Burrito! St. Vincent's was really a great deal; I was surprised by how nice it was. The price was so low that I was expecting it to be super basic, but it was really quite charming. I enjoyed staying in a historic building rather than in some generic motel 6. — Jenny Davis, Australia (2004-08-25) Well, what can I say? After a seven-hour car drive I looked forward to reaching New Orleans and kicking back. We had reserved a room at St. Vincent's, and stated we would be there by 8 p.m. When it became apparent that we would not, I tried calling the desk but no one answered. So, when we got to New Orleans we went to the hostel and found the front door locked and two sets of keys taped to the door. We did not have a key in one of those sets. So we drove to the French Quarter and stayed at a hotel two blocks from Canal Street for $168--just a little more than the $50 at St. Vincent's. My girlfriend and I went right to Bourbon Street to forget about the whole experience. The next morning I called the hostel and found out that someone there had given our room to someone whose last name was close to ours. Instead of Holtaway a person named Hoffman got out room. But actually the stay wasn't bad. The bed was comfortable. There's a nice courtyard and the parking is adequate. There's enough space for two people. The street car isn't far away--five minutes. We did find a cockroach in our room and a dead one under the sink, but on the trees in the courtyard you can see little geckos climbing, which more than makes up for the television that doesn't get any channels. I would probably stay here again for the price and the character, but the fact that our room was given away is enough to keep me away even though for its location it's by far the best price. — Chris and Shawn (2004-05-13) The room was nasty! I tried to find us another room, but it was occupied! The pictures on the web of this place are beautiful, but when you see it in person it is very disappointing! The room was nasty, with bugs crawling on the wall! I have stayed at bed and breakfasts before, and never had as nasty an experience as I had with this one!! — Anonymous (2004-04-07) The location is great and the rooms are basic but nice and have everything you need. With a full breakfast and parking included in the room rate, it is a good deal. For the same price you would otherwise have to stay way out in the burbs... — Haidi (2003-12-08) This place is not for everyone but if you're looking for character and uniqueness, you can't beat it. Our room was only $185 for the week and with free parking it's the best deal around. The pool looks sketchy but is actually really nice. Definitely beats a Motel 6 any day. Within walking distance of the french quarter and right off of St Charles. — Kathy (2003-09-22) It was definitely an interesting stay. Very unorganized system of check in, had to change rooms twice because the air conditioners were broken. Pool was cloudy white, ceiling had gigantic cobwebs, and the whole place looked run down. Plus, by the time it was said and done our room cost $91 because of the 14% sales tax. Not a bargain, we could have stayed in a nice hotel for the same price. — Michelle (2003-06-16)