New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in the US, a wonderful combination of great music, terrific people, delicious food, and some of the best people-watching around. Oddly, although I’ve spent quite a bit of time there over the years, my wife had never visited at length, so we decided to drop by over a four-day weekend during the pre-Mardi Gras Carnival season.
Several years ago, I visited the Hyatt Centric right on the edge of the French Quarter and thoroughly enjoyed my stay, having very fond memories of the hotel’s location, food, breezy rooms, and historic character. I was looking forward to my wife and I getting a chance to hang out there for the weekend together. Unfortunately, neither of us was quite so charmed this time around.
Hyatt Centric New Orleans Bottom Line Review
The Hyatt Centric New Orleans should have all the makings of a great hotel. The location is terrific, right on the edge of the French Quarter, but outside of the main brouhaha. The historic building has been well-restored, sporting a beautiful lobby area that houses the front desk, bar and restaurant. Unfortunately, the cylinders weren’t quite firing when we were there. The “upgraded” room wasn’t near the charming suite that I’d remembered from before, the food was mediocre to awful, the service extremely uneven. It has perhaps the slowest four-floor elevators I’ve ever seen. Even the internet stunk. It could have been that we happened to land on a tough weekend for the property, but this stay changed the hotel from being a place that I anticipated staying at again to one that we’ll avoid next time we’re in town. Thumbs Down
- Price: A Hyatt Category 4, 12K/15K/18K points off-peak/peak/standard. Like many hotels in New Orleans, the cash price varies quite a bit based on time of year and whatever conventions might be in town. When I was there over President’s Day weekend of 2025, it was ~$300/night for a midweek stay. We paid 12K Hyatt points per night.
- Value: Varies tremendously, depending on cash prices. When we were there, it was around 2.5 cents per point, but many low and shoulder season periods will dip to half that. Our Reasonable Redemption Value for Hyatt points is 1.7 cents each.
- Location: I really like the location of this hotel, especially for those who’d like to be near the French Quarter. It’s a block off Canal Street and right on the edge of the Quarter itself, so it feels quieter and more tucked away than many nearby properties – despite being right near the middle of the action.
- Room: I used a suite upgrade award and was upgraded to a supposedly 550 sq ft Petite Suite. It had a non-separated living room area and a view of the courtyard with no balcony. I checked out a normal two-queen room and the only difference that I could see was that ours had an entryway. The high ceilings here are fabulous and the sitting area was a nice place to work. About half of the (sparse) outlets in the room didn’t work and we never could get the heat to come up to even the upper-60s.
- Parking: Valet parking is $50+tax/night. Waived for Globalists on award stays.
- Resort/Destination Fee: $25.70+tax. Waived on award stays and for Globalists. Includes:
- 2 Welcome Beverages (Beer, Simple Cocktails, Wine)
- Dessert at Red Fish or Hard Rock with purchase of Entrée
- Weekend Yoga Classes
- $10 Holmes F&B Restaurant Credit Per Stay
- Daily RTA Jazzy Pass
- Internet: Absolutely awful. We couldn’t connect consistently throughout our stay, and I had to use my own hotspot in order to work. We also weren’t able to connect the TV to Wifi. When I asked for someone to come and take a look at it, a ticket was made, but no one ever showed up. When I asked again the next day, the front desk said that they were having “connection issues” that wouldn’t be able to be fixed before the end of our four-night stay.
- Service: We were there for four nights, but somehow housekeeping missed us every single day after the first. We had to repeatedly call down for towels, coffee and tissues (my wife had a bad cold). The morning breakfast service is fairly chaotic and it’s not immediately clear where you should sit or eat. Once more than a few tables show up, the servers start getting frazzled. The bell guys and valet were terrific.
- Turndown service: None.
- Dining:
- Holmes: Primary restaurant in the lobby, with an affiliated grab and go counter. Breakfast is served daily from 7-11am, lunch from 11am-3pm and dinner between 5-10pm. This is where the elite breakfast was served and it was one of the more uneven Hyatt restaurant breakfasts we’ve come across in awhile (see below). When we tried to get our welcome drinks, they couldn’t do a virgin mojito for my wife because they didn’t have mint…or limes.
- Spa: None.
- Fitness Room: There’s a small, lightly-equipped fitness area that’s located on the same level as the pool.
- Hyatt Globalist Benefits:
- Suite Upgrade: I booked a standard room and used a suite upgrade award, which put us in a 550 sq ft Petite Suite that didn’t seem significantly different from a normal two-queen room. I actually called down to verify that we were in the correct room.
- Free Breakfast: Served daily at Holmes, either from grab and go or with table service in the restaurant. Globalists can choose an entrée, side and coffee drink. We were there four mornings and the food quality oscillated wildly from pretty good to inedible. We actually sent back two items one morning, something that I haven’t done for years. It seemed much better on the weekdays than the weekend. The food here was one of the many things that I remembered fondly from my last visit several years ago but which was very disappointing this time around.
- Late Checkout: Automatically given 4pm.
- Parking: Valet parking is free on award stays for Globalists.
- Would I stay again? Not in the near future. This was one of the more disappointing Hyatt stays that I’ve had in a awhile, partially due to how good my previous experience was (albeit 6-7 years ago). We’ll be back in New Orleans in a month or so and we’re choosing to stay elsewhere.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great location, especially if you’re French Quarter-curious without wanting to be in the middle of the French Quarter madness.
- Even the smaller rooms feel very spacious due to the basketball-high ceilings and large windows.
- The valets and bellmen are top-notch.
Cons
- The upgraded “suite” didn’t have much to differentiate it from a normal room.
- Both the outlets and thermostat in room had problems over our entire stay.
- The Wifi was the worst that I’ve encountered domestically in quite some time.
- Housekeeping somehow missed us three out of the four days of our stay.
- Out of eight breakfast entrées that we had, two were delicious, three were mediocre and three were borderline inedible.
Image Gallery
Hyatt Centric New Orleans Petite Suite
Hyatt Centric New Orleans Restaurant and Breakfast
Hyatt Centric New Orleans Pool Area (Casting Call Bar)
Hyatt Centric New Orleans Fitness and Public Areas
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Do the Eliza Jane next time. Better location and the breakfast food was very good! Eliza Jane is part of the Unbound Collection.
Agree. Love the Eliza Jane.
We stayed here last spring and had a similar feeling- made sense for the points value and location as first-timers but the hotel was not great. If I understood New Orleans geography better beforehand, I think we probably would have stayed in the CBD which is adjacent to the French Quarter (a few Marriott or Hilton properties there) or maybe the Courtyard French Quarter. Obviously pricier in points but I suspect the hotels would’ve been better.
We are staying here right now. Agree 100% with your review.
The elevators are super slow—luckily we are on the third floor so we can walk the stairs mostly. We are interior facing—the courtyard—so no significant street noise but I could imagine how the outward facing rooms could be very noisy.
I am only explorist so we don’t have the breakfast and we chose to self park at a garage (this garage is the worst designed garage I’ve ever seen) a few blocks away.
The location is good, and easy to walk to things in the French quarter.
I had planned to stay at the Eliza Jane but with changes to Hyatt’s program that wasn’t an option for us, so I ended up choosing the Hyatt centric. Not sure when I’m going to come back to New Orleans, but I’d probably stay elsewhere.
Would have been helpful if you had suggested other Hyatt (or other) properties to stay at.
The Eliza Jane is in the Unbound Collection. We stayed there and really liked it!
Keep in mind there are rooms that front Bourbon St. I property hopped here to redeem a FNC after a couple nights at the Roosevelt, ended up in one of those rooms, and while its not in the middle of French Quarter madness, it’s certainly not out of it if you’re on that side of the building. I’ve also had a room on the Bourbon St side of the Crowne Plaza next door another time, same deal.
I live in a downtown, so I’m usually pretty numb to city noise. We weren’t out late but let’s just say I did my sleeping on the plane the next day. I imagine those on the Dauphine St side have a different experience.
I’ve stayed there three times in the last six years and it is not a property I have any interest in going back to. Each time was underwhelming, It’s not one of Hyatt’s finest hours!
Spot on review of a disappointing and overpriced property with significant management problems. The exact same internet problems were present during my stay three months ago, so that tells you a lot.
The daily room rate is so inflated that it makes a stay on points a relative “bargain” – but don’t be fooled by that, as the experience remains unpleasant.
There are much better Hyatt options in New Orleans — some new ones, in fact, have recently come on board.
I’ve never been to The Big Easy so I’m not familiar with the Hyatt options. What would you suggest?
I like the Eliza Jane. It’s a Cat 5. The cash rates are normally pretty reasonable, so it can be a not-so-great points play. You’re not going to be wowed by the hotel, it has its charms. It’s a better location than the Centric, which is basically on Bourbon Street, which–unless you like cheesy, overprice restaurants or power drinking–isn’t a place you’ll want to spend a bunch of time.
The Eliza Jane is also part of Amex’s Hotel Collection. When we stayed there, it included breakfast and a nice room upgrade.