Here We Come NOLA!!!: Hotel and Gym

Every year Matt and I try to take a trip somewhere far away   and the last few years it has always been to some place in Louisiana. This year we are doing it again, however in celebration of five years of marriage we are doing it alone...sorta. We chose New Orleans because a) we have been there a ton and love b) it always has something going on c) we have never been alone and as tourists! Yes! This time we are going to go all out on the tourism.



While we are there we are also going to be spending a day and night with one of Matt's close friends in town about 45 minutes away that has some pretty cool sights to see as well.

In all sight seeing spirits I made a rough graph and a spare sheet of paper and to google I went! Well...and of course Reddit. 

First things first, while we were in New Orleans where would we be staying? Second most important, will they have a gym and if not where is the nearest one? Followed by planning the activities and sightseeing, but that is for a different time. 

After some quick, and I mean quick, googling I found a great deal at the Wyndham in the French Quarter. We are talking prime real estate for only 91$/night. I did end up finding out why, which led me down and even more exciting path of trying to plan what to see, eat, and do while we were in "Crescent City" However, since we had some really weird dates, the price jumped quite a bit depending on our check-out date. So keeping the Wyndham on the back burner I kept looking. 

The best part about the Wyndham (outside of the amazing deal we were able to jump on)? It has an indoor pool, in the middle of downtown, AND has a nice bar/restaurant. If you're wondering, yes they have a gym, however it is mainly cardio equipment with some free weights in a very very VERY tiny room. 

at least there are a TON of options

Which meant we needed to see which gyms might be around, what are the prices of passes or just daily drop ins. 

However, since we had some really weird dates, the price jumped quite a bit depending on our check-out date. So keeping the Wyndham on the back burning I kept looking. 

The second hotel I looked at was the Mariott. My brother-in-love works for the Marriott so naturally we contacted him to see what sorts of deals we could get. The Marriott (there are a few) we were looking at was either located in the French Quarter or near, but they had they were equal distance to where we planned on spending a lot of out time. Our biggest "must" was staying in/near the French Quarter. It isn't as "college" party and there are more sights, and sounds, than the main strip. I was able to find a great deal through booking.com while we waited to see what my BIL could find.


Naturally, he was able to get some pretty sweet deals. So The Marriott is was! We ended up choosing the one "near" the French quarter instead of "in" the French quarter simply because the deal was much better they were equal distance to where we were going to be most of the time. But the biggest reason this location won what was...well..just check out the gym haha

It can be so hard to get in a good leg workout when you are used to certain load. Even though we would be walking a lot (which is more cardio than anything!) we still needed something for our legs. When a hotel gym has a leg developer and free weights, you say yes. Believe it or not this was only one of two gym we saw that were this large. New Orleans is not a place where people visit and workout.

Look for more from our getting ready to NOLA to actually being there!