Just returned from four days in NOLA having stayed at the Le Richelieu. I read the Trip Advisor reviews and was looking forward to a quaint hotel with accomodating staff. I must say that I was not impressed. Yes, the location is great. Close enough to everything in the Quarter and just far enough to offer a quiet retreat from the fun and noise of Bourbon Street. The rooms are clean but in need of serious updating. A prior poster hit the nail on the head when they wrote: "A simple quiz to judge how much you might, or might not, like Le Richelieu: You walk into a turquoise bathroom (even the toilet is turquoise), and see that, while being clean and very well-maintained, the main fixtures appear to be nearly 40 years old. Do you think (A) "Wow, how cool!" or (B) "How dated and awful!" If your answer is B, then Le Richelieu might not be your ideal hotel. " Consider me in the "B" category.
My room had a musty smell and was just outdated. The tv for example had to be 30 years old. Also, I could't believe that the hotel still uses actual keys for the rooms. Nothing wrong with that but the key is attached to a gigantic piece of plastic making it hard to carry around when sightseeing. It was more like a key you'd get when using a gas station restroom! Another minor issue, no lobby pc for printing out airline boarding passes. The front counter tried to accomodate but was unable to print my pass. I didn't find the staff very accomodating either. They seemed annoyed when I asked them to (attempt to) print a boarding pass.
It just seems the hotel needs some upgrading to bring it into the 21st century. Over Memorial Day weekend I was in NOLA and stayed at the Hotel Monteleone. Now there's a great hotel that has successfully maintained a historic look and feel while keeping up with modern conveniences. So, for Le Richelieu - positives: clean rooms and great location; negatives: outdated all around, staff could be more accomodating.














