Family owned and run, the Best Western Plus Westbank represents what I perceive to be Southern hospitality at its best. The management and staff are outstanding: extremely friendly, unfailingly helpful and hugely welcoming.
The rooms are very comfortable and meet all one’s needs, being well-equipped with large and comfortable beds, an abundant supply of towels, large screen television, fast, reliable and complimentary internet access, alongside a good-sized fridge, microwave, coffee machine, hairdryer, ironing board and iron. Most importantly of all if, like me, you are not used to the hot and humid New Orleans climate, all rooms have very reliable air-conditioning units. They are also kept immaculately clean on a daily basis.
The hotel also has all other facilities that one could require: washing machines and dryers, vending machines, change machines and – hugely conveniently – computers and printers that are complimentary for all guests to use.
For sports enthusiasts, there is a small gym in the hotel (with a very large local public gym only a couple of minutes’ walk away) and a beautifully carved out swimming pool area, adorned with palm trees and comfortable seating in a court-yard. This internal area of the hotel contrasts very pleasantly with the rather unattractive three-lane boulevards that otherwise surround it on the outside; something that, amazingly, one does not notice when inside the hotel area itself. And those boulevards do provide a huge array of very good places to eat and shop within walking distance, ensuring that all one's needs are easily available nearby.
The hotel is located about a 30 minute drive from the famous French Quarter of New Orleans (perhaps a little shorter if there is no traffic; and a little longer by the West Jefferson Lapalco bus that goes from across the road from the hotel to the heart of the city). It is even nearer to a variety of alligator tours and swamps which is an unusual and enjoyable feature of this part of the world. Therefore, the hotel has the advantage of being located nearby, but outside the hustle and bustle of, central New Orleans; something that I strongly suspect also makes it very competitively priced when compared with the various hotels in the middle of the more crowded parts of the city.
I stayed here as I required medical treatment from a renowned expert in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Dr Harch. As with many other of his patients, I therefore needed to stay in New Orleans for two months. That leads me to two additional observations: first, if you, too, are a patient of Dr Harch (I understand that many of his patients stay at this hotel), the same bus that I mentioned above goes (in the other direction) directly to Dr Harch’s practice and takes only 15 minutes: a huge advantage for anyone who does not have a car. Second, and above all else, the fact that I was a guest at the hotel for a total of nine weeks means that the impressions that I set out above are based upon a relatively long-lasting observation and experience of the friendliness and convenience of the hotel.
Although I stayed alone for most of the duration of my treatment, my wife and two young children were able to join me for the last part of my stay. They also had a wonderful time at the hotel. The children had never stayed anywhere where you could walk out of the bedroom and were only a few feet away from the swimming pool – and had a particularly lovely time as a result! They were also treated wonderfully well by all the staff, who they also found to be extremely friendly. So the hotel can be enjoyed by all age-groups.
In short, I highly recommend this hotel. less