Among the treasures convenient to the Esplanade Ridge and Mid-City neighborhoods is City Park, one of the largest U.S. urban parks and home to the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New Orleans Botanical Garden, an antique carousel, four golf courses, and other recreational activities.
Also, each spring, guests of these Esplanade Ridge and Mid-City B&Bs have easy access to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with many of its events held at the nearby Fair Grounds Race Course.
Located in Mid-City near City Park, one house off Canal Street and about a block down from Carrollton Avenue, this pet-friendly 1896 Colonial Revival style B&B offers eight guest rooms, all with queen bed, writing desk and data port. Most also feature a Jacuzzi tub and a trundle or daybed for a third guest. Works by leading Southern artists are on display and available for purchase; gallery openings with the featured artist are held monthly.
Guests of this 1861 Greek Revival mansion on Esplanade Avenue can choose from four rooms in the 10,000-square-foot main house (all open onto a common center hallway) and four rooms in the two-story service wing (which originally contained the servants' quarters). All accommodations have a king or queen bed, and all service-wing rooms feature a whirlpool tub. The property also includes a front verandah and a rear patio and garden area with a 300-year-old oak tree. A full breakfast is served.
With a short stroll, guests of this Victorian home on Moss Street can reach City Park or the Fair Grounds Race Course, home to the renowned New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Its two guest rooms provide a king or queen bed, a private entrance and a view of Bayou St. John.
One of the Cotton Brokers' Houses, this 1858 Greek Revival mansion on Bayou Road is located diagonally opposite and across a small public park from its sister B&B, Esplanade Villa, which is on Esplanade Avenue. The four guest rooms feature antique or reproduction furnishings, and the grounds include a gazebo and garden with fountains. Host Jim Derbes, a life-long New Orleans resident, lives on the premises and received the Honor Award for Residential Restoration from the Historic Districts Landmarks Commission for this B&B. A full breakfast is provided.
At Block-Keller House in Mid-City, the nine guest rooms are furnished with antiques and reproductions, queen or king beds, and data ports; some include a whirlpool tub. This 1912 Italianate villa can be found on Canal Street, a few blocks down from Carrollton Avenue.
From October 1872 to March 1873, French Impressionist painter Edgar Degas, whose mother and grandmother were born in New Orleans, resided with maternal relatives here and completed at least 22 works of art. There are seven guest rooms and suites (many with king or queen beds) on the second and third floors of this Esplanade Avenue B&B, and a house tour is included for guests.
Situated on Esplanade Avenue at Bayou Road, the 1880 Esplanade Villa welcomes children and serves a full breakfast at the nearby Benachi House; together the two inns are known as the Cotton Brokers' Houses. Of its five antique-furnished, Victorian two-room suites, three open onto small porches and can accommodate four guests and two are smaller and can accommodate two guests.
The three guest suites that occupy the second floor of this 1895 Greek Revival bed and breakfast on Esplanade Avenue are furnished with American and European antiques and Oriental rugs. A full breakfast is served.
One of the last buildings designed by renowned architect Henry Howard, this 1883 Italianate mansion on Esplanade Avenue houses two suites with kitchens and dining areas and one suite with a kitchenette and sitting room.
A tropical garden with a fountain, goldfish pond, gazebo and hot tub highlights the grounds of this 1865 Italianate bed and breakfast. Inside, guests will find a 1912 player piano with more than 100 rolls of vintage music. All guest rooms are on the upper level and have queen beds: the front wing contains two guest rooms and one suite and the rear wing has one room and one suite, which combines two rooms from the original servants' quarters. Next door on Esplanade Avenue in the lower level of an 1870s town house is a two-bedroom corporate-styled apartment, including a kitchen and living room.
Set on two acres featuring a pool, hot tub, gardens, ponds and patios, this 1798 plantation house boasts period antiques and king or queen beds in its eight guest rooms (three in the main house, four in the Kumquat House, and one private Creole cottage). Four accommodations, including the cottage, feature a Jacuzzi. During our stay at this Bayou Road B&B, my husband and I enjoyed the helpfulness of the hostess, the splendor of the main house decor, and the spaciousness of our room, Bayou St. John. The full plantation breakfasts were outstanding, as were the food and service at the adjacent Restaurant Indigo.
Twelve rooms, furnished with period antiques and replicas, are available at this 19th-century guesthouse on Canal Street, a few blocks up from Carrollton Avenue, in Mid-City.
On Delgado Drive in Mid-City, one block off Bayou St. John and a 5-minute walk to City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art, stands the Laurel B&B, a 1924 two-story stucco home with a red Spanish tile roof. There is just one guest room, with a queen bed and private sunroom. The hosts include a friendly cat named Boo.
