Are there fun places to stay for young people in their 20s? Unfortunately, we aren’t stying over the weekend. I am afraid it may feel a bit quiet during weekday soon after holidays. We will be there in early January. TIA
Any thoughts on Bourbon Orleans Hotel?
I’ve never stayed at Bourbon Orleans but I’ve heard good things. Great location.
It won’t be that quiet, don’t worry. 
Mardi Gras season officially starts on January 6th. I hope you’re there for that! There is a group that “parades” on the streetcar wearing clown wigs and I think a parade downtown called Joan of Arc (our patron saint).
I didn’t know Mardi Gras season started that early. It would be lovely if we can catch some of it. It’s our first time in NO. What are good sources to look up?
To make it worse, I am looking at a room with a balcony.
We usually try to stay away from the craziness, but I took my D and a friend to NO for her 21st BD and we stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton on Bourbon Street. We had a balcony facing a side street but it was still fun to sit out on the balcony and people watch. Young people really don’t need advice on how to enjoy NO, esp during Mardi Gras season, but don’t miss Pat O’Briens and the Preservation Hall.
^Do all the rooms have a balcony?
You have the right idea. If you want to spend any time at all in the French Qtr, then staying in the French Qtr is the right place to be. I can’t speak to the Bourbon Orleans, but one thing to consider is parking if you want quick access to your car. Some of the hotels use a valet to literally cram all the cars into a tight space so getting yours out may require a shuffle of 5-6 cars. As for “quiet”, no such thing. Bourbon St is always open. Although during the day, the area is pretty normal.
Parking is a consideration. Depending on what you do you will quite possibly have little to no use for a car while you’re there.
Last time I stayed in the quarter I just parked in a lot which was slightly cheaper than the hotel. It was prepay without in and out privileges but we had no plans to drive so it was fine for us.
We won’t have a car. We are flying in. No desire to drive in an unfamiliar city.
Good plan. There’s really no need for one. Just take a cab to your hotel–for multiple people that’s cheaper than a shuttle.
The Quarter is pretty small and quite walkable.
Galatoires
Acme Oyster House, (get the meat pie appetizer in addition to your oysters)
Drink a sazerac
Every time you walk by Cafe du Monde, check out the lines. If you see a vacant table, sit down and get your beignets and coffee.
Aunt Sally’s pralines. You don’t have to eat them there. They will last a week or so.
I think you can take a streetcar out to Commander’s Palace in the Garden District. If you are willing to leave the quarter, do this. If there is traffic in the quarter, don’t try to take a taxi. It will not use your time very well. However, there are too many great restaurants for only three days. I organize around eating and drinking.
When I can’t eat any more, I visit: http://staging.hgghh.org/discover/gallier-house/
and music, of course, and that just depends on your tastes. Like the food, it is everywhere.
read Confederacy of Dunces before you go 
visit Central Grocery, even if you don’t have room left for a whole muffeletta, but you can share it around. Take the pralines home. Eat the beignets and muffeletta.
Cafe du Monde is best enjoyed as a late night snack IMO. I’ve never waited for a table late at night.
Carousel Bar in the Monteleone is one of my favorites.
The Christmas decorations in the Roosevelt are amazing. I assume they stay up until January 6 so check them out. Nice bar there too (the Sazerac)) and Domenica restaurant is very good.
The WWOZ music calendar is my go to site fir finding live music.
I would try to stay away from the French Quarter – it’s really touristy. Not that you shouldn’t go walk around there like a tourist, but it’s not where I would choose to spend more than a few hours of my time (in a city where I would gladly spend weeks if I could). We have enjoyed staying in the Warehouse District most – walking distance from the French Quarter and downtown, but not the same level of artificial frenzy, and art galleries, clubs, and restaurants that depend as much on locals as on visitors.
For me, NOLA is primarily about food and music, and I tend to structure my time there around those two things. At a time when American popular culture has been pretty thoroughly homogenized, NOLA remains different in any number of ways, and it’s a vibrant, dynamic difference, not an Epcot-Center, wax-museum difference. What makes NOLA special is the confluence of so many factors: it is a Caribbean port, it was a French colony, it is the dominant city in Louisiana with its Cajun and plantation cultures, and the terminus of river traffic down the Mississippi from St. Louis, Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas. It had (has) large numbers of European immigrants, too – Irish, Italian, Jewish. So its food is Creole, Cajun, Latin American, Italian, African-American, and sometimes all of the above. And the music is jazz, blues, folk, rock, hip-hop, country, chanson, cajun, zydeco, fife-and-drum, and a glorious, unique brass band tradition that pulls from all of them.
Food: Read a guidebook or Yelp. But don’t miss beignets at the Cafe du Monde (because no one does), or the muffalettas at Central Grocery (if I could only eat one food the rest of my life . . . ).
Music: What the French Quarter has is amazing buskers, but look for clubs elsewhere for real-deal music. I would try to see at least one great brass band, creole/cajun group (mostly white people, with mostly acoustic instruments including a fiddle and some form of accordion, singing mostly in French, mostly in minor keys, with lots of waltzes and two-steps), and zydeco band (mostly black people with mostly electric instruments, playing a sped-up, partied-down, rocking out version of the cajun music). If you are there on a Tuesday night, don’t miss the ReBirth Brass Band at the Maple Leaf, or you could see Hot 8 Brass Band at the Howlin Wolf on Sunday nights. Those are probably the top two brass bands at the moment, at least by my lights. You could look for Stooges Brass Band (less traditional) or Treme Brass Band (more traditional, much less exciting). There are tons of great cajun and zydeco bands, and new ones are forming all the time. Come prepared to dance.
I also liked the art museum (which is up by the crazy St. Louis cemetery, also worth a stroll). You should plan to walk around the Garden District, which has lots of beautiful houses, including those belonging to Anne Rice, Trent Reznor, Archie Manning, and Sandra Bullock. Get places by taking the trolleys – they’re great.
“Aunt Sally’s pralines… They will last a week or so.”
Not around me, they don’t! 
Actually, they have a longer shelf life than a week but good luck with not caving to temptation before then.
Agree with having a Sazerac at the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. Art deco decor with great murals.
It can be quite chilly in NO in January so don’t expect tropical like weather. The last time I was there for a conference in mid-January I was at the Hilton and as the cab line was so long, I decided to walk to the Quarter for dinner. It was so cold with the wind coming off the water, I turned around before I hit Canal St and headed back to the hotel
Winter weather is extremely unpredictable. It may be cold and it’s usually a damp cold which feels colder. Or it could be in the 70’s. Just check the forecast right before you depart and pack accordingly.
@JHS Wonderful summary of NO. We will do everyone of them while we are there except not staying at FQ. It’s the first and for kids in their 20s. Hanging out on the balcony in FQ may not hurt
@alh yummy sweets, it puts me, a pre-diabetic on a tough spot!
I am adding Carousel bar, xmas deco and the bar at the Roosevelt to the to-do list.
@bookmama22 I did notice their cold temperature in Jan. That’s so unexpected.
That’s a great idea @1or2Musicians 70’s will be great if we don’t have to pack heavy coats.
@JHS, I like your post! Yes NOLA is a lot more than the French Quarter, but a first time tourist will not want to miss that.
It’s easy to walk to the neighboring Marigny and hear music somewhere on Frenchman Street. The Bywater isn’t much further along in the same direction and is very popular these days.
Heading “upstream” instead, you can take the streetcar which rolls along St. Charles avenue and then turns onto Carrolton Avenue at the riverbed. Go at least as far as Carrolton. There are famous music clubs that way, the Camellia Grill with it’s 24-hour omelets, all the good stuff on Oak Street, and further along is the Rock and Bowl (aka Mid-city lanes), where there will be music and bowling and food and drink. You will pass the main campuses of Tulane and Loyola as you cross Audubon Park.
Closer in on St. Charles Avenue are Lucky’s Bar, Grill and Laundromat, Tacos & Beer, the Blind Pelican, and the Avenue Pub. All are beloved by young people. The Blind Pelican has 25 cent oysters for happy hours and the Avenue Pub is considered by beer lovers to be the best bar (especially if you’re into that Zwanze day stuff).
A more efficient ride is the #11 bus which rolls up and down Magazine Street. Magazine street is as long as St. Charles and is full of many places to shop and eat. It goes through many changes with the neighborhoods. The “hop-on-hop-off” tour bus runs that way. New Orleans also has Uber now.
And don’t forget Vietnamese food! There is lots of it around and they are part of the culinary fusion as well.
Here’s a link to the Joan of Arc parade. New Orleans usually keeps Christmas decor up until January 6th, the Epiphany, and then it all switches to Carnival mode.
http://joanofarcparade.org/who-we-are/parade-route/
And for the Phunny Phorty Phellows (last year’s route, but it can’t change!):
Lots of good restaurant suggestions here. The only place I ever specifically tell someone to go is cafe du monde. Beyond that, if you are hungry, just walk until something smells good. I have never had a bad meal there.