New Orleans Hotel Guide: Hilton Riverside
Today we’re going to look at why Hilton Riverside is not only one of my favorite overall New Orleans hotels, It’s also one of the best hotels for cruisers.
The statue out front is of Sir Winston Churchill.
Transportation
This hotel has a streetcar stop out front. The car will take you to the French Quarter for $1.25. You can buy an unlimited ride pass for $3 per day which is what I recommend. The driver only takes exact change so make sure you have that or you use a kiosk to purchase your ticket ahead of time.
If you go in the entrance on the other side of the tracks behind the streetcar stop, you can rent a car from Avis or Budget. They also have an entrance to the Riverwalk Outlet and an escalator that goes up to the hotel.
If you are looking to catch a taxi cab. Look at all of the taxis lined up in front of the parking garage. You can pretty much always catch a taxi there.
Parking
This is the exterior of the hotel. There are two parking garages. You can see the parking garage on the left used to have a Hilton sign on it. This garage now belongs to the old World Trade Center building which they are now turning into a Four Seasons. The one on the right is for the Hilton. You can park in either but you can only attach the Hilton parking to your room.
Here are the valet parking rates. I prefer to park myself when I stay here.
This is the valet parking drop off area. The hotel entrance is on the left, the Four Seasons garage is on the right and the Hilton Garage is straight ahead.
This is the Hilton parking garage entrance.
Here are the self parking rates. It’s only $5 cheaper to park yourself for the night vs. the valet parking rate. I prefer to park myself so I can park far away from other cars and avoid door dings.
These are the rates for the Four Seasons lot. As I mentioned before you can still park here if you want to but they can’t attach the parking to your room key. So if you park here make sure you don’t lose your ticket before you check out. That lost ticket fee is scary.
Food and Drink
Dragos
Hilton Riverside is home to one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants, Dragos Seafood.
This is the main seating area. You can see straight ahead the have a big projection screen TV. They will use that for sporting events. To the left down there is a bar that also has a couple of small TVs.
I prefer to sit at the oyster bar if I’m not here to watch sports.
Drago’s is known for inventing the Charbroiled Oysters which are what I always get here. Even if you don’t like oysters, you may like Charbroiled. I recommend trying them. Drew Brees describes them as the best single bite of food in New Orleans.
Spirits Bar
Just beyond Drago’s is the Spirits Bar.
If you’re in town during football season, Spirits has NFL Sunday Ticket.
They have bloody mary on tap here.
Another great thing about the Spirits Bar is though they have a limited food menu, the Drago’s Charbroiled Oysters are on it.
Le Croissant
On the other side of the Spirits Bar is Le Croissant which is only open for breakfast.
Public Belt
Upstairs is the Public Belt–A piano bar that serves high end cocktails.
River Blends Cafe
Also upstairs, across from the front desk, is the River Bends Cafe.
The River Bends Cafe serves Starbucks coffee as well as grab and go breakfast items.
Check-In
If you enter through the main entrance the escalators will be on your left.
Just beyond the escalator is the concierge desk.
At the top of the escalator you have the bellman in front of you and the front desk on the left. If you happen to be there early and your room isn’t ready yet, the bellman will lock up your luggage for you.
Rooms
Building 1
Hilton Riverside is a large hotel with multiple buildings. Each building is a little different so we’re going to look at a room in each building. We’ll also look at an accessible room to see what they have to offer.
This first room is in building 1. Building 1 is in the main building. The elevator is right by valet. It’s going to be the most convenient if you are getting in a car at valet, the parking garage, or taking an Uber/Lyft.
Building 1 does have river views available. Take note of the building with the courtyards. That is building 3.
This is the view from a different room in building 1. This room is on the end. The building with the green roof is Harrah’s. If you went inside Harrah’s and came out on the other side, you would be on Canal Street. That Marriott behind Harrah’s gives you a good idea of the distance between Hilton Riverside and the French Quarter. That hotel is at the corner of Canal and Chartres Streets. Bourbon Street is three blocks down from there.
You still have a little bit of a river view from this part of building 1.
Building 2
Heading over to buildings 2 and 3. Just to the right of the front desk is an escalator and elevator. You need to take one of those up.
Then you have to walk over this walkway bridge that takes you over the streetcar and train tracks.
To your left is the market place where you can buy a soda or a snack and some retail items. That escalator takes you down to where the Avis and Budget rental car desks are. If you take a right when you get down there it will take you into the Riverwalk Outlet. Building 2 is behind the market place.
This is the river view from a building 2 room.
When you come across the elevated walkway from the front desk, off to your right is building 3. This building is actually directly above the Riverwalk Outlet.
This is a look at building 3 from building 1. Note the multiple courtyards. The biggest one in the middle is the Mark Twain Courtyard. The one on the right facing the river has a pool.
This is the Mark Twain courtyard. It is one of my favorite spots at Hilton Riverside.
The problem with the building 3 rooms is you’re less likely to get a room with a river view. But you have quick access to these courtyards.
This is a look back at building 1 from the Mark Twain Courtyard.
Here is one of the smaller courtyards.
This is the courtyard that has the pool.
Now we’ll take a look at an accessible room.
Retail
As I mentioned before you have the Market Place right between buildings 1 and 3.
Down on the first floor if you walk past the escalators and keep walking, you’ll come to another retail store called “All That Jazz.”
Meeting Rooms
If you walk past the Market Place in the building 2/3 area, that will take you to the meeting rooms for those buildings.
If you go back to building 1 and continue walking past the “All That Jazz” retail store, you will come to this set of escalators which will take you by the main pool and to the ballrooms.
This hallway past the ballrooms actually meets back up with building 3 as you can see through the window.
Pools
This is the main pool area in building 1.
This is the smaller pool area in building 3.
Fed Ex/Business Center
On the second floor of building 1 they have a Fed Ex office and a Business Center near the elevators.
Fitness Center
Riverwalk Outlet
One of the great things about Hilton Riverside is that it’s connected to the Riverwalk Outlet. At the Riverwalk Outlet they have tons of stores and places to eat. You can just walk the mall for exercise. You can even take in an air conditioned walk to the port if you want to.
If you are unable to make it to the Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter, you can get your beignets at the one in the Riverwalk Mall.
This is just outside the doors from the Cafe Du Monde area.
If you’re a Harley Davidson port poker chip collector like me you can get one of those in the Riverwalk Outlet.
If you want a New Orleans Original Daiquiri and you weren’t able to get over to Bourbon Street to get one, you can do that in the food court.
Get you a daiquiri, step outside and check out the ships.
These stairs take you down to the port.
Here is the full walk from Hilton Riverside to the Port of New Orleans. This walk goes all the way to the Carnival Terminal. If you are on NCL you would stop in the food court and take the elevator down to the port. For more details check out my Walking to the Port article.
