Well, I think it's safe to say you can officially discount any of the negative reviews you may have seen regarding this beautiful, historic French Quarter hotel. After reading a lot of mixed reviews about the Bourbon Orleans I decided to go with my gut and book the room based on location alone (the is no better location for a hotel). If we didn't have a bad experience we'd consider it a bonus. Not only did we not have a bad experience, nothing could have made it better.
Check-in could have been painful due to two separate reservations and two separate rooms booked. This was quickly resolved and we were in a spacious standard room in no time. All of the staff we encountered including; house-keeping, front desk, wait staff, management, etc. were incredibly helpful and disarmingly friendly. The pool was clean and well attended and the breakfast buffet prior to Saturday and Sunday Jazzfest was perfect.
This hotel was formerly owned by Wyndham and has recently switched ownership. This must have made a difference as the attention to detail and care put into making guests comfortable and happy is abundantly clear. We fell in love with hotel and will be overjoyed to return.

I've stayed at the Bourbon Orleans many times in the past. In fact, I have posted several good reviews of this hotel.

Since it is no longer a Wyndham, it has taken a turn for the worse. While booking through Wyndham, I always got a great room, free internet and other amenities. Since they are no longer with Wyndham, I received probably the smallest room that I've ever stayed in (complete with a scenic view of a nasty service alley between buildings), they've removed the in-room safes, and now charge for the internet. In addition, the front desk staff are not too polite or helpful.

There are two things the Bourbon Orleans have going for it now: a wonderful concierge and the location.

Great location...
I contacted the property directly and booked a king size balcony room facing Orleans. No problems with my reservation.
If noise bothers you I recommend that you book and interior room, you can hear the noise from the crowds outside.
The room was clean, though you can see the wear and tear of the rug. You could also hear anyone that passed by your room, and the housekeepers talking.
The front desk was not overly friendly, (not rude).
Door men were always there to open the door for us.
Did not use the pool but it looked liked the guests were enjoying themselves.
We would return to this hotel.

My husband and I go to New Orleans every year to attend JazzFest. Last year we stayed at the Bourbon Orleans, which at the time was a Wyndham Hotel. We enjoyed it so much last year that we decided to stay there again this year. However, it should be noted that this hotel is no longer part of the Wyndham group, and has gone downhill since last year.

The hotel nearly triples its rates for JazzFest, as do all of the other hotels, airlines, etc... because they can. So what would ordinarily be a $99 a night room was now a $249 a night room (using the JazzFest discount!). Our room was very small, with a queen bed, desk and office chair. No other chair, and really nowhere to sit anyway. I walked by the bed and whacked my ankle on something. When we looked, it appeared that the box spring had not been placed on the frame correctly, causing the metal frame to be exposed. Since it was under the bedskirt, I did not see it. I had an enormous bruise that still hurts more than 2 weeks later. The phone did not work. There was no safe in the room. They used to have safes in the rooms, as do all hotels where I've stayed in New Orleans. But the safes have now been removed, and valuables can be stored in a safe behind the front desk. Very inconvenient. So those are the reasons the hotel was not as nice this year as last.

There are two great points about this hotel. One is that it is in a wonderful location. It's within easy walking distance of the heart of the French Quarter, Jackson Square, anywhere we wanted to be. And a major asset at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel is their concierge, Ron LaGaie. He knew everything about the city, made dining recommendations, gave us discount coupons for tours we wanted to take... He appears to love his job, and when I asked how long he'd been there, he told us this is his 19th year as concierge at this hotel. He makes up for some of what is lacking in the hotel.

All in all, we would stay there again because of the location, but losing the Wyndham name has caused some noticeable changes in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel.