Hotel Royal New Orleans

Forty-eight rooms wrap a wrought-iron courtyard on Rue Royal, placing Hotel Royal New Orleans deep in the French Quarter's antique-dealer stretch rather than the louder Bourbon Street blocks four minutes east. Balconies overlook the street's namesake ironwork galleries, a favorite of daytime gallery walkers and photographers over late-night revelers.

A rooftop pool sits above the courtyard, open past sunset when the Quarter's heat holds through the evening. Jackson Square is an eight-minute walk, the streetcar line further off toward Canal Street.