Quaint & Accessible in the Big Easy
Despite being just a stone’s throw from the historic famed district that you’ve come here to revel in and perhaps catch some beads here in NoLa, French Quarter RV Resort (FQRV) is a small slice of respite in an otherwise busy, traffic-jammed section of the Crescent City. Easily spotted from atop Highway 10, which you can access from Exit 235A as you enter the city, you’ll be able to depart 3-lane highway chaos and shoulder-to-shoulder dwellings and enter a fortified encased stone wall fortress complete with a key-coded security entrance that provides both increased privacy as well as a solid measure of 24/ 7 security (complete with a staffed security guard from 8pm until 7am).
While occupying an entire space that is more or less equivalent to a small city block or the inside of a football field, what I enjoyed most about FQRV is the very welcoming and accommodating staff that will greet you here as well as the handful of smart amenities that this RV haven provides. After being let into the property, you’ll park immediately to the left as you enter, where there’s a handful of visitor spots, otherwise, feel free to park in one of the few empty spots or alongside the bricked sugar mill main building that lies right in front of you.
Once inside, you’ll check-in, find yourself and either pull-through or back-in to one of the 52 well-paved flat sites offering up a minimum of 30’ wide X 60’ long slots offering up the standard RV hook-ups of 20 / 30 / 50 amp electric, water and sewage. Additional amenities include: spartan new clubhouse (conveniently and centrally located just behind the main office) fitness and laundry rooms, 72 channels of cable TV, 4 private restroom facilities immaculately clean and complete with hot / cold showers, business office with fax / copier / WiFi / printer, ATM, community gazebo with wet bar and ice machine. Perhaps the best amenity here is the very inviting community pool that also features a jacuzzi and while not the largest of watering holes, seems somehow perfect for the size of this place. Don’t have an RV but want to spend the night here at FQRV anyway? Well, not a problem as there is a single on-site condo that offers up a master full bedroom w/ king size bed, full-kitchen, private bathroom w/ shower and tub, pull-out queen sofa bed, living room, cable-TV, separate WiFi and individual washer& dryer.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a handful: (1) To my tent pitching bredren, FQRV is offered up exclusively for the RV driving and 5th Wheel toting crowd, so you’ll have to look elsewhere if you’d to camp up here in the Big Easy; (2) If for any reason you arrive to FQRV without a reservation and there is ‘no room at the inn,’ there are a few very large-sized open parking lots just due east of this RV resort that at least you’ll be able to park overnight, in case you arrive late or don’t have time to find another spot to park your mobile camping abode; (3) At $120 per night ($700 per week or $2,400 per month), FQRV certainly isn’t a cheap option, but when you consider all of the very great amenities this place offers in addition to the extremely secure spot you’ll be parking your luxury cruiser at as well as, perhaps most importantly, the very easy and quick access this location provides to the French Quarter, which by my walking calculations will have you munching on a shrimp po’ boy while washing it all down with a nice Sazerac, which would be a careful concoction involving Cognac, Absinthe and whiskey (and yes, that ‘e’ in whiskey means American or Irish); (4) IMHO the best sites are actually the standard sites that are noted as ‘budget friendly’ are located closest to Interstate 10, which seems like an odd recommendation, but given that this busy highway is a good 200 feat above you, there’s really no escaping the noise it imparts, but at least you won’t see it or have to pay more (note: it’ll run you an extra $35 per night for ‘premium sites’ located closer to the main building, although you will also get a really nice screened gazebo in front of your slot as well as a‘longer runway’ in case you come packing a stretch limo RV); (5) There is no way to reserve a spot in advance of arriving here to FQRV, which is a bit frustrating at first, but when you realize that nearly every site is just the same as the one next to it, you’ll find yourself getting over this slight inconvenience real quick; (6) While there are no fire rings here, FQRV does allow you light up your own BBQ; (7) While the standard per nightly rates apply to average, non-event dates, you’ll realize pretty quickly here in the Big Easy that there’s an event just about every week, and this is more expansive than just Mardi Gras, generally the 3rd week of February, but let’s be honest, the revelry usually begins the 2 weeks preceding the carnival festivities … so you’ll want to keep in mind French Quarter Festival and Jazz Festival as well as some of the more popular football events will run you extra$.
Happy Camping!