At the hotel, Lamar's Creole Restaurant, which specializes in home-style cooking and Creole cuisine, offers complimentary continental breakfasts with views of the large outdoor pool and wading area for children. Two 1,100-square-foot meeting rooms are perfect for business travelers and event planners.

Guest rooms feature floor-length drapes, textured-stucco walls, armoires, desks, black- and-white photographs of the French Quarter, data ports and coffee makers.

Twenty miles from the international airport, the Best Western Avalon Six Flags attracts cost-conscious travelers, especially families and recreation-vehicle enthusiasts who appreciate the ample parking. Tycoons also come here looking to make deals while staying in the Big Easy - at prices that won't extinguish the company's pension fund.