My favorite package is the most expensive (isn't that always the way?). The Makin' Groceries Like a

Sure it's hot outside, but hotels and tourist attractions are cool. In so many ways. And as we enter the last stretch of summer, local hotels cruise vacations alaska cruises - most with swimming pools - are doing all they can to fill rooms - with locals. Spend the night in or near the French Quarter and you'll find yourself looking at the...
cruise vacations alaska cruises Spend the night in or near the French Quarter and you'll find yourself looking at the city you think you know so well in a different light. Walk along the river or stand on the decks of the Natchez steamboat while you sail on the Mississippi.
CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE ARCHIVE You never know who you might see in Jackson Square. In this photo, taken in April, legendary clarinet player Pete Fountain, right, watches as trombone player Glen David Andrews, left, walks up to him while playing in front of the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.
Dine out in one of 35 or so of our best-known restaurants (Brennan's, Commander's Palace, Bayona, Martinique Bistro, Peristyle, to name a few) -- for $20 or less for lunch, $30 or less for dinner through August, as part of the city's COOLinary promotion. (Read the list at www.neworleansonline.com or call 800.672.6124.)
Then listen cruise vacations alaska cruises to music and dance on Frenchmen or Bourbon Street or at a neighborhood club and end the evening with cafe au lait (decaffeinated) and beignets at Cafe du Monde before cruise vacations alaska cruises heading back to a hotel room, where you'll find bedsheets have been turned back and smoothed. There may be a chocolate waiting.
The Greater New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau once again is inviting locals in the metro area to be "a tourist cruise vacations alaska cruises in your hometown" through offers at www.touristathome.com , where you can check out all sorts of deals on hotels and attractions. Find more inspiration at www.neworleansonline.com .
There are all sorts of promotions on both sites, as well as in The Times-Picayune and on www.nola.com. If you always have wanted to stay at a particular hotel, call it and ask what sorts of summer specials they may be offering.
Prices start at $99 (plus tax) a night with the Sizzlin' Summer Package, which comes with a book of discount coupons. You can even room with your pooch (the Pampered Pet package) for $121 with parking.
My favorite package is the most expensive (isn't that always the way?). The Makin' Groceries Like a Local package costs $244.50 per night on Fridays and Saturdays through the weekend of Aug. 15-17. Participants will accompany the hotel's Executive Chef Anthony cruise vacations alaska cruises Spizale, winner of this year's Best of Show medal at the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, to the Saturday morning cruise vacations alaska cruises Crescent City Farmers Market, and in the early afternoon will watch him give a cooking demonstration and eat what he prepares. The package also includes Saturday breakfast and Sunday brunch cruise vacations alaska cruises in the Rib Room.
This is the place to be if you thrive on Bourbon Street (or want to be a block from Galatoire's), although the Oasis pool in the center of the hotel really is an escape from the hubbub. The French Quarter Fling -- with champagne and a book of discount coupons -- begins at $99 through Sept. 30. Plan to include a weekend, so you can enjoy the live entertainment in the Mystik club, then stick around for the lavish Sunday brunch in Begue's cruise vacations alaska cruises restaurant.
On Fridays, at least through August, and maybe longer, there are dance lessons at 8 p.m., for $30 each, including a drink. cruise vacations alaska cruises Everyone else can "dance 'til your feet cry to quit" for $10 beginning at 9 p.m. Salsa lessons are planned for next Friday; slow Ballroom dances Aug. 8; the Fox Trot Aug. 15; the Hustle Aug. 22; and Swing Aug. 29.
Room rates begin at $149 (plus tax), while package prices -- with perks such as breakfast and parking -- begin at $179 through September. But the Iberville Suites -- a hotel within the Ritz-Carlton -- has rooms that begin at $89 some nights. Also, the Healing Through Habitat package, through Aug. 12, offers $100 rates to those who spend a day working to rebuild our city.
Across the street from Canal Place and Harrah's casino -- and the city's favorite spot for a proper afternoon tea -- the Windsor Court's Suite Dreams and Summer Sojourn specials through Sept. 30 start at $149. For $249, you can upgrade to a room or $329 to a suite, both on the club floor, where guests can indulge in complimentary breakfast, afternoon snacks, evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails.
The Summer Escape Package begins at $243 in a junior suite and $343 in a Club Floor suite, cruise vacations alaska cruises with parking and continental breakfast. The Grill Gourmet package at $307 and $407 (club floor) includes dinner for two (plus beverages, tax and tip) in the New Orleans Grill.
Immerse yourself in this hotel that dates to 1817. The French Quarter Getaway package begins at $105 a night ($50 more for a suite), with free welcome cocktails and breakfast, plus half off the parking rate. If you party too much, St. Louis Cathedral is across the street.
In the Central Business District a couple of blocks from the French Quarter, the boutique IH has long been home base for the young, trendy set who flock to events such as tributes to Audrey Hepburn. Even when there's no occasion, they linger in the lobby bar called loa.
During most of August (except for Aug. 8-9), loa regulars and everyone else can sleep at the hotel -- where lobby furniture is dressed in summer white -- for as little as $79 (including free Popsicles) through the Red Hot Summer Special .
A favorite of Southern families for generations, the Monteleone is touting Suite Summer Deals at www.neworleanscvb.com (check hotel coupons). Through Sept. 15, rooms start at $109 on weekends, $99 weeknights; suites begin at $189. And, your pet can tag along (don't forget the leash).
The Sleepaway Camp Experience (while your kids are at summer camp) at W NEW ORLEANS at 333 Poydras includes Bug Juice cocktails, an in-room movie, breakfast and a 3 p.m. checkout, cruise vacations alaska cruises with rates beginning at $179 through Sept. 1; at the W NEW ORLEANS-FRENCH QUARTER , 316 Chartres St., the package price starts at $199.
Weekend cruise vacations alaska cruises rates at the JW MARRIOTT (the former Meridien) at 555 Canal St. are $119 to $219 through Sept. 1 (code V12), while you can stay any night before Sept. 1 at five area Marriotts , with free breakfasts and wine and cheese, for $159 to $259 (code M11).