Joe and Flo’s Candlelight Hostel

BAD BUSINESS. We walked into the Joe and Flo’s and it was immediately obvious that there was a bad gas leak in the hostel. It was hard to breath and we immediately had headaches. I told the receptionist that we would not be staying with them and advised him to check if any guests were in the hostel before leaving for his own safety. So needless to say we didn’t check in. After our trip I was surprised to find a $ 49 dollar charge from Joe and Flo’s on my credit statement. I called multiple times, the phone was never answered and my messages were never returned. I also tried contacting them by email and they did not reply. Had to dispute the charge with my credit card company.
If I could rate them negative stars I would. STAY AWAY!

«Beware of BED BUGS (read reviews that mention this issue) and other serious problems – a terrible experience that may linger with you long after you leave!»
We stayed in April of 2013.
pros:
1) cheap, competitively priced airport pickup, and
2) a functional shower
3) seemingly cheep nightly rate
cons:
1) BED BUGS:
if you aren’t familiar with these, you should google them. These bugs were mentioned in another online review from Unilocal,which I ignored due to prior inexperience with the horror that is bedbugs, and to this day deeply regret having done. We thought the bites we were getting were from mosquitos, but they weren’t because we spotted trademark fecal smears on the bed sheets. We stayed for about 5 days, and got bit every night. Bed bugs are tenacious, so we tracked them back to our apartment when we flew back home. We know because there were new bites and bed bug carcasses. We went on vacation, and then moved to a new apartment in another state. Lowe and behold, months later, the trademark bites show up again – yes, they followed us to 3 different states over the span of months. We spend $ 600 to have a company get rid of the bed bugs. They have to come multiple times to make sure because of how persistent these things are – it only takes one queen to hatch more. They finally kill the bugs. We also have to launder everything repeatedly, as clothes driers are hot enough to kill the bugs, but professional extermination is practically required to get rid of them.
2) dingy bedroom and communal bathrooms:
the room looks worn down, as if it hasn’t been refurbished in at least a decade. The men’s bathroom looks terrible as well, with a shelf that is falling off from the wall and an unsightly shower floor. The lock to the women’s bathroom doesn’t work, so my girlfriend thought she would be walked in on all the time.
3) poorly organized management and hidden charges:
the management mishandled my booking repeatedly through various employees. I’ll walk you through what happened step by step: I book online for around 5 nights through
. There is no availability at Joe’s for night 3, so I book another hostel. Employee 1 calls me, and tells me there is availability for night 3, so I change my reservation. Simple, right? No. When I arrive, a different employee, employee 2 is confused, and doesn’t charge me for the 3^rd night. 3 nights into my stay, yet another employee, employee 3, knocks on my door, mentioning that I need to pay for 1 more night, so I do. Then, when checking out, employee 3 or 4 (I forget if it was a new one, or employee 3) tells me that I need to pay taxes for my 5 nights stay, citing an official looking letter on the wall from the city of New Orleans – this raises the rate considerably, and is different from the rate quoted on
.
conclusion:
So, in the end, I ended up paying more in bed bug extermination and taxes than if I had stayed somewhere far nicer, and spend months dealing with the issue. By the way, the bites are unsightly, and the feeling of knowing that you will sleep another night only to wake up with more bites because you are too busy to solve the problem is unsettling. I deeply regret having stayed here, and so does my girlfriend. I hope others can read this review and learn from it, which is truthful in its account of what happened.

Well, I saved a lot of dough staying here and managed to not get annihilated by bed bugs, but if I should ever come back to N’awlinz, I’m steering clear from this place.
I was VERY hesitant about booking my stay here, given its majority of negative reviews on Unilocal.Though, in all fairness, nobody’s added a review on here since 2011 and the reviews for it on
are not only more up to date, but are a lot better. I took it as a sign that the owner (s) were receptive to the feedback they were getting, and spruced it up a tad.
Keep in mind, folks: This is a not a hotel, it’s a HOSTEL. An old, rickety house located in a somewhat sketchy area of New Orleans surrounded by decaying homes and feral cats running around. If you decide to stay here, no diva demands allowed.
The good:
+ Close walk to the French Quarter/​Bourbon Street. (At least by our standards… took us less than 20 mins. on foot.)
+ You get assigned a special numeric code that you type in to enter the front door and your room. Smart way to keep those shady characters out.
+ Free things: Wifi, towels, coffee, and pancake mix in the kitchen.
+ Wasn’t crowded when we stayed. I saw probably 3 people the whole time and never had to wait to use the bathroom.
+ Access to a washer and dryer.
+ The girl working there (forgot her name, my bad) was nice and helpful. Gave us a map, some tips, and made recommendations on places to check out.
The bad:
— No soap in the bathroom, other than liquid hand soap.
— There were no curtains on the single window in our room, other than this flimsy, frilly sheer linen. Sure, it was only facing the side of the house next door, but given the neighborhood it was in, I felt paranoid I’d see a crackhead staring right at me from outside of it!
— Did I mention it was in a sketchy area? If you’re going to walk anywhere, take Esplanade Ave. It’s pretty much the only busy and well-​lit street nearby.
— A/​C issues. Humidity in NOLA is insane, and heat + old house with no insulation = gross times. On our second night staying there, our room was hotter than Chewbacca in a flannel sleeping bag, even with the ceiling fan on. Barely slept and we had 8 hours of driving followed by a 5 hour flight the next day.
The ugly:
* A lot of toiletries are left behind by previous travelers (shampoo, mouth wash, etc.). Be careful what you use — some are old and naaaaasty!
* Huge spider on the toilet flusher and a moth flying around in the shower, ’cause we all love good company in the bathroom, right?
Overall, if you want to save a few bucks and you’re not above sleeping in a squishy bed with stiff sheets and bathing in a shower that belongs in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, come stay at Joe & Flo’s.

It did the job. We needed a place to sleep and we got just that. The goods: Decent middle bathroom, washer and dryer at a reasonable price and it is near Bourbon and Louis Armstrong park!
The bads: Wifi didn’t work. One of the of the bunks was broken and there were no ladders to the top bunks. The shuttle is no existent. When we checked in they didn’t explain to us how to use the door, so when we returned late that night we couldn’t figure out how to get in. Then we finally did. Turns out we didn’t shut it correctly and the on-​call person had to come down to open the door for a guest. Not only did she leave me a rude 40 second screaming message but she gave the guest my name and room number and he proceeded to bang on my door around 3 AM screaming and my sister, my friend and myself. We were scared he was trying to break in. They also charged my sister twice for the stay. It sucked cause we got to AZ on our road-​trip and realized and they were trying to get her to fax some stuff and basically have her take care of it when it was their fault.
Put in a few hundred in repairs and get more attentive staff and I guarantee people will like it more.

BEDBUGS BEDBUGS BEDBUGS! Staying here was a HUGE mistake. I read previous comments about bedbugs and decided to stay here anyway for the Final Four since ZERO hotels were available in the city. I got a private room and brought my own sheets from home to keep the possible bedbugs away. I STILL GOT BEDBUGS all over my face, chest, back and arms. I had to go to the emergency room because my body was so bitten that it became a serious health issue. I reported this hostel to the local and state health department. There is so soap or toilet paper in this hostel. Don’t be fooled, It is NOT located in the French Quarter, its located 8 long blocksaway (you need to take a taxi, since none of the streets are lit at night) in a very blighted neighborhood directly behind the Interstate. What a disgrace! Also, there shouldn’t be drug dealers offering me drugs while they sit on the front porch of the hostel. Avoid this place at all costs!

Stayed here for VooDoo Fest and Halloween and I was pleasantly surprised at the accommodations. Clean room with clean Queen bed, futon, personal A/​C, Mini-​fridge, free Wi-​Fi, and TV all for a third of other nearby places. It is walking distance or a very short bike to the French Quarter and Frenchman St. The staff were very friendly and informative about the local area. They are locals and can tell you about places other than the tourist traps. We always felt safe and while the neighborhood is a little run down you are across the street from a local church and I felt safe walking around the block. The beds were soft and clean as was the shared bathroom. There are separate men’s and women’s bathrooms which were clean and rarely in use. Open kitchen so you can bring food to prepare if you wish. Lounge area has couch cable tv and computer for your use. Always a friendly atmosphere and we meet people from all over the world. If you are looking to spend a third of a normal hotel and still be close to everything NoLo has to offer I would recommend this place, safe your money for shows or the casino.
Also in response to other reviewers we saw not one insect during our stay and the beds are very clean so it seems the issues have been resolved. Thanks again to Tucker for making our stay pleasurable and making us feel at home.

OMG ! Stayed here at the end of May. THIS PLACE HAS BEDBUGS! I know what they look like no mistaking them., I was locked out one night due to a faulty door lock, and had to call someone to let me in, I would never stay here again, had to quarantine everything I took with me for 2 weeks in my garage. Nothing is worth the stress of not knowing if you «got them». Ish
While I was there, I had to leave my suitcases and purchases in the trunk of my rental car. Told the girl upon check out, her response was «oh».

You have to beware of tourist traps in this city! This hostel will make you feel smart about your money and give you a real feel for local flavor while still being a very reasonable walking distance to EVERYTHING! it is bit run down but the price is great! My husband and I got a huge private room with AC, mini fridge, and tv for 50 a night. Less than a half mile to the French Quarter!
The draw back is the shared bathroom, but the staff is very kind and the neighborhood is just fine. I wouldn’t walk alone at night, but where is that a good idea anywhere in Nola?