Engine 24 French Quarter Firehouse...a Unique Vacation Home!

• AMAZING FOR LARGE GROUPS (BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE TRIPS)

  AMAZING FOR LARGE GROUPS (BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE TRIPS)

  • Guest Zach B.
  • Date of stay 05/23/13
  • Review Submitted 06/05/13
  My friends and I were beyond impressed with the Firehouse. Usually when viewing rentals online the pictures that are posted can be deceiving...and currently they are deceiving...because the Firehouse is actually nicer and larger than the pictures capture (they are in the midst of updating their pictures). The courtyard now has a large shaded overhang with a ceiling fan that makes hanging out there quite enjoyable. The furniture and artwork have been updated and it's really quite nice. It was about 95-100 degress when we were there and the A/C was pumping all weekend long without a single problem. It was super clean when we arrived too. It's about a 5 minute walk to Frenchmen and a 10-15 minute walk to the French Quarter. We walked everywhere during the day and then at night we took cabs (which are readily accessible and cheap as the Firehouse provides you with the cab services phone number along with other helpful contacts such as delivery menus, nearby markets, etc.). You would be doing yourselves a major disservice by staying anywhere else. The massive amount of space this place offers allows for everyone to feel like they aren't on top of one another like they would be in a hotel room and it also allows for the large group of people to hang out together. 12 people can't all gather into one hotel room, but with the Firehouse we could all be hanging out in the courtyard or upstairs in the large living room area. By far it was the best vacation stay I've experienced (hotel or rental).

  Recommended for: Families with young children, age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, tourists without a car.

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• Amazing building. Perfect for us!

  Amazing building. Perfect for us!

  • Guest Adrian
  • Date of stay 05/07/13
  • Review Submitted 06/04/13
  Booked this Firehouse for a combination bachelor party/guys weekend and had a awesome trip. We're a pretty sedate bunch and found Bourbon Street to be not to our liking, so the Marigny location was even better. Frenchmen Street is very cool and there are several good eateries around the Firehouse itself. In particular, I recommend Maurepas Foods and Bootys, an international street food bar/grill. Felt very safe in the neighborhood and we really enjoyed the courtyard. Spent many hours drinking beer and catching up with each other as we live all over the U.S. Liked it so much that we have another bachelor party in October in NOLA and are already rebooked!

  Owner response: Thanks so much for your review, Adrian! We are pleased that you so enjoyed the Firehouse and are glad you will be coming back with more friends soon. It's really a cool building and is perfect for small groups!

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• Very enjoyable

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Very enjoyable

  • Guest Alex K.
  • Date of stay 04/17/13
  • Review Submitted 06/04/13
  Thanks for everything! We loved the Firehouse and the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood. Martha made our special weekend even better and we will be back!

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• A nightmare stay through the rain

  A nightmare stay through the rain

  • Guest diana
  • Date of stay 04/08/13
  • Review Submitted 05/30/13
  My husband and I rented the Firehouse with friends for our wedding. In fact, many of our guests rented a house or apartment in New Orleans that weekend. We were the only ones to have any rain/plumbing/structural/whatever problems. Following a heavy rainstorm early one day, one of our guests passed by her bedroom (room 1 on the 1st floor) and heard what sounded like rain, which was odd since it had stopped hours ago. She found water flowing from the ceiling of her room with the consistency of heavy rain. She panicked and called me to help. We moved her stuff into another room. I contacted the building manager about the problem and ran upstairs to determine the cause. The "rain" downstairs in room 1 - which was actually water from a toilet leak upstairs - drenched some of my friend's property and the couch... DISGUSTING! The building manager guessed the problems stemmed from the rain earlier that day but was unable to provide any assistance until the next morning. The building manager sent a crew to clean the mess in the rooms the next morning, but they left the toilet-water-soaked couch. I hope they removed it after we left. Our second major issue occurred early the morning of our wedding. It was raining heavily, and we were scrambling to nail down our wedding contingency plan. My distress further compounded when I found leaking windows in our bedroom and that some of our baggage got soaked from the flooding. I contacted the building manager again to alert her to the problem. She never bothered to respond to me. It was only later I learned other rooms experienced flooding from water seeping through the windows. There was also flooding throughout the hallways and common areas. I'm surprised they don't have properly weatherproofed windows given all the hurricanes down there. We encountered other issues with management after our stay relating to trash. They expressed displeasure about the trash overflow, but it was mostly a result of damaged personal property and having to clean up after the flooding. We also dumped crawfish into the bin without using a trash bag (acceptable where we live but apparently not in New Orleans, a fact we were unaware of). As I saw mentioned in another review, communication with the multiple people who manage/own this property was quite frustrating, but would not have been a big deal if poor communication was the only issue. After much back and forth, they did give us a couple hundred bucks to offset dry cleaning costs.

  Owner response: We are very sorry these guests did not enjoy their stay at the Firehouse. We enjoy a strong repeat business and in most cases, guests rave about the historic building. The water issues described here are very strange indeed. In fact, a licensed plumber could not duplicate this "toilet" leak even once so we have no idea how this may have occurred. The plumber stated it was "user error" but, again, we couldn't duplicate. During a very heavy rain, it is possible for leaks in old historic buildings like ours. While we'd like to have the building as watertight as possible, modern double pane windows aren't allowed on buildings such as this due to historic/preservation regulations. There's no doubt quite a bit of exaggeration in the review but just to placate the guests we offered $250 to offset any dry cleaning expenses on wedding day. Unfortunately, guests can also be difficult and we found this to be the case here. Quite simply, this group was not a match for our property and it's sad that we didn't know this until later. In fact, the owners of the building considered eviction more than once during their weeklong stay due to excess trash, use of the building in violation of the rental agreement, etc., but opted not to do so. Perhaps it would have been better for all concerned had we done so. Crawfish stink, period, when left out. Our neighbors were up in arms because these guests didn't properly dispose of crawfish shells despite our HANDING a box of trash bags to the renter. Even the trash company refused to pick the items up without proper bagging procedures...it cost over $200 to get rid of the trash. As a good faith measure, we even refunded the damage/cleaning deposit (as we almost always do) but would have been within our rights not to. Hopefully, readers will consider our long history of pleased guests when considering the Firehouse for their special New Orleans trip.

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• Famiily Reunion

  Famiily Reunion

  • Guest martha
  • Date of stay 10/03/12
  • Review Submitted 10/23/12
  My family and I rented the whole Firehouse for a Family Renunion in New Orleans. We got lucky that we came in after the delivery of the new furniture and a fountain and covered porch in the courtyard! Our Grandchildren slept comfortably on the sofa beds (not sure it would be comfortable for adults). We had one meal catered by Elizabeths nearby and had plenty of dishes and space for all 15 of us. The dishwasher wasn't working and the owners had maintenance repair it the next day. The neighborhood is a little ecclectic and off the beaten path about a 20 minute walk to the French Quarter. Our family enjoyed that we were able to be under one roof with privacy.

  Recommended for: Families with young children, age 55+.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Great location, beautiful building, helpful management

  Great location, beautiful building, helpful management

  • Guest Luke
  • Date of stay 05/17/12
  • Review Submitted 06/29/12
  My friends and I recently rented out all of Engine 24 for a bachelor party weekend. This is a great rental for a group - tons of room and two large living rooms (one with giant roll-front doors that opens onto the street and another with large windows overlooking the street). The location was perfect for us - there were several shops, cafes and bars within a few blocks, and the walk to the French Quarter is less than 10 minutes through small streets of the Marigny (a great little neighborhood). Engine 24 is comprised of the main house - the old, brick, eclectic firehouse - which has five bedrooms, and a separate new building in back with two more bedrooms. Every bedroom has its own bathroom. Contrary to one other review posted here, the furniture was all fully functional and every amenity was provided (soap, towels, kitchen utensils, etc.) Upon arrival, we got a walk-through with the local agent - who left us her number and stayed in touch with us throughout the weekend with local tips, taxi info, nearby groceries, etc. When one of the AC units went down on a 90-degree Saturday, the management had it up and running within hours. (They even brought beignets.) Excellent service.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, adventure seekers, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• A very enjoyable building with much character

  A very enjoyable building with much character

  • Guest JJ
  • Date of stay 05/10/12
  • Review Submitted 05/18/12
  Our party of 12 enjoyed our visit to New Orleans and to this Firehouse building. We rented the entire place and thought it was a pleasant trip overall. Enjoyed the restaurant list provided to us by Martha, the check-in person, and we thought Feelings Cafe just oozed charm. It is obvious the Firehouse is being repaired/restored as some of the rooms actually look better than the online photos at this point. I read on an earlier review that some clutter could be found in the kitchens and I agree with this but it is not unusual in VRBO rentals. Overall, the New Orleans Firehouse building was a good find and one I'd bring my friends back to again.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, girls getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Penthouse was dirty and disorganized. Downstairs seemed nicer. Enjoyed the neighborhood.

  Penthouse was dirty and disorganized. Downstairs seemed nicer. Enjoyed the neighborhood.

  • Guest Erin
  • Date of stay 04/26/12
  • Review Submitted 05/08/12
  I stayed in the Penthouse unit with 3 other friends during Jazzfest. We were disappointed by our experience with the Penthouse: it was overall dirty, disorganized, and some furniture was broken upon arrival. The kitchen was not really usable, because there were no cleaning supplies and pots and pans were stored haphazardly. There wasn't even hand soap in the bathrooms! Overall, it did not feel like a place ready to be rented out as a vacation property. The downstairs area looked nicer, but we didn't stay there so I can't really speak to it. I did voice my complaints to the owners, who dismissed my concerns. I liked being in the Marigny - it was close enough to the French Quarter and Frenchmen St, but quiet at night. We had a nice evening at Bacchanal (beer and wine only) which is about a mile away. There is a market a couple blocks away (Mardi Gras Market) where we went for groceries. I would definitely take cabs at night - the area is quiet and doesn't feel entirely safe for foot traffic (though I was with only women). I would also recommend being extremely careful when crossing Elysian Fields going into the Quarter - a friend and I were almost run over in broad daylight, and some neighbors told us this is a treacherous street (I know this is not related to the Firehouse, but a note of caution to anyone staying in the area). Based on my experience I would not stay at the Firehouse again, though I understand that that the downstairs is probably nicer than the Penthouse. I did like the Marigny neighborhood, and feel it is a good alternative to being right in the Quarter.

  Owner response: While we thank the guest for leaving a review, we must admit this is a very frustrating one to read. While in-house for six nights, the guest had one issue regarding WiFi connectivity on their laptop. While we were able to connect to the system on our laptops and iPads, the Firehouse owners did decide to go ahead and upgrade the system with two brand new Wireless-N routers capable of handling more users and extending the range of the signal. The guest asked for a considerable "refund" for her WiFi inconvenience, which we declined because the issue was resolved as quickly as possible. We heard no further complaints or comments regarding the Firehouse until after the guest had returned home. Obviously, if these new issues occurred then it would be much more helpful to know about them when we could actually solve the problems. For instance, we could have easily sent in our housekeeping team to re-clean any areas needing a touch-up, to rearrange the kitchen, provide soap, etc. The guests who used the unit the following week had no similar complaints and used the kitchen daily. Just this week, the owners did a walk-through after reading this review and noted that we could remove a few of the many items we have in the kitchen to make it look "neater." It's hardly unusable, however. The Firehouse is a unique building with charm and character in a historic area of New Orleans and the owners remain committed to keeping it as one of the top vacation rentals near the French Quarter and Frenchmen Street. We thank the guest for her comments and promise to continue looking for ways to upgrade our guest experience.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/9

• Loved the Firehouse and the great surrounding neighborhood

  Loved the Firehouse and the great surrounding neighborhood

  • Guest Ramrod
  • Date of stay 03/15/12
  • Review Submitted 05/06/12
  Stayed here with a group of work associates who didn't want the sterile atmosphere of a large hotel. The Firehouse fit the bill perfectly for us. Jon and William were both very nice and set us up very well both in advance and on-site. The Firehouse is near quite a few bars and restaurants in Faubourg Marigny as well as a short walk (10-15) minutes to Frenchmen Street. The French Quarter is close as well. For about $100 per night per room, we had the whole place to ourselves and loved it.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Final Four Stay

  Final Four Stay

  • Guest Sheltiegirl
  • Date of stay 03/28/12
  • Review Submitted 04/21/12
  We stayed at Engine 24 during the2012 Final Four.... What a great experience - walked to the French Quarter and beyond every day - never had any problems walking back each night from Frenchman's Street where the music and food was fantastic. We stayed in the top section of the firehouse, plenty of room and great setup… Loved having a kitchen to cook breakfast and have coffee before heading out for the entire day. We were able to open up the front windows and listen to Jimmy Buffett concert one night that was being held down by the water and had the perfect view for the fireworks that followed. The go to person for our stay was extremely helpful and on the ball. We enjoyed sitting out in the courtyard (which they were in the process of fixing up) the one time we were back earlier in the evening – the water feature with the surrounding tall plants/trees just added to relaxing evening we wanted. Parking out the front was never a problem for us…. I would highly recommend staying here.

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway, girls getaway, adventure seekers, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

  Owner response: Thanks so much for the wonderful review. We're glad you enjoyed your visit to the Firehouse as well as the new water features in the courtyard. It's the first of many upgrades planned to the facility over the next few months!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 5/5

Additional information about rental rates

Rates subject to change and vary by season or special event. The rates listed here and guidelines only.

One night deposit due upon receipt of rental contract. Balance 30 days in advance of arrival.

Additional Fees and Taxes:

.50 per bedroom per night, or $3.50 for the entire Firehouse per night