New Orleans Festival Season — The Whole City Books Out at Once

From Mardi Gras through Jazz Fest, New Orleans runs the most event-driven hotel calendar in America. The same French Quarter room that's a bargain in early December can triple over a festival weekend — and unlike most cities, there's no overflow valve. When the Quarter sells out, the CBD sells out, then the Garden District, then the airport hotels. If you're coming for parades or festival weekends, book the room before you book anything else, and book it months out. Member rates do their best work here on the shoulder weekends — the weeks between the marquee events when the city is still in full swing but the public rates haven't caught up. And if your dates are flexible, those in-between weekends are the smartest trip in the South: same music, same food, half the crowd.

— Our Travel Editor