Ask the team · Bywater, New Orleans
The Journal
Notes from the Bywater.
Real weekends at the villas, written up with the schedules, headcounts, and moves worth stealing for your own.
The city guides
City guide · The neighborhood
The Bywater vs. the French Quarter
We would pick staying in the Bywater over the French Quarter pretty much every day of the week. The reasoning.
Read the story →City guide · The riverfront
The riverfront finally connects
The new park on the Governor Nicholls wharf opened in April. You can now walk the river from the Bywater to Canal Street.
Read the story →City guide · Festival season
The festival season guide
The 2026-27 festival calendar, Jazz Fest tips, and how to fest from a villa ten minutes from everything.
Read the story →City guide · Mardi Gras
The Mardi Gras guide
The 2027 parade calendar, the walking parades closest to the villas, and the tips that make Carnival easy.
Read the story →City guide · The holidays
The NOLA holiday guide
The 2026-27 season: bonfires on the levee, caroling in Jackson Square, and the calendar through the Sugar Bowl.
Read the story →Stories & issues
Guest story · Wedding weekend
Our wedding weekend playbook
One villa as the family home base: a 34-person family dinner, a getting-ready compound, and a 150-person farewell brunch.
Read the story →Issue 03 · Summer update
Summer in New Orleans, and at CastleDay
The free shows, the festivals, the snoballs, and why summer guests get the most from the villas.
Read the story →Issue 02 · Spring update
Exciting things are blooming
Azaleas out, jasmine in the air, and the two things New Orleans is simply perfect for: festing and getting married.
Read the story →Issue 01 · Winter update
We're starting something new
The first quarterly update: steam off the heated pool, Sugar Bowl weekend, and Carnival on the way.
Read the story →Wedding weekend
A wedding weekend across all three villas
Ceremony, brass band, and the pool day after: a real wedding weekend, told by the couple.
Read the story →Milestone birthdays
A triple birthday in one villa
Twenty friends, one villa, three birthdays; pool hoops by day, night basketball after dark.
Read the story →Listening party
The Adult Swimming III listening party
A DJ by the pool, brisket for the crowd, golf-cart shuttles: an album release done right.
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