Ask the team · Bywater, New Orleans
Mardi Gras · New Orleans
Mardi Gras with the whole crew: one house to march out of and come home to.
Carnival runs from Twelfth Night to Mardi Gras Day (February 9 in 2027), and a group that wants to do it right needs a home base more than anything else: beds for everybody, a kitchen that restocks the crew between parades, and a hot tub for what the parade route does to your feet.
The short answer
Where does a big group actually stay for Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras is the hardest week of the year to house a group: downtown hotels split the crew down hallways at peak rates, and the big-group rentals that remain go fast. Each CastleDay villa keeps up to 30 people behind one front door in the Bywater, across 12 bedrooms and 17 beds, with a private heated pool, hot tub and courtyard to come home to. And it’s a licensed hotel that feels like a house: inspected, legal, city permit 24-XSTR-24029.
The geography works in your favor. The walking krewes roll practically next door in the Marigny: Chewbacchus in mid-January, Krewe du Vieux and ’tit Rəx the week after. On Lundi Gras the Red Beans parade comes right through the Bywater. The superkrewes (Endymion, Bacchus and the big floats) run the St. Charles route about 15 minutes away, and the Quarter is a ten-minute ride whenever you want it.
Between parades is what the house is for. The chef’s kitchen with double refrigerators keeps the crew fed without a table wait, costumes get staged in twelve separate bedrooms instead of one hotel closet, and the courtyard and hot tub hold the nightly debrief. King cake season opens at Twelfth Night; the porch is where it disappears.
Kelsi’s crew did Carnival from The Florentine: “My friends and I came here to celebrate Mardi Gras and it was soo clean and spacious! The kitchen was huge, the men enjoyed the basketball court, and to top it all off the hot tub was perfect! We will be back!” The Bed Map on every villa page shows all seventeen beds, room by room, before anyone books a flight.
On timing, the honest math: Mardi Gras weekend itself books out closer to a year ahead. The sleeper move is the January parade weekends, when Chewbacchus and Krewe du Vieux roll next door at January rates. Either way the bill stays simple: the nightly rate plus one cleaning fee, plus occupancy taxes, no per-guest fees. Pick your dates and the calculator shows the real price at live rates, split per person, before you’ve told us your name.
Parades close by
Walking krewes next door in the Marigny; the Red Beans parade comes through the Bywater; superkrewes about 15 minutes.
The regroup base
A kitchen that restocks the crew, twelve bedrooms for costume staging, a hot tub for parade-route feet.
A bed for every name
17 beds behind 12 doors, mapped room by room on the Bed Map. Nobody sleeps at a different hotel.
Three villas
Take one villa, or all three.
The layouts match; the personalities don't. Each sleeps up to 30; book two for up to 60, or all three for up to 90.
Good to know
Common questions
When is Mardi Gras 2027?
Mardi Gras Day is Tuesday, February 9, 2027. Carnival season opens at Twelfth Night (January 6) and builds through the parade weekends; the biggest floats roll the final two weekends before Fat Tuesday.
Where do big groups stay for Mardi Gras in New Orleans?
Hotels split a crew across floors at peak rates, so groups that travel together book whole houses early. CastleDay sleeps up to 30 per villa (up to 90 across all three) in the Bywater, with walking krewes next door in the Marigny and the St. Charles route about 15 minutes away.
How close are the parades?
The Marigny’s walking krewes (Chewbacchus, Krewe du Vieux) roll practically next door, the Red Beans parade comes through the Bywater on Lundi Gras, and the superkrewes on St. Charles are about a 15-minute ride. The Quarter is about ten minutes.
When should we book for Mardi Gras?
About a year out for Mardi Gras weekend itself. The January parade weekends are the insider pick: real krewes, walking distance, January rates. The rates page shows our honest take on every Carnival weekend.
What does a Mardi Gras stay cost?
The nightly rate plus one cleaning fee, plus occupancy taxes; no per-guest fees. Rates are seasonal and Mardi Gras is peak, so pick your dates and the calculator shows the real price at live rates, split per person.
Can we come back to the villa between parades?
That’s the whole point of staying close: the crew regroups in the kitchen or the courtyard, costumes get fixed, the hot tub undoes the standing, and everyone heads back out on their own schedule.
Keep the group together
Ready to keep your whole group together?
Each villa sleeps up to 30 across 12 bedrooms, 17 beds, and 8 baths. No per-guest fees, and the lowest rate is always direct.
Check availability