We entered Preferred Hotel's #PreferredPups Instagram contest and won a complimentary two night stay at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. The contest consisted of posting a picture of your pup living the #PreferredLife and tagging at least one of the 8 dog friendly locations you'd be interested in visiting. We had always wanted to travel to NOLA to check out the colonial architecture, Cajun cuisine, and nightlife. We were not disappointed at all.

Flying with Your Dog

We flew with JetBlue. AJ and Nocci are both Emotional Support Animals so they were allowed to sit on our laps during the flight. They were both well behaved and stayed calm during the flight. We were allowed to bring their dog food in our carry-ons and JFK even has a pet relief area.

The Windsor Court Hotel

The Windsor Court Hotel definitely displayed southern hospitality. They treated AJ and Nocci like celebrities. They exceeded our expectations of being dog-friendly. They provided dog beds and dog bowls filled with iced masquerade biscuits. They even sent us some desserts! The concierge set us up with dog-sitting services so we could leave the dogs playing in our suite while exploring the streets of NOLA. AJ and Nocci had an amazing time running around the room and playing all day and night.

Dog-Friendly Activities

Prior to departing for our trip, we researched dog-friendly restaurants and found so many. However, the weekend we were there, the weather was similar to winter in NYC so we chose to leave the pups with Kanine Krewe dog sitting in the room most days rather than sitting outside with them at restaurants. We did take them on a long-walk along the Mississippi River to Jackson Square and sat inside with the pups at Cafè Du Monde and enjoyed coffee and beignets. The beignets were delicious. We also walked with the pups along the famous Bourbon Street during the day. We wouldn't recommend bringing them to Bourbon Street at night because it gets super crowded and loud.

Restaurants and Nightlife

The food in New Orleans was mouth watering. Fried chicken was definitely a staple in New Orleans. We waited online in hailing rain to eat the Chicken St. Charles at the Ruby Slipper for brunch. You can't beat eggs benedict combined with fried chicken. We would literally do anything to go back to NOLA Restaurant and have the pepper jack mac and cheese and fried chicken again. Mr. B's Bistro was classy. We loved the fried oysters, the bacon wrapped shrimp (YES that's a thing), and lamb and pork chops.

Bourbon Street was insane. The streets are closed down for cars and everyone just walks in the streets sipping on their oversized drinks. People are dancing on porches and enjoying the view from the colonial bars with balconies. Our all time favorite bar was Pat O'Briens. We enjoyed the famous Hurricane drink and listened to the dueling pianos play some of our old favorite songs.

Rainy Day Activities

We planned on going on a boat tour to see alligators but couldn't due to inclement weather. Instead, we went to Harrah's Casino across the street from the Windsor. We also checked out the Audubon Aquarium to see some penguins and sharks and the National World War II Museum.