The Drifter Hotel

There’s nothing wrong with those classic New Orleans houses with their second-floor galleries, but there’s life beyond the French Quarter. Mid-City isn’t far away, but the vibe at the Drifter is like nothing else you’ve seen in this town. It’s a renovated mid-century motel, for one thing, the sort of low-slung two-story modernist building we’ve seen rehabilitated to great effect in towns like Austin, Texas. And while youth-oriented boutique hotels are not unheard of in New Orleans, the Drifter goes one further: with its rotating selection of food trucks, its well-chosen craft beers, its third-wave coffee, and its charmingly hedonistic courtyard pool, it’s tailor-made for young travelers with more taste than money.