Even though the reviews were mixed of the Palace, we decided to try this place because we like old and charming, and the location seemed great. We used to live in New Orleans so wanted a quirky old world experience. We have both traveled around the world and can stay in simple places, and as long as they are clean, we are content. After checking in here and trying to make it work, we chose not to stay here. I am choosing not to go into details because I don't want to hurt feelings, but the room was very dirty, the bed was dirty, and the bathroom needed to be cleaned from previous guests.

The room feels unsafe. There are old wires hanging out of outlets, the smoke alarm was disabled and in the closet, and other electrical items were rigged up in strange ways. We could have stayed it if was just funky and quirky, but dirty and unsafe didn't feel like a good way to start our vacation. On the positive, this guest house has a lot of potential and the location is very central.

The location of this place can't be beat! Right in the middle of the French Quarter on Dumaine, between the gorgeous and funky Royal St and the crazy Bourbon street, although it is down some from the real craziness of Bourbon. Half a block away are the Clover Grill and a gay bar called Cafe Lafitte in Exile. The rainbow flags are plentiful along that area of Bourbon, which I really like. A few doors down was a voodoo museum!
The owner of the Biscuit Palace was very nice and accommodating, great to work with and full of info about the things to see and do. The lady I met who was part of the cleaning staff was also very nice.
The building itself is very funky and interesting, VERY New Orleans! It reminded me of how I imagined Barbary Lane in the Tales of the City series. There is a cute courtyard with banana trees, a few tables and chairs and a coy pond. The staircase is steep and winding and there were huge open windows at each level that looked out to the wooden balcony and open courtyard below. The banister got lower the farther up you went so by the time we got to the fourth level it was only thigh-high. If you went over it would be down four stories to the stone courtyard below so we took turns taking our 3 kids up the stairs one at a time so we could hold hands the entire time. Next time I would love to stay in one of the lower rooms, especially one that has an iron balcony looking out onto Dumaine! Our suite was great though, it was in the attic of the building and called The Barracks Apartment. The tiny pics on the website don't do it justice! There is a small kitchen with a microwave, mini fridge, sink and coffee maker plus a table with two chairs. There were plates and cups plus a few extras like pancake syrup and plastic cups. Towels were provided daily as well as extra toilet paper. The bathroom was tiny and not very private at all because of the doors, they reminded me a lot of what you would find on a closet. Not a big deal with close family or friends but awkward otherwise. I would have loved a plug for the tub but I'm sure if we had asked we would have been accommodated, it just wasn't that big of a deal.
The living room had a daybed for a couch, several chairs and end tables and a flat screen TV. There is a huge painting above the fireplace, very dark and pretty. Both bedrooms had funky doors and double beds. The bedroom we chose had walls that did not go all the way up to the ceiling and doors that were like a closet's doors and didn't completely close so privacy was at a minimum but the location was the best for hiding Christmas presents in the living room. There were four cute little windows that looked out over the rooftops and you could see the spire of the St Louis cathedral from the one in the kitchen. I felt very safe and the door to the courtyard with the code was very easy to operate.
Our stay was perfect and we will definitely be returning! The rates are really reasonable, we paid just under $500 for four nights over Christmas!

Great location a block off Bourbon Street - shabby chic meets antique charm - although seriously in need of refreshing, this is a wonderful value - reasonably clean and very comfortable - the bed is awesome (no backache when I woke up) and the water pressure in the shower is excellent. Bonus is the mini kitchen with a fridge and microwave. Coffee is provided, as is a coffee pot - overall if you are looking for a clean, reasonably priced place to crash without expectations this is it. Added bonus is the keypad entry on the front door.

Our grown daughter stayed with my wife and me in the Burgundy Suite on a 5 day trip to New Orleans. We had the nice bedroom with the unbelievably great balcony 3 doors from Bourbon Street. Our daughter stayed in the front room. The rooms were nicely decorated and clean, the beds were very comfortable, the service was great and It was a very easy and homey place to stay. Our daughter was in NOLA for a conference later in the week, so the last 2 days we stayed with her at the celebrated Hotel Monteleone. It is a plush, historic hotel, one block from Bourbon at the busier end of the quarter. It was a nice place to stay, too. But, all three of us much preferred the Biscuit Palace! The voting was not even close.

Clayton was great to work with on the internet and by phone in arranging to stay there. He was also great to visit with. He is a very nice southern gentleman. Clayton and his wife bought the biscuit palace building decades ago as a retirement investment. They worked very hard and spent much $$$$ turning it into a guest house. All of that payed off, at least for the guests, as it became a wonderful place to stay. Somehow Clayton and his wife were even able to survive 2 years of no income from the guesthouse following Katrina. That had to have been difficult. I have nothing against corporate hotel chains and their duplicative accommodations, but the Biscuit Palace proves mom and pop's can do it better sometimes. Clayton has at least two ladies working about all of the time on cleaning and upkeep. You will turn a corner and often see one of them painting a door or something.

I will second the positive comments most of the reviewers have made. The negative reviews have me scratching my head. Did they stay at the same place? But, on reflection, those bad reviews just make me thankful that I don't have Misophobia, defined as "an abnormal fear of dirt, especially of being contaminated by dirt." . Phobias are intense and irrational fears of something that is of little or no actual danger to the person. They are a type of anxiety disorder, sometimes associated with obsessive compulsive disorder. They generally appear in childhood and continue on as a person matures. Thankfully, both medication and therapy can be effective treatment.