One block serves both stadium and arena
Because the Smoothie King Center shares the same downtown block as Caesars Superdome, a hotel picked for a Saints game doubles as a base for a Pelicans night or a touring concert without any change of plan, and this page focuses on the CBD stays that put a concertgoer within an easy walk of both sets of gates.
NOPSI Hotel and Maison Pierre Lafitte both sit close enough to serve either the Dome or the Smoothie King Center with the same short walk, useful for a trip built around one venue that later adds an arena concert to the itinerary without needing to change hotels or rebook a different part of downtown for the second event entirely. Both also sit close to Bourbon Street, giving a concertgoer somewhere to go before or after a show without a long walk back through downtown in the dark once the last encore ends.
Virgin Hotels New Orleans lists a nightclub and live music on site alongside its short walk to the arena, which suits a visitor treating the whole night as one continuous evening out rather than splitting a concert and a post-show drink between two separate venues across downtown after the last song ends. The property's own restaurant and bar mean a guest can eat, see the show and keep the night going without ever needing a cab between stops, which matters most on a Tuesday night show with an early start the next morning.
The Roosevelt and Renaissance Pere Marquette both draw a more upscale concertgoer with a short walk to the arena and a full-service bar or restaurant on site, useful for a visitor who wants a proper dinner before a show rather than a quick bite grabbed near the gates on the way in. Both properties also suit a visitor extending an arena trip into a longer New Orleans weekend built around dining and the French Quarter rather than the show alone, with the walk back easy enough after a late set.
The Barnett, a five minute walk from the shared Dome and arena block, runs its own live music on site too, meaning a guest can catch a smaller show at the hotel itself on a night without a major touring act booked at the Smoothie King Center next door, without needing to leave the property at all. Its Warehouse District location also keeps the walk back quieter than the busier Poydras Street side of downtown on a night that runs late past the last encore of the show, well after most of the arena crowd has already cleared out.
Downtown New Orleans hosts sport and live music within the same few blocks more than most American cities manage, with the Smoothie King Center pulling touring concerts and Pelicans games onto the same streets that fill with Saints fans on a Sunday. That overlap means a CBD hotel stay rarely commits to just one kind of event, and the same rooftop bars and streetcar stops serve a concert crowd on a Tuesday night the way they serve a football crowd on a Sunday afternoon. Locals treat the Dome and the arena as a single entertainment district rather than two separate destinations.
