NOL's Magnolia Room

[Golden grrl]

Last post I can find on the topic of New Orleans's Magnolia Room was back in 2009. I hope to be in NOL in early December. I'm always drooling in excitement before I get to ride, and so I always get to the station hours early. And I need lots of coffee while I'm waiting. Soooo, what is the current status of the room - still available for sleeper car passengers on Crescent?

 

[ScottC4746]

Last post I can find on the topic of New Orleans's Magnolia Room was back in 2009. I hope to be in NOL in early December. I'm always drooling in excitement before I get to ride, and so I always get to the station hours early. And I need lots of coffee while I'm waiting. Soooo, what is the current status of the room - still available for sleeper car passengers on Crescent?

That was probably my write up on the Magnolia room you saw from 2009. Yes, it is available to all sleeping car passangers from New Orleans (SSL, CONO, Crescent). Unless they have drastically improved since 2009, go by Starbucks or better yet Cafe Du Monde before you get to the station. The coffee in the Mangolia Room was worse than airline coffee.

 

[pennyk]

I was just there a few days ago. It appeared that the room was in the process of being renovated. It was a comfortable waiting room, but nothing like Chi, NYP or WAS. I was there waiting for the CONO around 1pm. There was coffee in the pot, but I have no idea how good (or bad) it was. I do not drink coffee.

 

[sechs]

It was a comfortable waiting room, but nothing like Chi, NYP or WAS.

That's because those are lounges. The Magnolia Room is just a first class waiting area.

 

[Golden grrl]

Thanks all, for the info. I suppose we"ll take the Starbucks card after all.

I knew from seeing Scott's old post that the Magnolia Room was mostly a waiting area, and not comparable to the excellent lounges in CHI or WAS. I haven't done any first-class travel from NYP, so have no idea how that lounge compares to the others.

Even having a simple room dedicated to sleeper passengers is helpful for me and my style of travel. I enjoy the amenities in the Traxx lounge in LAX before taking the CS, but I like that area mostly because it is where passengers on my specific train are waiting. It is during that wait for the train that I begin to recognize the other people who might share my car. For me, a lot of the fun of the long distance trips is the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and experiences from my own. Observing the other passengers in the sleeper waiting area helps me figure out which passengers in my car might enjoy long conversations and which ones just want to be left alone. Penny's recent experience tells me the room is likely to be open for my December trip. Thanks.

 

[me_little_me]

Last post I can find on the topic of New Orleans's Magnolia Room was back in 2009. I hope to be in NOL in early December. I'm always drooling in excitement before I get to ride, and so I always get to the station hours early. And I need lots of coffee while I'm waiting. Soooo, what is the current status of the room - still available for sleeper car passengers on Crescent?

If you are taking the Crescent, you will have virtually no opportunity to use it. When we got there, everyone was just coming out as they had called the sleeper passengers to board. In fact, all they did was have us line up and wait another 10 minutes.

We had arrived about 45 minutes before departure so unless you are a glutton for sleepless "have to be there real early" action, your use of the room will be minimal since the train leaves at 7AM.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

I was just there a few days ago. It appeared that the room was in the process of being renovated.

Really? That could be good news. I didn't like the current/old one particularly, so hopefully something nicer is in the works?

 

[Steve4031]

I believe you get breakfast on the train. If your hotel is near Jackson square, cafe Du Monde is worth the trip. It is open 24 hours.

 

[Golden grrl]

If you are taking the Crescent, you will have virtually no opportunity to use it. ...

We had arrived about 45 minutes before departure so unless you are a glutton for sleepless "have to be there real early" action, your use of the room will be minimal since the train leaves at 7AM.

Glutton, that would be me. Besides, as a future retiree, a normal workday means I'm used to arising at what would be 4 am NOL time. Coffee abstention until aboard the Crescent is not an option. Breakfast, meh, don't really care. But the coffee...so I'll be sure to stop at Starbucks before I reach the station.

 

[me_little_me]

If you are taking the Crescent, you will have virtually no opportunity to use it. ...

We had arrived about 45 minutes before departure so unless you are a glutton for sleepless "have to be there real early" action, your use of the room will be minimal since the train leaves at 7AM.

Glutton, that would be me. Besides, as a future retiree, a normal workday means I'm used to arising at what would be 4 am NOL time. Coffee abstention until aboard the Crescent is not an option. Breakfast, meh, don't really care. But the coffee...so I'll be sure to stop at Starbucks before I reach the station.

Starbucks? Ugh! :angry2: Do you know, they charge by the sylable? So if you buy a cappuccino (2 syllables) , it is one price, and a frappacappuccino (3) is higher. Even more is the lattefrappacappuccino (4). The highest is the doublemochacappalattefrappacappuccino (8) and then they expect a tip for a lousy cup of coffee.

I like Amtrak's on-board coffee!

 

[Bob Dylan]

If you are taking the Crescent, you will have virtually no opportunity to use it. ...

We had arrived about 45 minutes before departure so unless you are a glutton for sleepless "have to be there real early" action, your use of the room will be minimal since the train leaves at 7AM.

Glutton, that would be me. Besides, as a future retiree, a normal workday means I'm used to arising at what would be 4 am NOL time. Coffee abstention until aboard the Crescent is not an option. Breakfast, meh, don't really care. But the coffee...so I'll be sure to stop at Starbucks before I reach the station.

Starbucks?? :help: You're in New Orleans, go by Cafe du Monde or any other joint on the way to the Station, the Chicory coffee in New Orleans is not too everyones taste, but Starbucks should be saved for somewhere like an Airport!(ie Plasticland!) :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Golden grrl]

I cannot disagree about Starbucks. I've hated their coffee for years.

Here's the thing. The Starbucks card I referenced was a gift back around June, not my endorsement of that company. We've had a difficult time finding a way to use $30 or so on the card since we so much prefer our own coffee - fresh ground within minutes of serving - served in real porcelain cups. The waiting time in NOL just seemed like a good time to spend out the remaining amount on the card.

I've had mediocre coffee on the trains and great coffee on the trains. One sleeper car attendant - I think on the Texas Eagle some years ago - took the time and attention to make superior coffee. He bothered to clean the pot really well before making the next batch. Cannot remember his name, but he was from Ooltewah, Tennessee.

 

[Golden grrl]

the Chicory coffee in New Orleans is not too everyones taste

Sure not to my taste. Grew up with chicory coffee. To me, chicory tastes like someone stirred my coffee with a dirty dishrag made from grass fibers.

Grew up with grits, too. Hate that culinary experience as well - grits tastes to me like eating the white paste we used in kindergarten to glue cutouts onto construction paper. I don't think there's enough brown sugar and butter in all of the south to make me force grits into my mouth again.

 

[amtraknovi]

Closed for remodeling is posted on the door today.

 

[zepherdude]

the Chicory coffee in New Orleans is not too everyones taste

Sure not to my taste. Grew up with chicory coffee. To me, chicory tastes like someone stirred my coffee with a dirty dishrag made from grass fibers.

Grew up with grits, too. Hate that culinary experience as well - grits tastes to me like eating the white paste we used in kindergarten to glue cutouts onto construction paper. I don't think there's enough brown sugar and butter in all of the south to make me force grits into my mouth again.

Funny Comment, Golden Grrl! I feel the same way about grits or are they grotes!

 

[SarahZ]

I would get coffee someplace yummy, and then I would use the Starbucks card to get $30 worth of pastries to eat on the train. :wub:

 

[dlagrua]

We took a Crescent trip to NOL and back in 2011. The Magnolia room at NOL Union Station is just an enclosed room in the corner of NOL station with chairs, a table and a coffee machine. While its stark, its quiet and more private than waiting in the terminal. We were there for the 7 AM departure and we just grabbed some coffee at Starbucks in the hotel lobby of the Marriott before going to the station. If you take a cab ride to the station watch out as some cabbies in NOL are thieves that overcharge for the trip to the French Quarter. It should be a $10 fare and no more.

 

[wgarider]

I was in NOLA about three weeks ago and the Magnolia room was closed for renovations.....can't remember when they said it would re-open.

 

[Ispolkom]

Sure not to my taste. Grew up with chicory coffee. To me, chicory tastes like someone stirred my coffee with a dirty dishrag made from grass fibers. Grew up with grits, too. Hate that culinary experience as well - grits tastes to me like eating the white paste we used in kindergarten to glue cutouts onto construction paper. I don't think there's enough brown sugar and butter in all of the south to make me force grits into my mouth again.

I'd say that's the wrong way to approach grits. I see them as a bacon, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and hot sauce delivery system. Heck I see any porridge as a bacon, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and hot sauce delivery system. Nothing sets you up for shoveling snow when it's twenty below than something like that. Chicory coffee, though, I'll agree is a pointless product. We have no shortage of coffee, so why dilute it? Coffee should be hot as hell, black as sin, and strong as death.

 

[Golden grrl]

Sure not to my taste. Grew up with chicory coffee. To me, chicory tastes like someone stirred my coffee with a dirty dishrag made from grass fibers. Grew up with grits, too. Hate that culinary experience as well - grits tastes to me like eating the white paste we used in kindergarten to glue cutouts onto construction paper. I don't think there's enough brown sugar and butter in all of the south to make me force grits into my mouth again.

I'd say that's the wrong way to approach grits. I see them as a bacon, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and hot sauce delivery system. Heck I see any porridge as a bacon, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and hot sauce delivery system. Nothing sets you up for shoveling snow when it's twenty below than something like that. Chicory coffee, though, I'll agree is a pointless product. We have no shortage of coffee, so why dilute it? Coffee should be hot as hell, black as sin, and strong as death.

You may be correct. A sufficiency of garlic, habaneros, sriracha sauce, and cheese can make almost anything worthwhile. But I still think grits works best as glue. Ever try to clean a pan with dried on grits? Imagine what it must do to your guts. Oh, that's right, a sufficiency of garlic, habaneros, sriracha sauce, that'll make it move on through.

 

[Golden grrl]

Closed for remodeling is posted on the door today.

Interesting, I was there Dec 12, and it was open then. A few easy chairs, a table, newspapers [probably brought in by other passengers], bland coffee. The "wallpaper" on the rear wall was interesting - exposed plywood with a lot of measurements marked on it.

It was the quietest waiting area I've ever experienced, conversation-wise. TV was blaring, but all the waiting passengers seemed glum. I'd guess they didn't have the benefit of all the coffee I'd had already. I know I'm a morning person and always excited about my train rides, but that room, on that day, had a funereal air.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Just bumped into amtraknovi at dinner on 58(11). That's the second meal in 3 months that I have been randomly seated with an Amtrak Unlimited alum. We are everywhere!

Building on his comment, I asked the agent about an ETA for completion, and he said a few months. They also had the main ticketing counter walled off and were banging away behind it. Perhaps NOL is getting a bit of Amtrak TLC finally?