Fodor’s names Bywater a top travel destination in 2019

On Fodor’s list of 52 inspiring travel destinations for 2019, New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood is No. 24, falling between Hawaii and Trinidad and Tobago. It joins international locales including Berlin, Detroit, Morocco’s Atlantic Coast, and Japan’s Setouchi Region.

There are a few inaccuracies in the writeup—the author refers to Bywater as a “district” and got the Chewbacchus parade date wrong—but overall, it paints a positive picture of one of the city’s trendiest, most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods.

Fodor’s calls out Studio Be (“a warehouse art gallery of social justice murals”), Bywater American Bistro (“celebrity chef Nina Compton’s ... exciting new restaurant”), and the Music Box Village (a “magical, interactive world) as neighborhood highlights.

The author writes that “lodging choices are limited to small B&Bs like the charming Maison de Macarty”—and makes no mention of the area’s proliferation of short-term rentals. It’s a glaring omission, considering that 3 percent of all Bywater homes are short-term rentals, according to a 2017 report by The Lens and Huffington Post.

Short-term rental operators in Bywater can expect more business in 2019 if this popular list is any indication of tourist activity...which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective.