# Magnolia Room in New Orleans



## ScottC4746 (May 22, 2009)

I am leaving in...count it...14 days and 11 hours and 13 minutes from New Orleans. I will be in a sleeper so will make use of the Magnolia Room. Can we bring a guest in there with us who is not even traveling, but they want to see me off? Is this possible?


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## AlanB (May 22, 2009)

Because of how the admission to the room is handled, yes, you can probably get away with getting them into the Magnolia Room.

That said however, you need to realize that this is a very small first class lounge with maybe 10 to 12 chairs in it. Bringing in a non-traveler will without a doubt deprive someone who is traveling that day a seat.


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## RRrich (May 22, 2009)

When you check in at the ticket counter they will give you the code for the lock on the door of the Mag room. So you will be able to open the door and let your friends in. It is not like many of the other lounges where there are folks watching the door - there is just a lock which you can open.

Enjoy


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## ScottC4746 (May 22, 2009)

What exactly is in this room...sounds like a Metropolitan Lounge, or Airline Lounge this is not.


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## AlanB (May 22, 2009)

It's a very small room on one side of the station where they threw in a dozen or so chairs, a TV, a small coffee pot, and a water dispenser.

There is no employee assigned to the room to assist passengers in any way, there are no rest rooms within the room you have to go outside to the general facilities, there are no snacks provided, no computers, no Wi-Fi. Basically its about as far from a Metropolitan Lounge as you can get. It's only real benefit is quiet and softer chairs than the regular station.


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## ourlouisiana (May 22, 2009)

We'll agree with Alan, the only benifit is that it's quieter, and the chairs are plush.

Our first trip out wan on the City of New Orleans, which boards after lunch. THe coffee seems to have been loft over from the Crescent (which boards at 0700).

It is small, we have complained to Amtrak Customer relations each time we use it. Of course, they apologize, but most are "unaware" of how much a dissappointment it is to travelers. If you're coming down from NYC PHL or DC, or CHI, then you're in for a terrible dissappointment.


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## haolerider (May 22, 2009)

ourlouisiana said:


> We'll agree with Alan, the only benifit is that it's quieter, and the chairs are plush.
> Our first trip out wan on the City of New Orleans, which boards after lunch. THe coffee seems to have been loft over from the Crescent (which boards at 0700).
> 
> It is small, we have complained to Amtrak Customer relations each time we use it. Of course, they apologize, but most are "unaware" of how much a dissappointment it is to travelers. If you're coming down from NYC PHL or DC, or CHI, then you're in for a terrible dissappointment.


Take advantage of the Magnolia Room and be glad it is there. There is no way to justify staffing the room and/or improving the amenities based on the variance in ridership between New Orleans and the other major cities that have a more up to date lounge. There are plenty of larger cities in the system that do not have first class lounges - Los Angeles being the largest. Amtrak does not own the New Orleans station and I think they do provide a service to the Sleeping Car passengers that is better than sitting in the hard plastic chairs in the general lobby.


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## AlanB (May 22, 2009)

haolerider said:


> ourlouisiana said:
> 
> 
> > We'll agree with Alan, the only benifit is that it's quieter, and the chairs are plush.
> ...


I do whole heartedly agree with you Haolerider that we need to be grateful for what we do have in the Magnolia room. It is, at least IMHO, better than being outside in the main station. I also concur that there are plenty of other major cities with greater ridership than NOL, which have no lounge to speak of.

But I do have to respectfully disagree with the idea that Amtrak can't justify making some additional improvements to the Magnolia Room. Consider Miami, which saw 80,348 passengers last year, more than 70,000 less than NOL saw with 154,532 boardings/alightings. Miami, while still unattended, has more chairs, as well as a selection of refreshments and snacks. The overall room size is probably comparable, but the atmosphere is better in Miami IMHO.

Additionally while I've not been in either the Metro lounge in Raleigh or Minneapolis-St. Paul so I can't speak to what's in there, they both do rate as "Metropolitan Lounges", not as a "room." And both serve comparable passenger loads to NOL, although still slightly less, at 141,291 for Raleigh and 147,791 for MSP.

And then we come to the brand new Metro Lounge in St. Louis. Granted STL sees almost double the passenger load or NOL at 271,997. But then STL only sees one LD train the Texas Eagle, unlike NOL's three, and therefore the odds are that a much higher majority of the passengers using the station cannot use the lounge.

Now again, I'm not suggesting that Amtrak need run out and install the equivalent of say Boston's Club Acela in New Orleans. But if Amtrak can justify doing better in Miami with its much lower passenger load, then they ought to be able to make a few improvements to the Magnolia Room with its much higher passenger load. Still in the final analysis, something is better than nothing. If it comes down to a choice of the Magnolia room or not, then please lets keep the room.


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## had8ley (May 22, 2009)

haolerider said:


> ourlouisiana said:
> 
> 
> > We'll agree with Alan, the only benifit is that it's quieter, and the chairs are plush.
> ...


Private waiting area sums it up pretty well; it won't make AAA's five star establishments list anytime in the near future.


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## MrFSS (May 22, 2009)

If you are in the Magnolia Room waiting to board, do they come and get you early so as to board before the coach folks out in the main waiting area board? Or, if the room is full, do they announce sleeper boarding before coach out in the main waiting area?


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## ThayerATM (May 22, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> If you are in the Magnolia Room waiting to board, do they come and get you early so as to board before the coach folks out in the main waiting area board? Or, if the room is full, do they announce sleeper boarding before coach out in the main waiting area?


Yes. They come in the room and get you, escort you to the platform, ahead of the long line of waiting coach passengers, and on to the train.

I don't know if they make an announcement in the general waiting area as the room was not full when we were in there last November.


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## NativeSon5859 (May 23, 2009)

I thought I read on here recently that the Magnolia Room was going to be expanded?

I'll be taking #2 to NOL next week so I'll try to find out the scoop when I'm there.


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## had8ley (May 23, 2009)

NativeSon5859 said:


> I thought I read on here recently that the Magnolia Room was going to be expanded?
> I'll be taking #2 to NOL next week so I'll try to find out the scoop when I'm there.


Yes, indeed you did, BUT it was a ticket agent passing on what could be just wishful thinking. Looking at LA and the limited amenities for sleeper pax, and on the Coast Starlight only, I just don't see a "New" Magnolia Room. It just seems that every move Amtrak makes is not only experienced by everyone on this list but is critiqued by anyone and every one. I would not want to be a manager who had every idea shot down because it didn't fit the budget or someone was afraid that the aide to Senator Stuffed Shirt might not like the innovation. I'm going to belly up to the bar and say that we are still stuck with a bureaucratic rail system that rivals the post office. I only hope Joe Boardman has a good chain saw to slice through all the layers of studies, opinions and outright aloofness that Amtrak has displayed in the past! Fire away; I'm headed back to the closet~ I had run out of milk for the Oreos.


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## ourlouisiana (May 23, 2009)

Point well taken about other cities NOT having a private waiting room.

We don't think we're asking for staffing, or even computer work stations, just a larger waiting area !!!!

And fresh coffee, come on....this is NEW ORLEANS !!!

In answer to the question, YES, they do come and get you a few minutes before the announcement is made to the coach passengers, BUT, you do have (or at least on our last trip Easter 2009) a LOOOONNNNGGG walk up to the sleepers. Crescent 3 coaches, lounge, diner, and first sleeper:

City 2 coaches, CCC, and first sleeper: Sunset 2 coaches, Sightseer, Diner, and Sleeper.


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## AlanB (May 23, 2009)

ourlouisiana said:


> In answer to the question, YES, they do come and get you a few minutes before the announcement is made to the coach passengers, BUT, you do have (or at least on our last trip Easter 2009) a LOOOONNNNGGG walk up to the sleepers. Crescent 3 coaches, lounge, diner, and first sleeper:City 2 coaches, CCC, and first sleeper: Sunset 2 coaches, Sightseer, Diner, and Sleeper.


Not anymore. With the recent changes to the single level trains, the sleepers are now at the rear of the train, and therefore closest to the station door. It's now the coach pax who have the longer walk with the Crescent.

The City and the Sunset have not changed, so you still get the long walk there, at least for now.


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## WhoozOn1st (May 23, 2009)

If I may stray for a moment, I have no memory of the Magnolia Room from departing aboard the SL in 2004. If it was even there at the time I was unaware of it. I DO recall that an interesting aspect of NOL is that the ballast on the platform tracks is seashells. Also, train 1 that day was a short turn, originating at New Orleans for some reason I don't remember, a year almost to the day before Katrina. My sleeper attendant said he and others had had to be flown on redeyes from L.A. to complete onboard staffing, and had barely gotten to the train before the passengers.


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## AlanB (May 23, 2009)

WhoozOn1st said:


> If I may stray for a moment, I have no memory of the Magnolia Room from departing aboard the SL in 2004. If it was even there at the time I was unaware of it.


You were just unaware of it's presence. Not sure when it opened, but I was in the room in December of 2002, so it had to be there when you were there in 2004.


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## sechs (May 24, 2009)

It was there in 2001... although I couldn't use it then.


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## daveyb99 (May 24, 2009)

What a waste of floor space in my opinion. The room was crowded, not just with people but with luggage as well - and not much in the way of amenities. I peeked in, did a quick walk through, and left.

My opinion: the City leaves at 1:45. If you have nothing to check, be at the station at 1:25 and board immediately. Spend the time you considered for the Magnolia Room at a local New Orleans eatery (as no meals are served until dinner northbound) and head straight to your Sleeper. (Do not forget the hurricane to-go for you departure !!!)

Enjoy the city, not some 20x40 room.


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## MrFSS (May 24, 2009)

daveyb99 said:


> (Do not forget the hurricane to-go for you departure !!!)


What's a Hurricane to go?


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## PaulM (May 24, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> daveyb99 said:
> 
> 
> > (Do not forget the hurricane to-go for you departure !!!)
> ...


I can't believe someone else didn't beat me to the punch here. My knowlege is 40 years old, but back then a hurricane was an alcoholic beverage designed for tourists by Pat Obrien's, a Bourbon Street bar and restaurant. The drink came with a souvenir glass, thus the "to go".


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## NativeSon5859 (May 24, 2009)

If you HAVE to be at the station early and you are in a sleeper, you might as well use the Magnolia Room...but it's not much to write home about. The chairs are more comfortable by a decent margin over the cheap plastic ones in the waiting room and there are magazines to read and a TV and coffee....but that's pretty much it. There are enough seats for about 18 people total, and it's usually full or close to it.


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## MrFSS (May 24, 2009)

PaulM said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> > What's a Hurricane to go?
> ...


Guess they don't sell those on the train, then. :lol:


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## Upstate (May 24, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> daveyb99 said:
> 
> 
> > (Do not forget the hurricane to-go for you departure !!!)
> ...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(cocktail)


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## had8ley (May 24, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> PaulM said:
> 
> 
> > MrFSS said:
> ...


No, Tom, but Pat O'Brien's is still satisfying the tourists taste for the classic drink.


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## ThayerATM (May 24, 2009)

PaulM said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> > daveyb99 said:
> ...


New Orleans is fascinating. You're free to walk down the street with a drink, as long as it's in a non-breakable cup. A glass "glass" is out. While Pat O'Briens does serve Hurricanes, (yes, an alcoholic drink) most bars in the Quarter will give you a "to go" cup for any drink. Actually, outside the Quarter you can also drink on the street, but the same rule applies to the container. It can't be glass.


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## ScottC4746 (May 24, 2009)

So to, ahem, get this back on track, pardon the pun, it sounds like my non travelling friend and I should sit out then since the room sounds smaller than the number of sleeper passangers. With that, do they make announcements in the main concourse for sleeper passangers to board, or should I keep an eye on the Magnolia Room door for a mass expodus of people?


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## Bill Haithcoat (May 24, 2009)

ScottC4746 said:


> So to, ahem, get this back on track, pardon the pun, it sounds like my non travelling friend and I should sit out then since the room sounds smaller than the number of sleeper passangers. With that, do they make announcements in the main concourse for sleeper passangers to board, or should I keep an eye on the Magnolia Room door for a mass expodus of people?



It is all right there together, just scout out the magnolia room, it does not have a big glaring entrance so look for it. Then sit facing it and you will see the people being escorted. Have your ticket ready to show as you approach the gate. You will not normally surrender it then but you do show it to them.


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## MikefromCrete (May 24, 2009)

NativeSon5859 said:


> If you HAVE to be at the station early and you are in a sleeper, you might as well use the Magnolia Room...but it's not much to write home about. The chairs are more comfortable by a decent margin over the cheap plastic ones in the waiting room and there are magazines to read and a TV and coffee....but that's pretty much it. There are enough seats for about 18 people total, and it's usually full or close to it.


So, is there any space available in the station to expand the Magnolia Room and make it a full-size facility? My wife and I traveled on the City of New Orleans a few years ago and it seemed like they wasn't a whole lot of room anywhere in the Amtrak part of the building. We did get a ride on a golf cart to our sleeping car, however, and that was fun.


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## AlanB (May 25, 2009)

Well the one rumor that we've heard has stated that some office currently in use by Amtrak would be used to expand the lounge. I'm not sure how much of an expansion that would make, and of course this is not confirmed either.


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