Hehe, my friends are stayin in a $500/night hotel for $10/night....RIGHT IN THE FRENCH QUARTER ON BOURBON STREET! This is how it works. You call up one of those swanky independent hotels, and hopefully you'll get a local yokel (funny accent dude.) Call like a week to 2 weeks before the first parade, when everything should be booked already. Tell him a long story bout how you're freshmen in college and your highschool sweetheart will be there, blah blah blah, you really need a room. Then tell him if he can find you a room, you can get him 4 tickets to anywhere in the US for free (flying standby--friend's dad works for usairways.) He'll tell you to hold while he calls up some fool and tells them "I'm sorry, your room was double-booked. Please accept a voucher for a free stay here valid for a year." He then tells you your room will be ready this weekend...and you only have to spend $10/night per person!!! Now I only wish I could go with my friends :-(