B.R. a second option for Super Bowl attendees looking for lodging

Super Bowl XLVII will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, but the Baton Rouge Lodging Association and Visit Baton Rouge are anticipating an overflow of fans as New Orleans hotels will surely run out of vacancies. Gary Jupiter, president of the Lodging Association, says he has no doubt that fans will be booking rooms in Baton Rouge, “but we’re still in a wait-and-see mode.” Jupiter figures it won’t be until after the NFL’s NFC and AFC championship games are played on Jan. 20—and the Super Bowl teams are solidified—that the Capital Region will begin seeing hotel bookings by fans from around the country. Some Baton Rouge hotels will be offering travel options—public and private—for guests traveling to New Orleans for the big game. The city’s tourism promoter is anticipating that the three Mardi Gras parades rolling in downtown New Orleans over the Super Bowl weekend—Krewe of Artemis, Krewe of Mystique and Krewe of Orion—will likewise be a big draw for visitors in Baton Rouge. “We’re about an hour away with lots of transportation, and we’ll be partying the entire weekend,” says Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo. A quick search of hotel booking websites this afternoon did not turn up any vacancies in downtown New Orleans during the weekend of the Super Bowl, which takes place on Sunday, Feb. 3. The same search of Baton Rouge hotels showed vacancies throughout the metro area. —Adam Pearson