A Good Place To Get Shot or End Your Life – If you have the option of sleeping on the street (reminder: one of the highest murder rates in the country), or staying at the Empress "Hotel," your odds are about even. They used to claim "European style" accomodations , but I have traveled most of Europe and never seen anything this ratty. Tourists beware. More specifically: young college students reading this, PLEASE, spend another 20-30 dollars a night and get a decent hotel in the quarter. The Empress is in a dangerous part of town, and it is not an ideal situation to be walking home to your room at 3 AM in the morning.