Complaints Mount Over New Orleans Taylor Swift 'Holiday House'

In what was meant to be an unforgettable weekend for Taylor Swift fans in New Orleans, some attendees have taken to social media to express dissatisfaction over a weekend-long event dubbed "Holiday House." Organized by Taylor Swift fan Rebecca Fox, the gathering was intended to coincide with Swift's three sold-out concerts in the city. However, allegations from attendees about mishandling, unfulfilled promises, and disappointing event quality have cast a shadow over the fan convention.

You may recall that Fox, a native of Metairie, Louisiana, organized the event at the Holiday Inn Superdome, reserving 191 rooms under a special block for Swift fans. Branded as “Holiday House” after Swift’s own Rhode Island mansion, the weekend promised an array of activities, including scavenger hunts, pool parties, talent shows, and themed breakfasts. Over 1,200 Swifties attended, with the event receiving widespread attention and support on social media in the lead-up to the concert. Yet, as the weekend unfolded, some attendees began sharing frustrations over high costs and alleged mismanagement.

Claims of Mismanagement and High Prices

Through a Facebook group titled *Eras Tour New Orleans 2024 Holiday House Information*, guests voiced concerns over several organizational issues. Some attendees alleged that Fox imposed restrictions on canceling rooms, charging a $100 “restocking fee” and requesting concert tickets be forfeited to cancel a booking. In a TikTok video, user Julia Smith (@jump4js) recounted difficulties with room changes, describing feeling “tied down” and unable to voice dissatisfaction for fear of losing accommodations, a daunting prospect with New Orleans hotels booked solid for Swift’s shows.

Other social media users, like @hannahcabanas and @foolishlysydni on X, formerly known as Twitter, cataloged a series of grievances, noting that several events felt overpriced or poorly executed. Among these was a brunch priced at $150, which resembled a standard continental breakfast, and a $35 pool party held at the hotel’s free pool. Many guests reportedly felt shortchanged, describing a "Fyre Fest-esque" experience with broken promises.

Both users shared lengthy threads with detailed allegations supported with screengrabs below.

Organizer Addresses Allegations, Blames Hotel

In response to the outpouring of complaints, Fox took to social media, acknowledging the event's shortcomings and promising transparency. In a lengthy Facebook post, she claimed unforeseen expenses, including a $17,000 overcharge by the hotel, derailed her budget. “I have receipts totaling over $88,000, and we are not even finished totaling them yet,” she wrote, adding that she was working on a spreadsheet for refunds. She requested patience from attendees, who she urged to hold off on disputes while she sorted out payments.

Fox shared a detailed explanation, writing:

“I’m just getting off work, and I'm driving home. I don't want you to think I forgot about you guys.
I worked overnight last night on totaling expenses And I have receipts totaling over 88,000 and we are not even finished totaling them yet! Just the bill to the hotel alone was 44,000 which did not include hotel room revenue, strictly catering.
I've always been fully transparent, and I will continue to do so, regardless of whether or not you guys hate me.
I'm gonna post these as soon as I'm finished and when you've had a chance to digest it. I'll explain to you some of what happened, there's still things that are totally my fault and I don't want it to look like I’m not taking accountability, but there are some really, really big things that happened that nobody knows about that I feel like at least I owe it to myself to say, and whether no one believes me or not at least I know that I had this self-respect to actually tell my truth, the biggest one being that the hotel overcharged me $17,000 which basically took my entire operating budget for labor 3 days before the event and I have receipts for this as well. They finally refunded part of that today.
I know you guys have a right to partial refund, some of you total refunds, but I just ask that you wait a little longer for the spreadsheet, and stop filing disputes, because what's happening is PayPal is about to shut my PayPal down and then I'm not gonna have the means to be able to get you guys paid back except through check or be able to see what the individual payments were so I really need that account not to be frozen to better service everyone, same with Venmo.
I will make this right, even though I just wanna crawl into a corner.
I've always had good intentions, and I would just ask that you wait for me to be able to explain certain things before you take screenshots out of context without from the start to the finish of the conversation posted.
It's like when someone sends you a Ticketmaster recording—you want it from the beginning of the convo to the end, and you wouldn't trust it if it was just the middle part, right? It's the same thing here. I just ask that you wait to make any kind of decisions before you hear the other side of the story. Believe me when I say that there are people who are purposely trying to take me down, and if you use your detective skills and go back weeks and weeks ago before anything went wrong, you'll see evidence of that. I'm also pretty sure that anyone who was posting negativity multiple times a day isn't looking for answers; they're looking for a witch hunt.
Regardless, for those of you sending me messages telling me that I need mental help, or to kill myself, there's nothing that I ever could've remotely done that deserves these kinds of comments or this kind of treatment.
I didn't purposely plan to have bad events, I spent a year of my life exclusively on this, obviously I wanted it to be nothing but the best it could be, or I wouldn't have spent so much time and energy on it.
It's not like I just popped into town for a week and collected a bunch of money and ran, I put my blood, sweat, and my tears into this for the better part of 15 months, and I'm sobbing as I'm writing this. I would've never ever purposely spent a year of my life on a bad event. everything was lined up to be great until the hotel staff switched on me for the fifth time, those funds disappeared, and then things just started going insane very, very quickly. I wanted it so badly to make the first ever Swiftie gathering a success, I still believe in the idea, I still believe in the concept, and it breaks my heart that someone else is going to get to be the first person to pull it off, even though at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who gets the recognition for it, just that it happens. But I really wanted to leave some sort of mark on this community, because Taylor has done a lot for me for the last 18 years.
I know you guys are smart, and I know once you see the receipts, versus what was collected, you know that there is no way on earth that I would've spent a year of my life on this for maybe $1000 overage, there's no human being that would work a day every day for over a year unless they really truly believed in what they were doing, and they really, really, truly loved and supported their community.
At the end of the day, everyone had a room, everyone was safe, no one got hurt, no one had sewage backing up, no one got food poisoning that I’m aware of, no one broke a limb, it could've been so so so much worse. I don't think the Fyre festival comparisons are fair or warranted; those people paid like $20,000 each to be stranded on an island for three days with no running water, toilets, or beds.
We all had accommodations, we all had a place to stay, we were all together.
The events fell short and I am so deeply sorry, I promise you no one is more upset than me, this was my statement to show who I really am, and how much I love Taylor, and I worked so, so hard for it all to fall apart at the literal last minute.
I have a list of things that I have done wrong that I have reflected on that I will share with you when it is time.
For now, I'm taking my posters down, my friendship bracelets off, and repainting my nails as soon as I am able, because it's just too painful to think about any of this right now. I'll make it right, but then I'll probably disappear for a long time.
Good night y'all, I'll be back with you as soon as I'm able. The Catering receipt is attached just to have something to start with so you know that this is me trying.”

Mixed Reactions from Attendees

While several attendees remain unhappy, some defended Fox, attributing mishaps to hotel management rather than her intentions. According to a NOLA.com report, Andrea Bell, an attendee from Texas, praised the event's social aspects and expressed sympathy for Fox’s struggles with hotel management. Bell described her experiences at various activities positively and maintained that despite the controversy, she enjoyed meeting other fans.

However, others, like Julia Smith, have been vocal about the experience's perceived shortcomings. Smith, who documented her concerns across 18 TikTok videos, believes that while the event was a failure, it does not warrant the “Fyre Fest” label. “People did have a place to stay,” Smith conceded, although she described the execution as a massive disappointment.

A Legal Response on the Horizon?

In light of the backlash, Fox has reportedly retained legal counsel. According to a post from Chris Welty of FOX 8, she is consulting attorneys to navigate the disputes over refunds and alleged misrepresentations. For now, the “Holiday House” saga remains a complex story of allegations, high hopes, missteps, and fan frustrations, with both sides waiting for the final "version."

Hopefully, without too much "bad blood."