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As there is no thread on this property, I thought of starting one given a recent stay there.

Overall, this property has potential, but they still need to work out some issues:

What I liked:

Overall, this has the feeling of a boutique hotel - something that might fit in the Curio portfolio, much more than as a Doubletree. Staff is extremely friendly and will genuinely seem to care for even the smallest issue. It was marketed as an all-suite hotel while it was a Radisson and still is under Doubletree although the junior suites are really oversized rooms (I was assigned a regular King Suite with Harbourview).

It is a "full-service" hotel in the sense that it has a breakfast and bar area on-site and a regular restaurant "attached" to the main building (accessible via the lower lobby). It has an ok pool and a gym with what appeared to be fairly new equipment. Room service is available.

Location is excellent from a tourist perspective being steps away from the harbor and many of the fine eating places that Halifax has to offer.

From a look perspective, they did a good job to modernize the look and feel of the property. Rooms look sharp and modern and even the junior suites are relatively spacious. Natural lighting is fairly good in rooms facing the harbor - not as much for rooms such as mine facing the city.

Large shower area with a rainshower style showerhead

The complimentary breakfast for HHonors members is pretty much the full buffet, even though the coupon states continental. Hot items are fairly limited anyway and would resemble what you would get in some lounges: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes. There is however a made-to-order eggs and omelette station.

Valet parking price is reasonable (relatively speaking) and only a small premium to self-parking. Given that the parking lot is across the street and is somewhat of a makeshift parking lot at the moment, the valet parking option is not a bad idea.

There is a small concierge office by the entrance to provide information about the city.

What to watch for / could be improved

This property seem to apply HHonors property pretty much to the letter. For example, breakfast vouchers will be provided for the HHonors member and one registered guests, as per the T&Cs, regardless of the # of people in the room, or the # of rooms booked. On the breakfast, although it is an enhanced continental breakfast, the hot items are nothing to write home about, with the exception of the made-to-order eggs/omelettes.

It looks as if renovations were rushed and attention to details were poor. They did an ok jog on the inside, but you can notice the fairly old windows sills from the outside. They should have put some money on these windows as the soundproofing is pretty much non-existant, which is a bit of an issue when construction starts at 6am on the site across the street. On the issue of soundproofing, the interior soundproofing is not much better, especially if you have a connecting room. There were many items in the room where the finishing touches lacked details (paint around the indoor window sills, leaks around shower area, showerhead almost falling apart,...

I know that sofabeds are not meant to be that comfortable but the ones at the Hollis are just horrendous. You are pretty much sleeping on a pile of springs.

Finally, housekeeping was fairly inconsistent throughout the stay as you never knew which toiletries would get replenished or not on any given day.

It looks as if that majority of the staff has been there for only a few weeks and training still is an issue. That said, I have also met some people who appeared more seasoned and knowledgeable.

All in, it is great to have yet another HH option in Downtown Halifax. With the Hampton/Homewood complex, there are now 3 HH options in the city. My initial experience at the Hampton was close to perfect, as I believe that this is an entirely new building, rather than a reflag and redo. That said, I do really like the boutique feeling of the DT and as soon as they fix some of their initial issues, this will likely become a strong offering from Hilton in Halifax