YOWCDNFF

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

GJS - yow

I'll echo much of what YOWCDNFF says above. I've stayed at the Hampton (nice tower, very new) once and the DoubleTree twice in recent months. I preferred the DoubleTree.

The outside of the DoubleTree is nothing to look at. Could be a 1970's office tower. The inside is startling, given the exterior appearance - very trendy vibe. I haven't had any noise issues or complaints about the room finish. The service has been excellent, with my room made up impeccably each day. One other difference I noted was that I was given the option of ordering anything I wanted off the breakfast menu, or self-serve from the buffet. I tried the eggs Benedict with smoked salmon one day - not bad for a breakfast coupon meal.

Parking is a mess - I also recommend using the valet. Many decent restaurants within a short walk (although it may be up a steep hill - not so easy in winter when the sidewalks are ice-covered). I liked the Stubborn Goat gastropub - great food and craft beer, plus live music.

technotica

We stayed here for 2 nights in May. First things first, trying to get around Halifax with the numerous building construction projects going on and one-way streets makes it 'fun' to drive around downtown. We had to circle the block to actually find a place to park and checkin.

When we arrived it was pouring down rain and no where to park in front of the hotel Like others have said it doesn't really stand out, it just looks like any other standard office building. There is still construction happening on the building across the street, but luckily our room faced the harbor so we didn't hear any 6 am noise.

The parking situation still sucks. We weren't offered valet and it was still $18.95 CAD for self park a small gravel lot kitty-corner from the hotel to drag your luggage through. If it is full I suppose you are screwed? There is a covered parking ramp next door to it, but I don't know how much it was. The 4 Points has an attached garage.

Hotel
The elevators can be slow. The bar area is closed on Sundays - some lady was peeved about this when we checked in. The hallways were freezing cold. I'm Hilton gold, so breakfast vouchers were given for both nights. We were only able to use the first night as we had to leave at 5:45am the next morning. We were offered the menu to make your own from the omelet station, but we opted for the very full buffet spread. It was very tasty in my opinion, for it being over sterno heaters everything was very fresh. Eggs, bacon, yogurts, hashbrowns, oatmeal, granolas, fresh cut fruits, cereals, etc.

Overall hotel furniture and finishes looked very new and well done, kind of unexpected really. Front desk and staff all seemed very young, but were responsive to our needs.

Room
We were on the 5th floor facing the harbor. The room was huge with a nice entry way and closet a little kitchenette with sink and mini fridge, 2 wine glasses and 2 water glasses. All the cabinets were empty (why have them then??) so don't plan on making small meals.

Bed was very comfortable and there was a large desk. Sofa with lots of pillows with a coffee table. Internet speeds were fine.

Shower door layout and functionality is dumb. You have to squeeze your way into the shower past the toilet. The door is on rollers and mostly refused to stay closed. I had to shove a washcloth behind the shower door to keep it closed. Why this layout, the bathroom itself was plenty large enough!

Like others have noted, it seemed that some corners were cut on the details. Our windows still had tape and paint all over them.

Location
We were here as tourists around Victoria Day and it is pretty central to the maritime museum on the harbor and about 4.5 blocks up the hill to the Citadel. We left the car parked here and walked everywhere. Lots of interesting places to eat. Weather rainy/misty/foggy and windy while we were there but I guess that is typical.

Food
We got some late night poutine from Willy's by the bar area up on Argyle street and brought it back. Also got a pizza from Piatto and ate at hotel, but I didn't think it was that great. We enjoyed the Stubborn Goat, but if you have picky eaters in your party you may want to pass.

born sleepy

Any recent stays here? Will be there next week for four nights.

FlyfromDenver

I was there for a couple of days last summer. I don't remember much except I had a high room facing the water and the view was great. It was also easy to walk to restaurants - I enjoyed The Bicycle Thief but it was significantly different weather that now. It was also a good location for the jazz festival that was happening then.

born sleepy

The Bicycle Thief was good, though a little pricey. Lots of fooding options, although when I got there it was late on a Sunday and nothing was open besides the Chinese place one street down which was decent.The hotel restaurant has a very limited menu and equally limited hours, which really isn't a problem given the number of good restaurants within a short walk. The weather was often cold, gray, and wet, not unexpected for early March.

Anyway, the hotel was fine, and I did end up with a harbor-view room, but I strongly discourage rooms on that side of the hotel unless you like being woken up at 0600 by sunlight blasting past the curtains which cannot be completely shut. It wasn't always cloudy! Parking is $CDN25/day in an muddy unpaved lot one block up. You can park on the streets from I think 6pm to 8am, but those hours did not match mine.

I'd stay here again. Getting to/from my customer in Dartmouth was no problem as it was a reverse commute thankfully but traffic going the other way was brutal. Bridge toll is $1.25 each way, so get equal numbers of loonies and quarters x2 for each day.

FlyfromDenver

I don't remember the curtains but I usually have a couple of binder clips to hold them closed and if I forget a hangar with clips can do the job.