Staying by the Sea - Finding a Room in the Halifax Regional

Downtown Halifax

The Halifax Regional is an eclectic city that has a mix of artists, business people, students, seafarers and more. Many are attracted to this vibrant city because it has all the amenities of a large metropolitan centre yet still retains a certain small town charm. For more information on Halifax, click here.

This WorldWeb.com Travel Guide article can help travellers with their accommodation choice with three important information sources:

1) Accommodation Directory - This is a complete accommodation directory containing detailed information about hotels, B&Bs, luxury resorts, campgrounds and more. With links to accommodation websites and interactive maps, this directory will help visitors find the right place to stay based on their personal preferences.

2) Room Search & Secure Room Reservations - This convenient room search page allows the user to check for room availability and then make a secure room reservation at appropriate properties. Although this is a useful feature anytime of year, the online Secure Room Reservations page is particularly helpful in the peak seasons when finding accommodation at properties can be difficult.

3) Maps - The Halifax map can assist visitors in choosing where to stay by not only indicating where accommodations are located, but also where they are in relation to attractions, restaurants, shops, tours, transportation and more.

	Map of the Halifax Regional - Click to Enlarge

TYPES OF ACCOMMODATIONS

The Halifax Regional has a number of accommodation choices, but visitors will find mostly an array of hotels, from budget motor inns to five-star luxury accommodations. For the real budget traveller, Halifax has a few backpacker -style hostels. Conference facilities are available in many of the big-chain hotels in the city.

The residential areas of the city have a variety of B & Bs and even the occasional inn. For people looking for more secluded accommodations, such as cabins, campgrounds and lodges, it's best to look outside the city limits.

WHEN TO GO

The peak tourist season in Halifax is definitely during the summer when sun-seekers, boaters and sightseers converge to enjoy the warm weather, the extensive beaches and the plethora of outdoor festivals. Autumn is also a nice time to visit the city, as the changing colours make for a spectacular natural canvas, though fall-travellers should bring an umbrella—November is typically the wettest month of the year.

The lack of winter activities around the city makes winter a slow tourist season in Halifax, perfect for those who don't mind braving the cool temperatures, which dip as low as -10°C (14°F), and snow which accumulates up to 64 mm (25 in) each month, to avoid the crowds. Spring begins to bring people back again, as flowers bloom and the days grow longer and warmer.

AREAS

The Halifax Regional consists of a number of communities, all former independent municipalities that amalgamated in the 1990s to become the Halifax Regional. These communities include Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and Cole Harbour.

Westin Nova Scotian at Dusk 1

Downtown Halifax
Central Halifax is located on a peninsula that juts into the Halifax Harbour. This core region of the city has the most accommodation options, including several hotels that overlook the harbour, including the Casino Nova Scotia Hotel, which offers a number of restaurants and bars, as well as a large casino offering live entertainment, slot machines and more. Downtown surrounds the historic Halifax Citadel, and the most prestigious hotels can be found near the citadel and on Lower Water street along the Harbour.

Downtown Halifax is the sight of the historic Nova Scotian Hotel, located at the train station, which served as a supply hub for the trains that travelled westward across Canada. The hotel was originally built by Canada National Rail and overlooks the Harbour. It is now part of the Westin chain and is located next to a major film studio. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has visited the property twice.

Getting Around
Downtown Halifax can be easily explored on foot, and it is here that many of Halifax's major attractions and activities are based, so staying in in this busy urban centre is convenient. If exploration on foot is not an option, central Halifax has an intricate public bus system, as well as ferries that can take passengers to Dartmouth and other areas in the harbour. Taxis can easily be hailed or booked in Halifax as well, and there are a number of car rental offices. Parking in lots and on the street can be found quite easily, especially on evenings and weekends.

Useful Links:
Halifax Accommodations Page
Halifax Hotel Rooms Search
Halifax Interactive Map

Dartmouth
Across the harbour from Halifax is Dartmouth, a large municipal area that rivals downtown Halifax in both amenities and accommodations. Several big-name properties can be found here at rates more reasonable than those found in the core of the city. The catch? Dartmouth's location necessitates that those travelling into central Halifax either take a ferry or cross one of two toll bridges, which can be congested during peak times. Still, Dartmouth has a number of malls, restaurants and residential areas that make it a place worth visiting in its own right.

Compared to Halifax, Dartmouth is a newer, more commercialized, primarily residential city offering less historic properties and sights, and more brand-name shops and restaurants. Hotels in the area are mainly big-name corporate hotels catering to the business traveller, and budget motels, catering to the car and RV traveller. Dartmouth has a few independent hotels, and offers a number of B & Bs, more than are available in Halifax. Because Dartmouth is less metropolitan than Halifax, there are also a few campgrounds that would not be found in Halifax.

Getting Around
Dartmouth is connected to Halifax and the rest of the Halifax regional via the Halifax Metro Transit system, which offers bus and ferry service. Dartmouth is a suburban area that is built mainly for vehicles, and parking is plentiful at malls and restaurants. Car rental agencies are available throughout the city, and taxis are also readily available.

Useful Links:
Dartmouth Accommodations Pages
Darmouth Interactive Map

Halifax Airport
The Halifax International Airport, Canada's seventh busiest airport is located in the town of Enfield, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from downtown Halifax. Because the town of Enfield is so small, there are a limited number of accommodation choices for visitors to the airport area. Two hotels offer accommodations, and a number of B & Bs can be found in the surrounding area, but other than that, travellers will have to make their own way to central Halifax.

	Room at the Airport Hotel Halifax 2

Getting Around
It will cost travellers nothing to get from the airport to one of the airport hotels in Enfield, because each hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service. However, it costs over $50 to get from the Halifax airport to central Halifax in a taxi. Several car rental companies have offices in the airport, and reservations are recommended. Another transportation option into Halifax is to take the airporter shuttle bus, which takes visitors to various locations in downtown Halifax for approximately $16 for a one way trip and $28 for a round trip.

Other Areas in the Halifax Regional
The Halifax Regional area has a number of other communities, which offer independent accommodation choices that are free of the big hotel names that dominate the landscape of the rest of the city. Both Bedford and Fall River have hotels, while in other bedroom communities such as Herring Cove, Portugese Cove, Elmsdale, Eastern Passage, Waverly and Lower Sackville, visitors will find B & Bs. In more far out neighbourhoods like Upper Sackville, there are campgrounds for city dwellers with a fancy for the great outdoors.

Getting Around
The Halifax Metro Transit system offers bus service to many bedroom communities, including Bedford, Cole Harbour and Lower Sackville; however, in some of the more outlying residential communities like Waverly, Upper Sackville and Eastern Passage, visitors will be expected to provide their own transportation, whether it be via a car or taxi.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES

Nova Scotia is a place where maritime life collides with earth-bound wilderness, and many tour operators in Nova Scotia offer multi-day excursions designed to give visitors a taste of Nova Scotia with the guidance of a qualified expert. Several types of boating excursions are available, from kayaking adventures that involve camping in provincial parks, to luxury sailing vacations aboard a modern yacht. For the less sporty, culinary tours offer tours of vineyards and restaurants, while guests will usually bunk down for the night in a B & B or small local inn.

Hotels often offer package deals for their guests that include both accommodation and access or discounts to an activity or attraction nearby.

The Halifax Skyline at Night

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

1. The Westin Nova Scotian Hotel; Westin Nova Scotian at Dusk; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
2. The Airport Hotel Halifax; Room at the Airport Hotel Halifax; Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada