Four Points by Sheraton Halifax — Attraction in Halifax

Can't blame 4 Points for their location or parking situation. They have to lease a block of parking from a parking garage next door, and that's all they can really do, what with being on a downtown corner. They charge $30 + tax per night for overnight parking. Upon leaving, the parking machine asked me to pay again. I hit the intercom button, 5 rings, got a voicemail. Hit the intercom button again, 5 rings, voicemail again. (8:30am). Whoever they're leasing the parking from are frustratingly inept. Luckily there was no one behind us. Had to back up thru their garage, park again, go in & get the front desk to validate the parking so we could get out.

I'll assume "if they're paying for parking thru their room fees, we need to validate their parking slip for its final use," is a policy & priority, but it was just overlooked. Can't knock a star off for that. Wonderful service otherwise - they called a cab for us, advised us that someone reported that one of our car doors was left open, they knew what the weather was to be like (gusting to 110km/h).

The bed in my room was a king size & hurt my back. I hate to say a bed needs to be replaced by any hotel, I know these beds are expensive - but it's time. Massive bed. Pillow selection was good, the room was clean & large. The bathroom was also very large & shower pressure perfect. The shower handle was missing a labeled cover over the tap so you have to gamble which side is cold/hot - but the bathroom was very well presented. The room's air/heat fan was erratic. There are 3 settings on it, but it went from 21 to 24 to 12 C overnight for no reason. Cold morning. Good furniture, generic TVs that don't allow wireless devices to connect/tether/stream content.

WiFi was good, as expected.

Just like in most modern apartment buildings, you can't hear your neighbors, but when they're out in the hall, it's an echo chamber. Doors clunk shut loudly. I use a white noise machine so I can sleep through noise, but it was jarring. People walking down the hall almost yelling "Do we have everything??? Who has the key??" etc. Can't blame the hotel for inconsiderate people, but the doors need to be fixed so they don't "CLUNK! CLACK!" everyone awake. Even if you try to close your door slowly & quietly, the lock mechanism is super loud. Especially at 5:30 am. The price was off season & very reasonable. I was not happy about the cost of parking, what with the excuse being "everyone else is doing it". They've got to recoup the cost of leasing parking space, but Halifax isn't Manhattan. It should also be cheaper during off season. If they told us that they barely break even on that, I'd have believed them - even if they lied about it. You just can't charge that much for overnight parking without an excuse.

The lobby was very nice, very clean. I won't even mention how much they wanted for breakfast at the hotel restaurant - I still can't believe the prices I saw. There must be a reason for them, like for people who expense their meals. The coffee provided in the rooms is expectedly awful, but the coffee in the lobby is very good. This is a 3 star hotel doing a very good impression of a 4 star. If the beds were replaced & door locks quieter, there's certainly potential. When the beds hurt your back, it's time to invest the parking income toward new mattresses. The people working that hotel were fantastic. Not much of that "phony enthusiasm" you often get from company-boy managers, just friendly, efficient and subtle. This is a nice property with some unique parking challenges & employees that deserve...

Great hotel! This was the cheapest hotel rate we were able to find in proximity to the Halifax Convention Centre and we do not regret staying here.

The highlight was definitely the staff. Our travel agency botched our reservation but the staff at the check-in desk and the floor manager were able to resolve the issue very quickly. Despite our travel agency failing to submit our reservation on time the manager was willing to give us a room without any additional charge and even provided complimentary breakfast at the restaurant for the duration of the stay. This level of service is above and beyond for what really wasn't their issue in the first place, greatly appreciated!

The hotel location is also a highlight, only a block from the water, in walking distance of many of the sights to see in downtown Halifax, and only a short distance from the ferry terminal to Dartmouth. The hotel is connected to it's restaurant Latitude 44 via indoor concourse and can be entered from Hollis, Salter, and Barrington which is very convenient. There are plenty of restaurants nearby and the hotel is only a short walk from a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart which is open until midnight, a Dollarama inside Park Lane Mall and a Superstore for any purchases you might need to make. The breakfast options at the restaurant were great and for a reasonable price too, open early to start your day. An ice machine was available on our floor and an ice container was provided which was handy too.

Some drawbacks: some parts of the desk in our room were damaged including the cabinet doors covering the fridge and the safe. The fridge also appeared to be powered and running but wasn't able to keep things cold, it might be in need of repair or replacement. A microwave is available but only in the lobby as far as we can tell, it would be nice to have one available on each floor. Finally, each room has an individual AC+heater unit which is nice since you get full control over the room temperature, but may be too loud to run at night. The noise wasn't so loud to be an issue during the day and we had no issue just leaving the heat off at night, but this may be a problem during the peak highs and lows of summer and winter temperatures.

Overall a pleasant stay. The hotel is currently under renovations in some areas (we did not encounter any issues with construction noise which is good!), I think we'd be willing to stay here again in the future once renovations are done. You may be able to find a better hotel if you are willing to up your spend, but if you are on a budget and want to stay in a convenient location it's hard to go wrong...

It is extremely difficult to access the building to check-in upon arrival. Designated parking spots would be helpful. I understand this is difficult in the downtown area; however, it would alleviate people checking in from blocking the streets. After my check-in I was then directed to the parking garage with a code to use to enter & exit the garage. This code did not work for the entire weekend despite going to the front desk numerous times to get it fixed and was told "all is good now". On the evening of the first night of stay my room key stopped functioning. I went to the front desk to get it fixed, only for the same issue to occur the next morning, next afternoon, evening and last morning of my stay. Housekeeping never came to our room during our stay for some strange reason. We did not put up any sign on the door to indicate that we did not need housekeeping - this sign remained in our room hung on the wall all weekend. My other guest stayed in the room all day waiting for them to come - she heard them in the hall and in other rooms, but no attempt was made to clean or check in on our room. We left mid afternoon hoping that when we returned the room would be restocked. Unfortunately after our return at 7:00 - we found the room exactly as it had been since the morning. I tried calling down to the front desk but the phone in the room would not work! I walked down to the front desk and asked if housekeeping could come up and restock some of the items since they had not been around at all. We were completely out of body wash, shampoo, kleenex, coffee, coffee cups and towels (since we only had 1 large towel, 1 facecloth and 1 small towel at check in). A lovely and kind gentlemen came up within the hour to restock all that we needed but I did not feel that I had to go and request it. Is housekeeping not an automatic service?

A frustrating stay for sure but the hotel is currently undergoing renovations so some are to be expected. I just felt like it was too many of the same small issues popping...