Halifax’s New Five-Star Hotel Will Have A Speakeasy And A Yacht
For many years now, Nova Scotia has been known as a great tourist destination, with its vast, beautiful coastline, wilderness, and a good mix of rural settings to go along with the urban setting of Halifax. And later this year, Halifax’s waterfront will provide one more destination for those with deep pockets: a luxury hotel that even Forbes magazine is calling five-star.
The Muir, which is a part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, will be the latest addition to Queen’s Marque on Lower Water Street in downtown Halifax. When it opens in the fall, this hotel will come with a yacht, a speakeasy, fine dining, and other amenities.
Scott Armour McCrea is president and CEO of The Armour Group, which is developing The Muir. He says it was important for him to make this luxury hotel uniquely Nova Scotian – a building that wouldn’t work in any other city. McCrea believes a hotel should be “born of this place” to make it different from a usual design.
“Hotels today are almost a cultural institution where people get to experience what it’s like to be in a place, and less and less do people want an anonymous hotel-one that could be anywhere,” he said.
“There are lots of places in cities where you can stand in the middle of a parking lot and you could be anywhere, and that’s the last thing that we wanted in this very historic and central site.”
The Armour Group spared little expense to make the $200-million hotel feel as Nova Scotian as possible. All 109 rooms will feature an original painting from a local artist, to go along with an art gallery that will be exclusive to guests. Speaking of exclusive locations, the hotel’s bar will be in the form of a speakeasy. How does one enter the speakeasy?
“It’s a secret,” said McCrea with a chuckle. The guests will be told upon arrival how to enter the drinking establishment.
The design of the building itself pays homage to the province and the Halifax waterfront. McCrea wanted to make sure that guests will have a view of the beautiful surroundings.
“Because of its location; right on the waterfront, right in the middle of downtown – absolute centre – we always felt that a hotel would do extremely well in that location,” said McCrea.
“The Muir Hotel juts out into the water. Out of the 109 rooms, there’s only four that aren’t looking out over the harbour. That really grounds you in place.”
As for the exterior of the building, The Armour Group used sandstone found in Nova Scotia, and the granite used for the structure comes from eastern Canada. The room décor is also filled with custom-made furniture and lighting sourced locally or within Canada.
“Every room has furniture, or lighting, or rugs that are all modern interpretations of old Maritime or New England designs,” said McCrea. “They’re designed by our team and then they’re built in Canada.”
“The Muir Hotel reflects what it means to be in Nova Scotia – a modern Nova Scotia, not a hackneyed version of Nova Scotia.”
The Armour Group is also the developer responsible for the design and construction of Queen’s Marque, which has 150 high-end rental units on Water Street.
McCrea, who first started developing Queen’s Marque in 2004 always knew that the location would be perfect for a nice hotel. He called the location a once in a lifetime opportunity for a developer.
“The Armour Group has always anticipated having a hotel on that site. That site is the absolute centre of Halifax; it’s the centre of the waterfront and it’s the centre of the central business district. So, it is a rare piece of land, and it is a rare site. And you don’t get many opportunities in your life to develop on a site like that.”
“We would consider this to be at a level above anything that’s been done in Atlantic Canada thus far.”
Given the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, McCrea realizes business may be slow upon first opening. But he calls The Muir a long-term asset that will benefit Halifax well into the future.