Hotel Review: Muir in Halifax, Nova Scotia

There’s art every which way you look at the Muir, the star of downtown Halifax’s $200-million Queen’s Marque district. From my enormous window, I gazed over environmental artist/sculptor Ned Kahn’s installation Tidal Beacon, described as “a tower clad with a kinetic skin that ripples in the wind and sparkles like water.” It sits atop Rise Again, which is best described as a sloped roof by the sea that acts as a two-storey public area featuring wide timber stairs. Inside the waterfront hotel itself, I slept under a landscape painting and popped into its private gallery, True Colours.

Value for Money

It’s well worth the splurge to stay here. The five-storey Muir’s 109 rooms and suites all boast Atlantic Ocean views, made-in-Canada furniture and original Nova Scotia art. Curved white oak walls and plank flooring serve as subtle nods to luxury ocean travel. In-room bars have full-size bottles of craft liquor and cocktail mixing stations. Spa-like bathrooms have rain shower heads and Aesop bath products. There’s a custom Muir tartan wool blanket on every bed. Skip the 24-hour in-room dining and try seafood-heavy Drift (which bills itself as a culinary love letter to Nova Scotia’s land, people and history) or the fine dining spot Mystic for tasting menus. BKS, a secret speakeasy for guests, opens onto an elevated waterfront terrace. Windward Wellness has a halotherapy salt room and a vitality spa pool.

Safety + Accessibility

The Muir has a 24/7 front desk but allows contactless digital check-ins with mobile keys. It has elevators and provides laptop-sized safes in each room. It promises “a commitment to quiet” with noise-dampening bumpers and soft-close cabinets. There are fun digital temperature controls and bedside touchpads for lights, drapes and sheers. Fully compliant accessible rooms are available upon request.

The Story

Open since Dec. 10, 2021, the Muir’s wharf-like design is described as contemporary marine. It’s the first hotel in Nova Scotia to join Autograph Collection Hotels, a curated collection of distinctive independent hotels. Designed by Nova Scotia’s MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects for the Armour Group, it’s “a shining example of `Born of this Place’ design, honouring character, materiality and heritage through the art of place-making.”

Sustainability

The newly built Muir used green roofing materials and Low-E glass to minimize solar heat gain. Its sea water loop and single-plan heat pump draw in water from the harbour to heat and cool the building.