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| SweetVirginia |
From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:
Stones the inn thing
Concert tickets not even on sale but hotel rooms filling up
By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
Scoring a hotel room in Halifax could be tougher than scoring a ticket to the rumoured Rolling Stones concert this fall.
The word on the street is that the Stones will perform an open-air concert on the Commons on Sept. 23. Although no one has officially confirmed the concert will go ahead, Rolling Stones fans are apparently hedging their bets and booking hotel rooms now.
As of Thursday, according to Check-Ins Nova Scotia, only two businesses in the city had rooms available: The Garden South Park Inn on South Park Street — a few blocks from the concert site — and the Fresh Start Bed and Breakfast on Gottingen Street.
However, a quick telephone check later in the day showed there is no room at the South Park Street inn.
"We booked up yesterday," said a woman who answered the phone, while over at the Fresh Start they still had vacancies. However, the owner speculated that a bed and breakfast may not be the first choice for young or rowdy concert-goers.
A phone survey of some of the bigger establishments in downtown Halifax revealed that most are booked solid, but there were still a handful of rooms available at the Cambridge Suites, but those were looking pricey. That hotel had 10 rooms left, starting at $299.95 and up."We’re not sure whether it’s the hockey or the concert," which is driving the demand for rooms, said a man working the reservations desk.
Rock ’n’ roll fans are jockeying for hotel space with hockey fans. An NHL exhibition game between the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins is being held at the Metro Centre the same Saturday night as the rumoured concert date.
The closing gala for the Atlantic Film Festival is also scheduled for that night. Word on the Street is also scheduled for that weekend.
According to Destination Halifax’s Internet site, there are 4,400 rooms in Halifax Regional Municipality.
The Lord Nelson Hotel and Suites on South Park Street has been full for several days. The reservations desk clerk there said he had just checked a couple of travel websites that show the Hilton, out near the airport, still has rooms as well as some smaller properties closer to Halifax.
Hotels across the harbour in Dartmouth, or just down the road along the Bedford Highway, do still have empty beds, according to Check-Ins.
Rooms can still be had in Dartmouth — a $2 ferry ride from the concert site — for between $45 to $150, depending on whether they’re at a bed and breakfast, motel or hotel.
At the Howard Johnson Hotel and Suites on King Street in Dartmouth — a very short walk from the ferry — rooms have been going fast.
"We only have 10 left," said a woman on that reservations desk. "Everyone is calling and they ask, ‘Do you know what’s going on?’ We tell them all the same thing, just check the news."
As of Thursday afternoon, the hotel still had rooms available, ranging from $99 to $156.
News of the concert came as a surprise to Nancy Baker at the Travelers Motel along the Bedford Highway.
"We’ve got it wide open," she said, making a note of the rumoured concert in her reservation book.
"We’ve got a few reservations – still we’ve got lots of room." Rates at the Travelers for that weekend are $79, plus tax, Ms. Baker said.
At the Econo Lodge, also on the Bedford Highway, but a little closer to Halifax, rooms were going quick. "We don’t have many left," said Christine. There rates range from $114 to $154. |
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| jb |
This will not count toward gross. |
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| Some Guy |
jb makes things happen. |
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| jb |
It 's great that there will be a NA tour(as we said)...I think we can expect a few changes............................ |
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| Joey |
quote:
jb wrote:
It 's great that there will be a NA tour(as we said)...I think we can expect a few changes............................
I am now so excited that I can practically taste it . |
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