Halfmoon Bay Vacations from $613

We enjoyed our stay at Aava Hotel.

This was our second stay at this hotel and we love it. The little welcome candy selection and the front desk was a fun touch. The staff is friendly and we love the proximity to the Village. It is also within walking distance of numerous restaurants, so once you are there, there is really no driving required. We really like the small boutique style as it is quiet and we love the little balconies so that we can enjoy the outdoors while we sip on our morning and evening beverages. I was not aware of the VIP complementary bottle of wine, and did not realize that they had emailed us regarding it until well after we had left. So they did offer it, but we were not available when they came to deliver. I will know for next time as we will definitely be back.

Our dog hates the noise from 4th of July fireworks explosions, so my wife and I took her to Canada. As this holiday is close to Canada Day and fell on a weekend, during summer and cruise season. Anything decent was around $1900 CAD ($1400 USD) or more for a 2 night stay. However, a couple days before, people must have been canceling their reservations, so new options popped up, including Paradox. We booked it for about the same as other hotels, but chose it because it is newer. Everything was great. Every person we talked to was nice (nicer than at most other hotels) from checkin, to valet, to room service, to housekeeping. The rooms was nice and was modern (heated floors, power shades, touchscreen heat and lighting, etc). There was a refrigerator, hot pot, and coffee maker, but no microwave. However, we asked for one, and the brought one, which we used the whole stay for free. There is no fee for pets (which is great). There is a fairly steep charge for valet parking, but for us pet+parking together was the same as other hotels that charge for both. I think most people choose to self park so valet parking was very easy and convenient. fyi, hotel parking and entrance is on the alley, not the main street. On a side note, our dog was very happy at this hotel. She travels quite a bit (for a dog) and is not usually very excited to go on vacation or stay at hotels. She just likes to be at home. This was the first time she was excited and happy, wagging her tail the whole stay.

Great stay! Very convenient using the codes instead of keycards. Bed could have been a little softer, but was still able to sleep.