The Arts Hotel: A Musical Budget Lodging on Prince Edward Island

Canada’s Prince Edward Island may be best known for a spirited red-haired girl, who has captivated generations of readers. Set in PEI, the Anne of Green Gables novels, which Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote in the early 1900s, have spawned several Anne attractions on this island in Atlantic Canada, including the worthwhile Green Gables Heritage Place, which Parks Canada operates in Cavendish.

Yet Canada’s smallest province is worth visiting for many other reasons. You can explore its sandy beaches and red cliffs that descend into the ocean, sample its fresh-off-the-boat lobster, mussels, and oysters, and learn more about its long heritage, from its early Indigenous inhabitants to its role in establishing the country that is now Canada.

Music lovers will find even more reasons to visit PEI, where musicians perform in pubs and on porches, as well as in larger concert venues.

To combine a hotel stay with music, consider booking a room at one of the newest lodgings in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island’s compact capital city: The Arts Hotel.

Here’s the scoop:

Music and More

The Arts Hotel opened in 2020 in downtown Charlottetown, on a site that was once home to Myron’s, a local music club. The four-story structure now has a café and music hall on the main floor and budget-friendly guest rooms upstairs on floors two, three, and four. The centrally-located hotel is an easy walk from the waterfront, most downtown attractions, and plenty of restaurants.

Its walls lined with paintings, the lobby-level Salvador Dali Café serves tapas and light meals daily, with a menu that wanders from PEI mussels to haddock tacos, flatbread pizzas, and butter chicken, plus breakfast on the weekends.

Behind the café is Trailside Music Hall, a music club that hosts performers from PEI and farther afield most evenings starting at 8pm. The doors open earlier, so you can order food from the Dali Café or enjoy a drink before the show.

Guest Rooms and Amenities

The guest rooms at the Arts Hotel are quite small, ranging from 174 to 250 square feet, with sturdy wooden furnishings, including a king or queen bed with built-in night tables and small work desks. While the units have no TVs or phones, they’re painted with vibrant wall murals, which make them seem both larger and more cheerful.

Rooms have hooks with hangers and luggage stands, rather than closets. The baths are all new and feature walk-in showers with soap and shampoo dispensers.

If you don’t want to dart out to any of the several nearby coffee shops for your morning brew (Receiver Coffee Company is an excellent option), or if you’d like to heat up or prep a meal, you can use the kitchen and lounge area on the hotel’s second floor. It’s stocked with a coffee machine (there are no in-room coffee-making facilities), as well as a microwave, fridge, and cooking utensils. There’s a guest laundry here as well.

The Arts Hotel isn’t the place to stay if you need much in the way of service. As I checked out, I asked to leave my bags for a couple of hours until I could catch a bus for the island’s west end. The otherwise friendly front desk staffer reluctantly allowed me to stow my luggage behind the reception desk, cautioning that they didn’t have a place to lock it up. She admonished, “We don’t offer luggage storage. We’re a budget hotel.”

But if you love music — and you don’t need features like closets, in-room coffeemakers, or a place to stow your bags — the Arts Hotel in Charlottetown may have you tapping your toes with joy, at least for the money you’re saving on lodging.

Rates

Double room rates at the Arts Hotel typically range from CAD$119-159 per night. You can check Booking.com to compare rates.

Hotel feature by Vancouver-based travel, food, and feature writer Carolyn B. Heller. Photos © Carolyn B. Heller. Tourism PEI provided support for my travels in Charlottetown, including my stay at the Arts Hotel.