This is a great hotel located in the heart of downtown Toronto. It's located right beside the Eaton Centre mall (in fact it's directly connected from the inside). Nathan Phillips Square (along with it's outdoor ice skating rink) is just across the street. The subway and underground PATH system are also very close by. For music lovers, the hotel restaurant/bar looks out onto a courtyard through floor to ceiling windows where, just steps through the windows, sits The Church of the Holy Triniity, site of the Cowboy Junkies lo-tech masterpiece album, The Trinity Session.
There were 4 or 5 doormen/bellmen located by the entrance and the front desk was also well staffed. All employees were extremely helpful and pleasant.
The fitness centre and pool are located on the top floor (18th). The fitness centre also looks out over the city through floor to ceiling windows and is very well equipped with all the latest machines. There were no waits during my entire stay (and I exercise at "prime time" - at the end of the business day). In addition, all machines were equipped with personal TVs. There was also a basket full of new complimentary headphones that were yours to keep. The pool was very clean and well maintained but very small. There was no way you could swim laps in it. The hot tub was large and also very clean. It was also nicely separated from the pool by a translucent barrier.
My room was a good size with a convenient corner for business and all the plug-ins you could possibly need to charge your electronic devices. The HD TV was an older model, judging from the picture quality.
The housekeeping in my room and the rest of the hotel was impeccable, with ONE exception. Like most hotels these days, sheets are changed after a certain number of nights (or every night, upon request). This hotel said the sheets would be changed after the third night (and, of course, with every new guest). Well, when I turned back my sheets while going to bed on my fourth night, the same sheets were still there (I could tell by a slight smudge that was there at the beginning of my stay). This got me to thinking, if the hotel didn't live up to it's first promise (new sheets after the third night), did it live up to it's second promise? (new sheets for each new guest) Looking back at the smudge that was there when I arrived, I now can't be sure that I was sleeping on fresh sheets the first three nights. I however, have stayed at this hotel before and believe this was an uncharacteristic mistake. The sheets were changed the next day, after I left a note for the housekeeper.
The second blip occured with the air conditioning. The first night, despite the fact it was below freezing outside, I could not get my room cool enough. I put the thermostat down as low as it would go (60 F or 16 C), however the room would not even get close to that temperature. The next morning I asked for it to be looked at. I was told a service person would check it and that the staff would leave a message on the room telephone to tell me what they'd done.
When I got back to the room that evening, there was no message. However, the room did seem slightly cooler. That night, the room still didn't get even close to cool enough, despite the thermostat down as low as it could go. I gave up trying to get it fixed properly or change rooms, because the room was marginally comfortable at night, and I didn't want the hassle of changing rooms. I believe this was uncharacteristic as well, however, I was not pleased about not getting the promised phone message. Bottom line is my sleep experience was not nearly as good as it could have been. On the bright side, the bed was extremely comfortable, and there was no noise.
Other than those two things, the hotel was perfect. Since I've had a good experience here on a previous stay, I will give this hotel another chance. If there are problems again, this property will have seen the last of my business.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
