PopGoesTheNews.com • An explosion of new hotel rooms is hitting Toronto in the months to come – as many as 1,500 at five different properties – breathing life into a city that got its first five-star hotel just three years ago.
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| The Ritz-Carlton on Wellington St. |
Things starting looking up for the city earlier this year when the classy Thompson Hotel chain chose Toronto for its first international property – the 102-room Thompson Toronto on Wellington at Bathurst. It joined two Le Germain boutique hotels (one in the Entertainment District and one in Maple Leaf Square) in adding a touch of class to the hotel scene.
Starting in February Toronto can boast of having the country's only Ritz-Carlton (Montreal's century-old Ritz-Carlton hotel, currently under renovation, is not part of the chain) when it opens on Wellington at Simcoe with 267 rooms as well as Canada's only Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will start filling its 261 rooms at Bay and Adelaide in June.
And still to come is a sparkling new Four Seasons on Bay at Yorkville with 265 rooms and the 200-room Hotel Shangri-La at the corner of University and Adelaide, which is set for a mid-2012 opening.
It's not all high-end hotel action, though. This winter the doors will swing open on the brand new 514-room Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre that replaces the dingy Days Hotel & Conference Centre next to Maple Leaf Gardens.
With Ritz-Carlton opening, the Mormon-owned Marriott company dominates the hotel market in downtown Toronto. The Ritz-Carlton joins the Marriott-owned brands Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre on Bay and Marriott Bloor-Yorkville on Bloor, Courtyard by Marriott on Yonge, Residence Inn on Wellington, and the Renaissance at the Rogers Centre.
Close behind are Starwood Hotels (Westin Harbour Castle at the lake, the Sheraton Centre on Queen, and Le Méridien King Edward on King) and IHG (with two InterContinental hotels, two Holiday Inns and a Holiday Inn Express). Rumours are swirling that Starwood is scouting locations for a W Hotel.
Fun facts about hotels in downtown Toronto:
• Two of the most celebrity-friendly hotels, the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel and the Hazelton Hotel, are owned and managed by Toronto-based Starwood Group Inc. (no relation to Starwood Hotels).
• The Clarion Hotel on Sherbourne is a Victorian mansion that was the home of famed writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife in the early 1900s.
• The Four Seasons hotel chain was founded in – and still based in – Toronto. It is partly owned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz.
• When the Sheraton Centre opened in 1972 it was called the Four Seasons Sheraton Centre (a partnership that lasted four years). It was the tallest hotel-only building in Canada until the 53-story Hilton Fallsview north tower opened last year in Niagara Falls, Ont.
• When it opened in 1929, the 28-floor Royal York Hotel (now a Fairmont) was the tallest building in Canada.
• The Sword's Hotel opened in 1853 across the street from Toronto Union Station. It was renamed Queen's Hotel in 1862 and demolished in 1927 to make way for construction of what is now the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
• One of the first luxury hotels in Toronto was the Rossin House at the corner of King and York St. Built in 1856 (and renamed Prince George Hotel in 1909) it had 252 rooms, making it the largest hotel in the city at the time.
• Opened in 1903, the King Edward Hotel (now under the Le Méridien brand) is the oldest hotel still operating in Toronto.
• The Ford Hotel, a 750-room budget hotel built in 1928, was infamous for criminal activity and illicit behaviour. It was demolished in 1973 to make way for the Atrium On Bay.
• The Park Plaza at Bloor and Avenue went into receivership in 1995, more than six decades after it first opened. It was taken over by the Hyatt chain and renamed the Park Hyatt. Ironically, what is now the Four Seasons across the street was originally a Hyatt Regency.
• With nearly 1,600 rooms, the Delta Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard is the largest hotel in Canada. Built in the 70s, it was intended as a co-op apartment building.
• The first Four Seasons ever was a motor inn built in 1961 on Jarvis near Carlton.
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| The new Holiday Inn on Carlton St. |
With Ritz-Carlton opening, the Mormon-owned Marriott company dominates the hotel market in downtown Toronto. The Ritz-Carlton joins the Marriott-owned brands Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre on Bay and Marriott Bloor-Yorkville on Bloor, Courtyard by Marriott on Yonge, Residence Inn on Wellington, and the Renaissance at the Rogers Centre.
Close behind are Starwood Hotels (Westin Harbour Castle at the lake, the Sheraton Centre on Queen, and Le Méridien King Edward on King) and IHG (with two InterContinental hotels, two Holiday Inns and a Holiday Inn Express). Rumours are swirling that Starwood is scouting locations for a W Hotel.
Fun facts about hotels in downtown Toronto:
• Two of the most celebrity-friendly hotels, the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel and the Hazelton Hotel, are owned and managed by Toronto-based Starwood Group Inc. (no relation to Starwood Hotels).
• The Clarion Hotel on Sherbourne is a Victorian mansion that was the home of famed writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife in the early 1900s.
• The Four Seasons hotel chain was founded in – and still based in – Toronto. It is partly owned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz.
• When the Sheraton Centre opened in 1972 it was called the Four Seasons Sheraton Centre (a partnership that lasted four years). It was the tallest hotel-only building in Canada until the 53-story Hilton Fallsview north tower opened last year in Niagara Falls, Ont.
• When it opened in 1929, the 28-floor Royal York Hotel (now a Fairmont) was the tallest building in Canada.
• The Sword's Hotel opened in 1853 across the street from Toronto Union Station. It was renamed Queen's Hotel in 1862 and demolished in 1927 to make way for construction of what is now the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
• One of the first luxury hotels in Toronto was the Rossin House at the corner of King and York St. Built in 1856 (and renamed Prince George Hotel in 1909) it had 252 rooms, making it the largest hotel in the city at the time.
• Opened in 1903, the King Edward Hotel (now under the Le Méridien brand) is the oldest hotel still operating in Toronto.
• The Ford Hotel, a 750-room budget hotel built in 1928, was infamous for criminal activity and illicit behaviour. It was demolished in 1973 to make way for the Atrium On Bay.
• The Park Plaza at Bloor and Avenue went into receivership in 1995, more than six decades after it first opened. It was taken over by the Hyatt chain and renamed the Park Hyatt. Ironically, what is now the Four Seasons across the street was originally a Hyatt Regency.
• With nearly 1,600 rooms, the Delta Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard is the largest hotel in Canada. Built in the 70s, it was intended as a co-op apartment building.
• The first Four Seasons ever was a motor inn built in 1961 on Jarvis near Carlton.
