ggcheckpointline53

I should have posted some time ago. I stayed at the PH in December 09' on a gov rate of $149 CAD a night (I did have to present ID so if your not a gov employee think twice before booking the special rate.)

We secured an upgrade to a nice (but not oversized) Park Suite in the North building by using a Diamond upgrade. There was a living room with a door to a separate bedroom. The bathroom was very nice, though not outrageously extravagant. The quality of the products and amenities exceeded those of standard Hyatt properties (as PH usually does)

On the first night of our stay, we were informed that due to some municipal water work the water would be off from 12am to 6am. This was problematic as we were at a social affair that night and did not return to our room until past midnight. They offered additional bottled water to be sent to the room. (doesn't really help if you need a shower)

I was rather peeved at not being given any advance warning. Also, the next day, I called the Four Seasons which is across the street and found that there was no water outage there. It was only at the PH.

The front Desk manager was very apologetic and offered to remove the first night's charges from our folio^
In addition, HGP offered 5000 bonus points in a conciliatory measure^

I did not dine in the restaurant on the lobby level. The Roof lounge was great for after-dinner drinks with friends on our 2nd night.

All said, I was very happy with the resolution to my complaint. I got a great rate on a great room. The service was excellent if not over-bearing.

I returned to the Hotel this past month and enjoyed their complimentary bicycle valet for a nice ride on the first war day of Spring into Queens Park and beyond^

SandC

Given that I live in Toronto, I wanted to be thrilled with PH Toronto, but I've ended up with mixed feelings about the hotel. I've stayed a couple of times in the past (as recently as Feb of this year) and have a couple of upcoming reservations in May.

In terms of service this hotel lives up to Park Hyatt expectations. Check-in/Check-out is a breeze. Service elsewhere in the hotel (particularly the roof top lounge) is accommodating and attentive. Can't speak to the quality of the concierge staff, living in the City pretty much makes them redundant from my perspective. Annona serves decent food and the Roof Top lounge is cozy spot offering nice views of the lake and skyline. Rooms are a decent size (haven't had a look at the suites), though the decor is a little dated with some rooms starting to show their age i.e. slightly worn fixtures and CRT TVs.

Not unlike the Four Season's across the street PH Toronto seems to be resting on its laurels. Both are older properties and there doesn't appear to be any urgency for them to update. Perhaps when the new FS, Shangri-La and RC open the competition will spur Hyatt to update this hotel.

That said, PH Toronto generally offers excellent value for the money, a current reservation was priced at $ 199 including breakfast. Very approachable rates coupled with Hyatt's generous rewards program make it difficult to complain. If they were charging rack rates perhaps it would be a different story.

jjbc

Just completed a two nite stay sandwiched between stays at the Hyatt Regency in Toronto.

No status with Hyatt yet.

Booked into a Park Suite in South (newer?) Tower. Room 1214.

Room was reasonably sized (though a bit narrow) with smaller windows in the living room and bedroom. True bedroom which was a little narrow and only had a queen sized bed. Room did seem a little dark.

2 LCD tvs, both 32".

Service is discreet and professional. Lounge at the top is very nice. Gym was very clean, modern, with all new equipment and not busy the one time I used it. Never had a chance to use the local area car service.

Location is in Yorkville, about a $10 cab ride to the CBD.

I found it to be nice place to stay but I probably would not stay there again as I need to be in the CBD due to early morning meetings, and fairly late evening dinners.

I finally tried this hotel hopping to maximize my free night awards, but found it pretty tiring so I don't know how some of you can do it regularly.

As a side note I stayed at the Hyatt Regency on my last night and was selected guest of the day. Upgraded to a large suite, given some fruit, small bottle of perrier and some nuts. Thought it was kind of funny. Unfortunately I only got to stay in the room for a 5 hour sleep before heading off to the airport.

Best of all, will have enough for three free nights. But I don't think I will do much of the hotel hopping when on business. I feel wiped out and I try to keep pretty fit.

chanp

Thanks for the responses!

Quasiconvexity

Hi

I will be staying here in May on Memorial Day weekend - obtained a great rate of ~$170 fter a BRG match (for those interested, matched with 1800hotels.com which had a base rate of ~207 compared to ~236 on Hyatt.com). I am a Hyatt Diamond (tier matched from *Wood) and am wondering if it is worth using one of my Diamond upgrade certs to upgrade to a suite at this property? If I dont use one, do they usually do any kind of upgrade?

Thank you for your suggestions.

ggcheckpointline53

I used a Suite upgrade cert. (I actually finished the year with extra upgrades expiring in my account) and found our suite to be nice...
was never there with out using a cert

LL4L

Just booked the ph Toronto for 3 nights in July, do they comp breakfast in the restaurant for Diamonds ? Just read the master thread and only saw a mention of continental breakfast with room service. Thanks.

peteropny

Yes they do.

Quasiconvexity

Diamonds are comped breakfast in the restaurant (or room service) upto $28 per person and gratuity is not included. Two of us had breakfast in the restaurant and the tab came to ~70 with a ~15 dollar tip but they took the entire tab off the bill - I even brought it up to the FD staff but was told it is fine.

We were upgraded to a larger king room with no view to speak of but liked the hotel and the surrounding area. The diamond amenity was a bowl of fruit and a bottle of evian and the hotel sent it up even though we chose the points ^

best

How is their exercise / gym facilities?

ACfly

Very limited - down in the basement next to the Spa - 4-5 treadmills, eliptical, bike, and a stationary weight system...

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Hello. Decided to come into Toronto. It has been awhile but liked the city when visited last. Can someone comment on getting to the Hotel from YYZ? Is there a shuttle or public transport? Sounds like one should have low expectations with this property. Sad as it is a PH.

Shareholder

Actually, quite easy to get there from YYZ by pubic transit. Go down to lower level of terminal to the TTC stop (follow signage depending upon which terminal you arrive into). You can now purchase tokens from a machine or else just use C$3 coinage. (No change given on bus.) #192 bus runs every 15-minutes to Kipling subway where there is a free transfer to subway. All trains run east from this station. Get off at St. George station, Bedford Road exit and Bloor Street is 100 feet to the right. Stay on the north side of Bloor, cross Bedford heading east past IC and Park Hyatt is just down the street at the corner of Queen's Park/Avenue Road and Bloor. You could also stay on one more stop to Bay Street station, exit at west end of the platform (rear of your train) and exit through office building to Bloor Street, head right to Avenue Road and Hyatt is across the street. (Airport shuttle is more expensive and less convenient as it makes no stops that far north, requires transfer to minibus secondary shuttle.) As long as you have standard roller-type luggage, should be easy to handle of standard bus/subway train.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Thank you. Sounds simple. Does the reverse work or is it necessary to catch another line to Kipling?

Shareholder

Same process, just hop the Bloor-Danforth subway line going west from St. George to the end of the line (Kipling) and catch the #192 back to YYZ. (There are two lines at St. George, the other the Yonge-University-Spadina going north/south). T3 is the first terminal stop, T1 the second. (There is no T2.). Upon reflection it is best to use St. George as the exits/entrances at Bay station are not luggage compatible.

Subway takes about 35-minutes, bus 15-minutes. With wait times and transfer at Kipling either direction trip can be made in about an hour, but allow another 90-minutes to clear US Customs on your return flight since lines can be hellish at peak times.