among Toronto's finest Shangri-la Toronto

100   Recommended
October 6, 2015 by

 Map | 3 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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Shangri-la Hotel Toronto
 Map | 3 Reviews | 100% Recommended

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Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats

A somewhat familar feeling stay at a very familar brand.

Room

The room was miles nicer than PH Toronto because it was MODERN and pretty much like every other luxury Asian hotel I've ever stayed at. People looking for a change from Asia should probably avoid going here with all the Asian art, prints, design motifs going on. Like going from a steamship to a Tesla. No flipping on half a dozen lamps. No manually figuring out how to do half dozenblinds. All switches can be done by bedside buttons - very much like all the Asian luxury hotels I stay at. The iPad to order room service is also very neat and also contains all your necessary room information. No need for booklets and brochures at SL Toronto.

I was surprised how worn my Premier room was though. The hotel is recent new but this room has seen better days. The office chair's leather looked like someone really put butt miles on it. The dark room door corners was a little chipped too. Hard to keep the cashmere throw fresh looking after dry cleaning for each guest and stay?

The heated floors came in handy with the cold spell Toronto was having this past week. The only hotel I've ever seen with heated floors and it's much better than the Korean ondol style heated floors (usually done under linoleum).

Just very noisy being along University Avenue and you could hear EMS vehicles go up and down. The hotel is also on the lowest floors so you're closer to the action - for better or worse.

Dining

BOSK:

Excellent. Better than Annona at PHinevery way. Just younger, hipper and more creative. They use excellent, locally sourced ingredients to make exciting fare. Didn't dine in the restaurantfor dinner but I totally would have because the room service bolognaise was well-done. They do all the hotel's in-room dining orders and room service breakfasts. The only thing is the breakfast portion size was a little small. I could see big eaters having a problem with one sunny side up egg, a few thin strips of bacon and toast.

Spa

Utterly disappointing as my partner had been excited to go there and they ended up giving away her reservation. Less than 10 mins from between callsand they did it because couldn't provide CC number (to PH concierge) while driving. Under different management by Caudalie and not a standard SL CHI spa. The facilities themselves are quite spectacular.

Location

Shangri-La easily has one of the best locations in the city –at the crossroads of the Toronto financial and entertainment districtand just a quick walk from the Eatons Centre. The restaurants on Queen and King Street are a streetcar or house carride away. It’s also next to a subway station, making it easy to get to the shopping and museums in Yorkville. You could also walk if it's a nice day. straight up University Avenue and around Queen's Park.

Service

Service was quite polished. Servers poured wine or water with grace and all requests were answered by Guest services. Housekeeping was detailed and non-intrusive. Never knew they were there and they respected the privacy indicator unlike PH Toronto. I'd say this hotel has some of the finest overall service in the city. It's not SL Tokyo good but very, very few places are.

Overall

I liked SL Toronto. There are so many things right about this hotelbut it feels too familiar because we live in Asia and frequent SL Tokyo often enough. Not the hotel's fault that we're lucky enough to be at its sister hotel. I would definitely recommend it as a luxury hotel option in Toronto. You're in the middle of everything and got a lot of good Asian inspired touchesto pamper you with.

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