Originally Posted by
Flews
Nice to have another Marriott option in Toronto I guess. I would still prefer to see a St. Regis at a heritage property rather than a glass, metal & concrete new build. But, as I say, Toronto already has a good number of luxury hotel options, so there is lots to chose from if this doesn't work for someone.
Cheers,
I think you may have missed the direction St. Regis has been going for the last decade. Only in a very few instances has St. Regis ever had an older heritage-type property: the original NYC property, Washington, DC, the Lanesborough in London (no longer a StR), Florence, and Rome.
All other StR properties are newer builds meant to reflect the local character in some fashion--but always in a modern and fresh way. Even the renovation of the StR Rome currently underway is to bring a fresher, more modern appeal to the classical historic elegance of the property.
Toronto is a modern, vibrant world-class city. And this StR will reflect that. Just like most of the other StR properties around the world.
Marriott/Starwood has the Luxury Collection available for more of its unique, historic, heritage-type properties. Only in rare instances might they prefer to be branded as StR (like the Lanesborough tried and ultimately rejected). Personally, I despise the Lanesborough as being too formal and too old fashioned, which is why I never minded it abandoning the StR brand. I'm much more excited about the former US Embassy building or the Admiralty Arch building becoming the new StR London--with more up to date, classical but modernized interiors and decor.