JGR01

Off to the Royal York in Toronto next month as a tourist .. and will report back. Stayed there for months on business (ok slept there working 10-12 hour days) so need to see the 'real' side of the hotel.

eastcoastcan

When you stayed there, did you have much luck with upgrades as a plat? I have a booking with a suite cert for november, hoping for a big suite!

JGR01

I was a 'regular' .. I was there every week for perhaps 4-5 months.. so um .. when I checked in the President's desk staff all knew me and had normally pre-assigned an upgrade. My luggage spent the weekends in the bellman's storeage and I traveled with clean underwear in my carryon! My luck was 'will it be this suite or that suite or are your plain full tonight?' Yea near Christmas I got a regular room with bed and chair and desk... but it was Fairmont QUALITY bed!

They have several levels of suites (and rooms). Let me give a bit of advice....

The hotel is shaped like an 'E' with the long edge facing the train station and the water.

The middle part of the E contains the main(old) elevators. The bottom half of the E near the bottom 'leg' is much longer and at the east end of the hotel .. and has the East (new) elevators.

Towards the 'new' end . .the rooms are also newer and kinda plain. I was in one 'executive' room that was HUGE (2-3 rooms wide) but all open. I was in another corner room there that was a junior suite with small living room and adjoining bedroom area .. no door.

Personally .. the West end of the hotel DOES have fabulous views of the CN tower and dome stadium .. but I do not like that side. With the 'E' layout .. the corners of the legs (not the middle leg) all are VERY VERY near to other buildings. Across the street on north and west (or east and north) side of a corner suite with multiple windows... you face an office building. Toronto is wierd in that they KEEP their office towers light on all night long (supposedly to keep the birds from flying into them!).. and I found that annoying. I normally try and request a Train Station view or a Center section (the middle of the E) by the main elevators.

In the 'old' part of the hotel are the classic rooms. One was called a 'parlor' room with tiny living room but doors to the bedroom that closed and two bathrooms. Most suites tend to be on the end or corner of a section.

The 'true' suites with separate bedroom (closing doors) tend to be in the old wing .. and are fabulous. I have had a couple with non-working fireplaces and huge dining tables. One even had a huge shower with about 5 nozzles! Second bathroom or bar will vary based on the room.

This is an OLD hotel with the classic neat features of old hotels . different layouts on different floors and various room layouts based on renovations over the years. I cannot recall any specific room numbers .. sorry.

I cannot comment much on the room service menu/service as I walked from the office at BCE Place (underground) and most evening tried to stop for carryout food (Marche is very decent carryout) there or even at the connected train station (the hot dog vendor has GREAT sausages!). I brought food back most evenings or ate then stayed at work.

When you 'reserve' your suite upgrade, I have learned they will try and reserve you a Junior Suite. You can 'request' at that time instead the get a true ONE BEDROOM Suite! (Banff tried to give me a 'cute' junior suite that by the description - spiral staircase to upstairs - I knew from the web page was the bridal suite! I got a full one bedroom instead!). They may not 'like' it that you know you can request a larger upgrade, but hey .. at least TRY for it!

Toronto is a great city! And the Royal York a GREAT hotel. I would probably FAX the hotel manager a week prior to your arrival .. reconfirming the suite upgrade, request that the suite be a one bedroom, request that it be one with a fake fireplace if possible. See what happens!

acysb87

I agree with this comment.The Presidents Club people are very good at this location.What you describe worked for me exactly as written. ^

fly-yul

As if FPC and Fairmont could not get any worse...
At the Royal york with 1000+ rooms they have 3 self service computer stations. If they are busy, which they always are and you want to print a file be prepared to pay a $8.50 charge per file plus $.25 a page to print. This is complete robbery and Fairmont should be ashamed of stealing from their customers.

I wanted to print a 1 page document. That's a pretty hefty fee for for 3 double clicks!!

acysb87

Ouch.

yadayaba

I have stayed in the Royal York in downtown Toronto Four times. Always good service, always good rooms, the gold rooms are worth the extra.

Never had a problem with anything, the only issue I ever had was over a parking charge, I didn’t have a car, but apparently I had a parking space and a charge for it every night I was at the hotel. They stripped it out of the bill in seconds.

All staff a friendly chatty and happy

So all in all very good.

Yada

acysb87

Mrs.acysb87 really likes fairmont.Seems that they really go out of their way at the RY to look after us.I stay there every time I am in downtown TO with her.

acysb87

Cannot say enough about the RY.I was there last week and attended the Rod Stewart concert with Mrs.acysb87.We were on Gold floor with invited friends who were quite impressed.
Aime does a great job as a concierge.^

83914673

Hi all
I've been searching for reviews of this hotel, but limited result came out.
I wonder how the room is like at the hotel.(bed comfort, bathroom, view...etc)
This is the description of the room I get on the web:

It mentioned the room is only 250sq ft. is it a bit small for a three people stay?
How are the restaurants there?

If you think the Fairmont is not good enough for us, please suggest another good one.

Thanks for helping!

MegatopLover

I would definitely say that 250 sq. ft. is tiny for any hotel room, nevermind for three people. When I stayed at the Royal York six years ago, we had three of us in a junior suite (or whatever it was called). That was comfy enough-- two beds (probably twins) in the bedroom and a foldout couch in the living area and overall enough space to move around, probably around 550 square feet. We had a corner room on a high floor with a city view, meaning some skyline and some view directly into the office building across the street. I don't recall dining in the restaurants except maybe a drink at the lobby bar. The hotel felt like what it is: a massive railway station hotel built 80+ years ago when priorities in hotels were different. I'd say overall it was good enough for our purposes--three guys on a weekend getaway--but nothing to write home about.

We did go to the restaurant called Canoe atop a nearby bank building. Fantastic Canadian cuisine. Don't know if it's still there (I would expect so) or if it has held up over time (likely).

catwings01

The Fairmont Royal York isn't a luxury hotel, IMHO. The public space is grand but marred by the huge crowds moving through - we have stayed here just once, years ago, when the FS was sold out but met friends in the lobby last year and my impression is the same - this is a hotel that survives on group business. Our friends said their room was adequate but service was 3star at best.

mkjr

was going to put my mother up there when she was visiting and opted not to. hotel rooms are small and dated. for the same price i put her up at the Cosmopolitan and it was outstanding!! http://www.cosmotoronto.com/ same general area but a little kitchen, separate room etc.. i have stayed at the Royal York several times and its OK. i would look into the Cosmo. most old CP hotels are like this. it is a big business hotel. i would also consider staying at the Germain over the RY http://www.germaintoronto.com/ also.

mkjr

still there and still great!! going this Friday in fact.

83914673

The Germain seems like a pretty fancy hotel! I'll consider staying there. Any Suggestion?