Review Novotel Toronto Centre
Introduction The central location of the hotel is convenient if you want to stay downtown.I stayed there for 1 night. Booked Executive room and was upgraded to Signature suite (next category). What a name for something very average... Check In Two days prior to my stay, I received an e-mail for e-standby upgrades proposing me an upgrade for free to the junior suite (platinum upgrade). I followed the process and received instantly a confirmation that my demand was taken into account and that it will be confirmed at check-in whether my upgrade was granted or not. The upgrade was indeed granted, but not a word was said by the clerk at check-in outside "you are staying with us for 1 night, right ?" and "your room is number XXX, and the lifts are on the left". So very robotic, "minimum syndical" as we say in French. You discover if you are upgraded or not opening your room door. Room The room was very dark because you are just under the top of some arcades on the street (see picture). So it was OK for one night, but I wouldn't stay in such a room for several days. On top of that, very poor soundproofing inside (I heard very well at 6 am the neighbour taking his/her shower) and outside (street noise). There is a Nespresso machine in room. Bathroom was the best part of the room !The room was on the 2nd floor, where the meeting rooms are. Corridors give the feeling of an average hotel (dated). Same for the room : they call that a "suite" because there is a kind of small "corner" at the entrance of the room where they have put a table and 3 armchairs, but this is not a separate room. Five min after I arrived, they bring in my room a bottle of water and a small cake + an envelope containing a welcome message from the GM and the drink voucher. Dining The bar/restaurant area is pleasant and the barman was very nice. Drink voucher can be used for soft drinks, beer and wine. I took a glass of wine and he made me choose among their full list of wines-by-the-glass of their regular menu. Overall Overall, not a bad stay, but a lot of room for improvement. And the weaknesses of the building and the hotel design will be hard to solve, even after a renovation.
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Thanks. I'm booked to stay here for four nights later this year and am now starting to hope that the FRHI properties are integrated into LCAH sooner rather than later...
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Originally Posted by IMH
(Post 26028946)
Thanks. I'm booked to stay here for four nights later this year and am now starting to hope that the FRHI properties are integrated into LCAH sooner rather than later...
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You got a drink voucher? I just got a piccolo bottle of Henckell-Trocken when I stayed there this summer!
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Originally Posted by islandcub1
(Post 26032047)
You got a drink voucher? I just got a piccolo bottle of Henckell-Trocken when I stayed there this summer!
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Follow-up : after the stay I reported here (mid-January), I received the usual satisfaction survey which I filled immediately. Never got any answer/feed-back until tonight when I received an e-mail with a kind of copy & paste answers / apologies. Three months after completing the survey, WOW :td::td:
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
(Post 26452067)
I received the usual satisfaction survey which I filled immediately. Never got any answer/feed-back until tonight
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We stayed here for five nights this week. Following Goldorak's review our expectations were not high, so we weren't surprised to find that this is a rather disappointing property or to conclude that we wouldn't return.
We made an unrestricted booking several months in advance, expecting to rebook at some stage to secure a lower rate (or, after Goldorak's report, stay elsewhere). That didn't happen, as a very large conference (Microsoft WPC) brought 15,000+ people to Toronto during our stay. This meant that the hotel was genuinely sold out and no upgrades were to be had. The lobby area and lifts are clean, fresh and modern. Everything else was identikit 1980s North American chain hotel, including chipped paint in unattractive shades of pink, peach and beige. Nothing about the property said "Novotel"; in fact even as a Mercure it would have seemed overbadged. The 2cm gap at the bottom of the door needed to be blocked off with a towel to try to exclude noise, light and cold air. Platinum acknowledgement: a bottle of water, a voucher for a single drink, two fluorescent cup cakes that we didn't touch. |
Originally Posted by IMH
(Post 26925978)
The lobby area and lifts are clean, fresh and modern. Everything else was identikit 1980s North American chain hotel, including chipped paint in unattractive shades of pink, peach and beige. Nothing about the property said "Novotel"; in fact even as a Mercure it would have seemed overbadged. The 2cm gap at the bottom of the door needed to be blocked off with a towel to try to exclude noise, light and cold air.
Platinum acknowledgement: a bottle of water, a voucher for a single drink, two fluorescent cup cakes that we didn't touch. |
Issue at Novotel Toronto Centre
I was given a room without a shower tray in the walk-in shower. I called to the front desk and an engineer was sent up to the room. He told me that the room was newly renovated and all of the new rooms no longer have shower trays to hold bars of soap and shampoo. When I asked him if it was intended for the soap to stay on the shower floor, he replied that he did not know.
I went down and spoke to the hotel GM and was told that I was given a "mock room" that was not yet fully completed. The GM told me that the shower tray should be in all rooms. Is this really the right room to give to an elite member? |
Indeed a non-sense. But I'm not surprised knowing my own experience in this hotel in 2016. God to know that they are renovating but I will likely not return.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accor...to-centre.html |
Originally Posted by Gigantor
(Post 28418736)
I went down and spoke to the hotel GM and was told that I was given a "mock room" that was not yet fully completed. Is this really the right room to give to an elite member? Anyway, some of the Accor properties need room for improvement; unfortunately some of them didn't have space for it. :o
Originally Posted by Goldorak
(Post 28419745)
Indeed a non-sense. But I'm not surprised knowing my own experience in this hotel in 2016. God to know that they are renovating but I will likely not return.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accor...to-centre.html |
Originally Posted by virtualaris
(Post 28419808)
I like the way you reviewed it, especially the "Bathroom was the best part of the room" part. I guess it's not a compliment, right ? ;)
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
(Post 28419745)
Indeed a non-sense. But I'm not surprised knowing my own experience in this hotel in 2016. God to know that they are renovating but I will likely not return.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accor...to-centre.html but wait till you stay in Mercure Ginza Tokyo. Haha |
Originally Posted by Gigantor
(Post 28418736)
I was given a room without a shower tray in the walk-in shower. I called to the front desk and an engineer was sent up to the room. He told me that the room was newly renovated and all of the new rooms no longer have shower trays to hold bars of soap and shampoo. When I asked him if it was intended for the soap to stay on the shower floor, he replied that he did not know.
I went down and spoke to the hotel GM and was told that I was given a "mock room" that was not yet fully completed. The GM told me that the shower tray should be in all rooms. Is this really the right room to give to an elite member? yes, coz they gave you newly renovated room. you should be happy :p |
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