Hotel recommendations please ?
 

I am planning a 5 night break in Toronto in early December with Mrs Airframe from the UK.

Have never been to the city before so am looking for hotel advice please.

Would like to be close to attractions in downtown area something around 4* standard preferably.

Will be taking day tour to Niagra falls / visiting CN tower / theatre and possibly the zoo. Aswell as shopping and general hanging out in the city.
Any other attractions/places not to miss out on ?

Thanks for advice.
Airframe

The Intercontinental Hotel on Front St. I always enjoyed it the 3 or 4 times I was there but it had another name back then. L'hotel I think. I even made a point of going in when I wasn't staying there. Great location for accessing transit and within walking distance of the big tourist spots. Close the St Lawrence market area as well which is always interesting.

The Sutton Place Hotel is pretty good and so is the The Park hotel on Avenue road. Both have easy access to transit as well.

The most venerable hotel is the Royal York. It's Landmark for torontonians. I've never stayed there though. I have passed through it or attended meetings on the surface it looked pretty first rate.

Stayed at the Harbourfront Westin last year. Wasn't impressed at all. I think I expected to much and the disappointment left a bad taste.

All of those first 4 are close to the underground pedestrian mall, a North American phenomenon for dealing with the winter weather or inclement weather. It's really just an underground mall stretching for a few miles. It's heck during morning/evening rush hour with all the transit commuters going/coming from work.

Post script (subs to post above)

Having reread your post I think the Intercontinental and Park hotel would suit you best. The Intercontinental is very close to theatres, Roy Thompson concert hall and a good number of the better restaurants. The Park hotel is close to Yorkville for upscale shopping and dining.

For sightseeing - try a walk through the St Lawrence market in the morning. Chinatown will probably leave an impression on you as well.

Intercontinental Toronto
 

Mrs Mole and I are also visiting Toronto (first visit) in early December from the UK. We have chosen the Intercontinental Hotel which is recomended by a poster to this thread. In addition to being close to a number of sites, it has an airport transportation stop directly outside the hotel (from Pearson). If you were thinking of dining in the CN Tower (360 degrees restauarant near the top) book now as it will get busy in December. In relation to NF we have chosen to hire a car - there are two tours offered (morning/day or afternoon/evening) both of which appear to offer free time around the casinos however with shorter days in December, you risk seeing the falls in the dark if you take the illuminations tour which leaves Toronto at 1.30pm. There's not a good train service for a day visit. All the hotels will give you maps and/or instructions as the Intercontinental has done for us. If you do choose to stay at the Intercontinental by becoming an Ambassador Member - cost US 150 you will get a one free night (weekend) certificate which can be used a the IC toronto - see the Intercontinental Hotels Website.
Lets hope we both have good times in Toronto.

You might also consider the Cambridge Suites Hotel and Le Germain. You'll have a two room suite at Cambridge Suites, which can be nice for a longer visit. There are also laundry facilities. The tradeoff is that I think housekeeping services are a little less frequent. They have decent prices for parking, and the hotel is attached to the underground path system. Le Germain is a stylish boutique hotel, in the theatre district.

Things to do in Toronto: Consider going to a Christmas concert. We used to have seasons tickets to Tafelmusik, a terrific baroque orchestra that uses period instruments. They do a wonderful Handel's Messiah, and they probably have another concert a bit earlier in December. Check out Wholenote magazine for classical and jazz listings (http://www.thewholenote.com/wholenote/) and Eye and Now Magazine for popular music. Spend an evening at the Reservoir Lounge, if you like dancing to swing music.

Check out the various ethnic neighbourhoods and try out their restaurants. For decent cheap eats, try one of the Spring Rolls restaurants, which offer pan-Asian dishes (if you can't choose between Thai, Chinese, etc). I also like the interesting restaurants on Baldwin Street, especially Mata Hari Grill (Malaysian).

Visit the Bata Shoe Museum. It's surprisingly interesting and well-curated. You can learn a lot about a culture by looking at their shoes (eg footbinding in China, footwear of the Plains tribes, etc).

The Hockey Hall of Fame, of course.

If you want to splurge on a meal with a view, skip the restaurant at the CN Tower and make a reservation at Canoe. It's only 56 stories up, but the food is superb. Weeknights (and weekday lunches) only.

Pantages
 

I stayed in Toronto for the first time a year ago, at the Pantages Hotel, and rate it very highly indeed.

www.pantageshotel.com

There were special rates available at the time as it was still new and did not yet offer room service etc. It is more like an all suite funky modern boutique hotel. Probably more for the younger crowd who appreciate contemporary styling; the reviews on Tripadvisor are coloured by those who just "don't get" the clean styling of the place.

This is not Four Seasons level, but I slept like a baby in the beds and the room was vast, and the location could not be beaten.

Free WiFi in the room, which was huge, with kitchen facilities and a great bathroom, including high quality shampoos etc.

One thing I appreciated was that each room has a washer/dryer and they even provide free Tide and Bounce each day - great if your people are staying a few days!

Reception guy looked like a young Tom Cruise, all could not do enough to help and were very knowledgeable, friendly free high quality continental breakfast in the lobby was included.

Location is right next to the main shopping mall, and it is a $5 cab ride or a short 10 min pleasant walk to the gay strip.

Check out the Egg restaurant across the street form the hotel - yummy!

CN Tower is fun - stand on the glass pane and look hundreds of feet down - scary!!

Also, just to the north of the city is a great mansion, well worth visiting, called http://www.casaloma.org/ very interesting indeed.

I would recommend the Sutton Place Hotel on Bay & Wellesley as it is un des hotels de choix for Hollywood types during the Toronto Film Festival and is across from a very good restaurant, Bistro 990.

But perhaps most important, it is only a 30-second walk outside (br-r-r-r in December! :) ) to the excellent and safe subway stop on the Yonge Street line at Wellesley & Yonge. It is also walking distance to the University of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum and the ritzy shopping district of Yorkville.

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

We have decided on the Intercontinental and am now searching for the best deal. ;)

I also always stay at the Intercont on front and not the one on bloor. The night before you flight out I would suggest the Hilton Double Tree Airport.

Hilton Toronto is good as well. Free booze at executive lounge.