I'm going to be hitting Toronto for 5days in early May, mainly for pleasure and visiting friends. I can bank award rooms with either Starwood or Hyatt.
I am not adverse to 2 diff hotels during those 5days.

Which 1, or 2, should I pick? Both on the hotel itself, but also the location in town and ease of seeing things.

From a quick glance around, it would seem the Park Hyatt is the nicer of the 2 Hyatts, and King Edward for Starwood?

Thanks for any advice!

The Park Hyatt (the ancient Park Plaza) is by the ROM and the fancy stores. The Intercontinental is nicer in the same location. The Hyatt Regency, which is the old Holiday Inn, is near sports and entertainment. The King Edward is near a hospital and some top restaurants and the Distillery District and some think it's elegant while the Sheraton Centre is in the middle of everything in terms of business and City Hall. The Westin Harbour Castle is interesting for the lake views and great rooms and Harbourfront. We always use Priceline and can get any of these for $45-55 per night. The Marriotts are both well-located as well. The Delta Chelsea is a Starwood and is the most popular and central. And Sutton Place is very fine and where the movie stars stay. The airport shuttle goes first to the Westin and ends up at the Chelsea. And there is the Hilton too! For weird, try The Gladstone.

Delta's are not Starwood, they have their own loyalty program.

Delta Chelsea is in a part of the city where interesting people hang out after dark.

Correction: Delta is owned by Fairmont- as it says on another thread on this board. I stand corrected.

I would say Park Hyatt>King Eddy>Westin>Sheraton for the hotels in the chains you mentioned. The only thing about the Westin, is while it is on the Harbourfront area, it is a bit isolated from the city, so walking will be a bit more. The others are very central and will be walkable as well as close to streetcars and subways. If you consider other hotels, I might thrown in Hotel Le Germain, which is a nice boutique hotel in the King West area.

Whatever it's current affiliation I highly recommend

the Delta Chelsea on Gerard Street close to Yonge

I have been treated very well by the staff and find

the location very convenient

I have been staying there for many years

The hotel serves a terrific Sunday brunch and

there is a fantastic Italian restaurant across

the street from the back entrance "Donatello's"

Tell the owner Giacomo Rauti hi from Chic

Delta and Fairmont ended their partnership (as of late 2007).

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/10/02/delta.html

i would say it depends on how old you are, where your friends are, and what you intend to do in Toronto.

The Hyatt in mid-town is great. Sheraton Centre has a pretty central location for downtown.

There are plenty of well located hotels, but it depends on what activities you are looking to pursue. Theatre? Blue Jay games? Toronto FC games?
are your friends in the city? in the suburbs?

if you give me that information - i can recommend the best hotel for you. doesn't matter which chain (or even none at all). i assume though, based on your original message, that you plan on redeeming points for these rooms. In the current economy, in Toronto - that may not be wise - but again - depends on which one you intend to stay in

Sorry for lack of clarity -

Looking for a hotel for Sat night only, 09May.
I'm late 30's, visiting a lady who is late 20's.
We're not club rats, not sports fans, both pretty active and fit.
Probably walk a bunch, nice dinner, nice hotel for a fun night away from home.

If is really that cheap, maybe I shouldn't burn points then?

Check out Starwoods Starpicks, they have some good deals.

Also, the Fairmont Royal York is super cheap with the NFAF promo.

Also, wait today for TravelZoo Canada's email. It will be out soon

i agree, I wouldn't burn points.

you'd do ok with the fairmont if you can get the NFAF deal.

i'd also check the intercontinental at bloor or on front - i think there is a friends and family rate going around for the intercontinental chain too.

restaurants - there are good ones all over, but more concentrated based on food you want. greek - danforth. italian - little italy at college and bathurst. funky - king/queen west I guess. a bit of everything - yorkville area (bay and bloor)

based on this - you are a short cab ride or a medium walk away from all of these types of places in any of those 3 hotels.

if you are a starwood guy - you can get pretty good deals at the king edward (which is downtown) or the sheraton centre (also downtown) which are both pretty close to the fairmont or the intercontinental on front - so same area. i hear priceline is good for those but i have no experience

Look at betterbidding.com. In normal times, those places come in at $45-55.

i ended up doing the Westin Harbour Castle for the weekend, then moved to Westin Prince during week (was close to my work appts).

Westin Harbour Castle was fantastic place. Really a lovely property, good location, good staff, nice bar, all at a good price.

Westin Prince was nice on the ground floor/lounge/bar, but the rooms and the property itself were pretty tired. Real tired. Decent suburbia location, cheap rate for points.

I posted in the GLBT forum, but this might be better.

My boyfriend and I are going to Toronto in September. Where should we stay? I like Starwood properties since I have lots of starpoints, but it doesn't much matter to me.

We'll be going to see Cirque du Soleil, want to be near nice restaurants, fun night life, no clubs or anything. Don't need to be near gay part of town. Just a good central location for sightseeing and restaurants.

We're both late 20s/early 30s.

Thanks!

you'd be hardpressed not to have a nice time at the Harbour Castle.
Down in the thick of things by the water & downtown, and easy cab rides from some great parts of Toronto, including the 'alternative' area.