DJ Bitterbarn

I debated bumping an old thread, but they all seemed 2011-era, so I thought a new, quick thread might work.

We've got a one-night layover in YYZ in December and I need to choose a place to stay. From the look of things, there's a choice between the HI, HI East, Indigo or CP.

I'm looking at one of the HIs since they've got nights for 15k points vs 20k at the Indigo and 25k at the CP - and I only have 15k at the moment - but I'm open to anything. The only downside with the Indigo is the lack of a pool (travelling with child) but we're also going to be coming off a night at the IC Warsaw, so if the Indigo is that much better I'd be interested - our last Indigo stay in Berlin was great and by the look of the pictures, it looks like the nicer hotel. Basically, though, any of the four would be fine but the HIs I could get for reward rates so they're on top right now, with the Indigo a close second.

Now: does anyone have any specific reasons why to or why not to book any of those? I'd be glad to hear any reason, but I also would like to know about:
- Hotel is commonly booked for hockey tournaments (or similar). I would prefer to avoid this if at all possible. I like sleep.
- If one hotel has a great restaurant or proximity to one and the others don't, that could be a factor. We're not going to have a car.
- Maybe one of the hotels is haunted? Not sure if this is a pro or a con yet.
- Hotel recognizes plat vs not? Not plat at the moment, but that could easily change by our stay.
- Hotel is right next to public transit to town. We have friends/family we'd like to see, and either they'd come to see us or we'd go there.
- Hotel shuttle is better to one or the other.

Any advice/suggestions welcomed - we're still really flexible on this but I want to be on top of everything for this trip.

Bjmcisaac

The only one of the YYZ airport hotels I have stayed at is the Indigo. I've stayed there three times. It's ok, but it's not up to the standard of other Indigo's I have previously stayed at (I find Ottawa much better, for example). Most of my issues with it has to do with the renovation from whatever hotel it was before looks and feels cheap.

Their rooms are basically all the same, so they offered me discounted parking, a bottle of water, and a voucher for 1,000 points for being platinum in lieu of an upgrade.
The restaurant there is ok, although I have only ever eaten breakfast there.

I've not used the shuttle or taken public transit from the hotel to downtown so can't answer those questions for you.

DJ Bitterbarn

Thanks for the input! Our last Indigo experience was Berlin Ku'Damm, and the pictures I see online do seem to suggest this one is not quite up to that level either. Which is okay, though. Even though I prefer Indigo to HI, it's not a big deciding factor.

canforce

I have stayed at the Crowne Plaza about ten times in the last two years during layovers.

Service is always good and I have been pretty happy up to this point.

Restaurant is good and if you are platinum you get a free full breakfast.

Staying again in a few weeks on my way through. Only pain is the shuttle, it runs often but I generally hate airport shuttles.

DJ Bitterbarn

Thanks for the feedback, you do make good points. Any other plat benefits? I'd be buying up at least $40 to stay there so that sort of offsets the savings for breakfast plus we may go out for breakfast, depending on who I can enlist to drive out from Toronto (but if the restaurant is really good, we could maybe convince them to eat with us there).

canforce

I only ate dinner there once, and it was good. Not great but good.

In the parking lot of the hotel though you have boston pizza, crabby joes, a really nice steak house, tuckers market place and a Tony Romas. Just about anything anyone could want.

The steak place is awesome and I would highly reccomend it. I think its a Canyon, but cant quite remember. I do remember I had the rib eye done to medium and it was excellent.

useless

If you are looking for something near the airport the HI Airport is fine with typical airport type restaurants nearby and shuttle, but not a lot more. The CP at the airport is a little nicer with good eating nearby as mentioned above. I much prefer the CP if staying at the airport.
If you want to see the city you have to go to the HI on Bloor St. Lots of shopping cafes museums etc. 1 day is not much time, but any of these would work depending on your preference. I guess the HI Yorkdale would also work with a big shopping centre across the street and a bit of a clothing outlet kind of street just south of the hotel on Orfus road.

DJ Bitterbarn

Thanks again to everyone, the restaurants were a somewhat compelling reason to pick the CP, but after a lot of google maps I thought we could probably walk to anything nearby so tentatively booked the HI for 15k. I realize it's not the nicest, but it's far from the only night on our trip and at this time we're only doing a quick overnight in Toronto to break up the trip (we've been to Toronto a few times, so seeing the city isn't a big deal). In that case bed + relatively nearby eatery will suffice. Proximity to the airport and shuttle is also a big deal. I can still probably switch in the worst case, so options left open.

I appreciate the advice a lot, and we've got some ideas where to go for food now, not to mention being able to check one more thing off the trip checklist. And the next time we're through I'll probably pass on the HI for the CP.

hearna

I got a 99$ a night rate at the Indigo there including parking/breakfest if you are interested in that....

DJ Bitterbarn

Normally I would be, but I burned points on this one as I had them. Free is good and I'm not saving them for anything in particular. Still looking for a good rate on the CP LAX at the end of Dec. but I'll keep checking that one.