Sheraton Centre Toronto or Westin Harbour Castle?
 

Anyone have comments on Starwood properties in Toronto? Prefer downtown, have been eyeing the Sheraton Centre by City Hall.

TIA.

Paradox, there have been a number of discussions on this, such as http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/000648.html

Do a search on "Toronto" to locate the others.

[This message has been edited by dgolds (edited 04-13-2001).]

While I am a Toronto resident, I have spent a few nights (free Fridays and Weekends) in the Toronto Hotels......

The Sheraton at City Hall is nice enough. I have no major complaints about the quality of the room or service.....with the exception of the food. I would not eat there! I have had better breakfasts at McDonalds (actually my "hash browns" were McDonalds style).

It has been a long time since last in YYZ.
I believe property titles (such as Westin and
Sheraton) have changed since. Stayed at hotel
near water. Very big hotel with lots of
rooms. Worked out well since they had lots of
upgrades to suites and received one. Check
last date of renovation. Rooms were a bit
worn.

Starwoods in Toronto
 

planning a trip to Toronto from London. Any recommendations on a good *wood hotel there, and the Plat. privilages at each one?

My recommendation would be the Westin Harborcastle. I have been typically been given a large lake-view room at the very least at this hotel as Platinum and have often received a suite. I personally prefer the North Tower because of the free high-speed internet access, but then I have only been there on business trips and that is important to me when working (how else would I catch up on FT?). You can also try the Sheraton Center. Its a nice hotel and has a lounge as well to which you will have access.

Avoid the Sheraton Centre. It's old and run down.

I have stayed at the Westin Harbor Castle once and the Westin Prince about four times. The Prince is less expensive and is more conveniently located for me. They have also redone their rooms and now have heavenly beds and nicer furniture. As a plat I am usually upgraded to a corner room in the tower, which is fine.

However, the Harbor Castle is a bigger, grander hotel. Dining options are better. I was upgraded to a junior suite. Parking is more of a hassle, whereas at the Prince you can just park in the lot right outside the hotel.

Really? There have been good reviews here in prior posts. (zakami: do you have recent experience at the Sheraton Centre?) Have things changed? We're deciding between the Toronto Hilton and the Sheraton Centre for an upcoming stay this July (following on a short stay at the Sheraton on the Falls in Niagara Falls). I have reservations at both and need to cancel one -- $169 CAD for Hilton (my HHonors Gold benefits will include breakfast/lounge access) and $159 CAD "Cheers Toronto" special for the Sheraton Centre (which includes a $20 food credit and 2 harbor tours). I've had heard great things about the Hilton's treatment of elite members and I'm working on maintaining my status, hence our willingness to stay at what is considered a more business-oriented hotel in downtown Toronto for this vacation. Because I like the ease of booking SPG awards, I'm trying to add more Starwood stays; but I don't want to stay somewhere that is now "run down" for this long awaited trip to Toronto. Any more recent reviews?

Sheraton Centre Toronto. I was there last July when it was pretty hectic in the city due to the World Youth Day stuff and I was treated extremely well as a SPG Platinum Member. They have a lounge that offers snacks throughout most of the day. Was upgraded to a two room suite. They have a separate check-in area for SPG members. The room I had was 2115 with a view of the fountain that's on the website.

Take the Harbour Castle. Great location in the harbour, and fairly large size rooms. Four Points Lakeshore is also a nice small hotel. 5 floors, and all lake side rooms have balconies overlooking the lake. no service, no perks , no great rooms, though great view and location.

The Sheraton Centre location is better than the Westin, but they have aproblem giving Platinum benefits. Even for a 4 night stay they didn't upgrade me to a suite claiming it was not available. It was. They gave me a corner room and as much as implied I should be thankful for it!! The lounge is great, the view superb but this is the only Sheraton lounge where they come around with a card to sign names and have a blank space for gratuity. Tacky!! The Westin is a better hotel and if you get a corner harbour view room, at least you can enjoy the view!!

If you don't mind staying way out there, the Prince is much better now that they've renovated the rooms. However, the upper floors are closed right now and that's where all the suites are, not that they've ever given us a Platinum upgrade to a suite in 10 or so stays.

QL

Scotch, I stayed at the Sheraton as recently as March and April. I was not given a suite at any time (I was there on weekdays so not sure if that makes a difference) but was given a corner room a couple of time which is larger than the regular room. The lounge is nice with great breakfast and snacks throughout the day. And yes, it is tacky where at breakfast you get a card to fill out with tip. Usually I do leave a small tip in the lounges, so no big deal to me but I still think its not right to ask for it. The location of the hotel is pretty good also in terms of finding places to eat and proximity to the Theatre disctrict (but seems like you already looked into that). They do recognize Platinum although I cannot explain why I was not given a suite in 4 stays ! However, I have always gotten a suite or a very very large room at the Westin and have no clue as to what the regular rooms look like. I would not hesitate to stay at the Sheraton but if it were a choice between the Westin and Sheraton, then I would definitely go for the Westin. The front desk folks at the Westin are top-notch and definitely amongst the best I have seen. I have never tried food at either the Sheraton or Westin simply because of the number of great restuarants that are there within walking distance (OK.. maybe not many by the Wetsin) of the hotels. If you are going over the summer, the Westin might be nicer as you could get a lake-view room on a high floor and its a spectacular view (very romantic). If you have any questions, please email me as I won't be regular on FT over the next few days.

Thank you for the response, zakami. I am only SGP Gold so I have no real expectation re room upgrade (based on my experience). I just don't want to stay at a place that is now "old and run down" as I want to save that type of experience for my business trips! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I did not pick the Westin as a finalist for this vacation because we won't have a car during most of the stay -- we're only renting a car to visit the African Lion Safari and drive to/from Niagara Falls -- so the Sheraton Center or Toronto Hilton just seemed more convenient for restaurants, shops, and public transportation. But having a lovely romantic lake view certainly has its appeal . . . . And we will actually spend 6 nights (award) at the Toronto Hilton before the Niagara Falls trip so we may not need to spend our last couple of nights in the same convenient area. Perhaps I need to reconsider . . . .

[This message has been edited by Scotch (edited 05-14-2003).]