Fairmont Royal York
100 Front St W
Toronto, ON CANADA
M5J 1E3
Visited: September 2015
What I liked…
- The elegance! Soft music playing in the lobby, plush carpeting to dull the noise of the rolling suitcases, quiet hallways and comfortable and luxurious furnishings everywhere.
- The service is personal! I lost count on how many staff members at epic called me Mrs Piché during my lunch service. Everyone is addressed formally and personally and you feel welcome in every corner of the hotel.
- Location is ideal. Across from Union Station, close to all of the tourist attractions downtown and the convention centre is an easy walk way. It also doesn’t hurt that the shuttle from Toronto Island stops right at its from door, as well.
What I didn’t like so much…
- It’s a little old and therefore not updated. It is nice to have valet parking, but after you drag your bags through the revolving doors, you have a little set of stairs to get to the main lobby area. There was also a sign beside the outside “accessible” entrance that it was out of order and to use the front entrance.
- The “luxury” king room is a descent size but the bathroom was TINY. The shower door can touch the bathroom door, that almost touches the sink. (Are you getting a visual?) It is very pretty though. 🙂
- Early morning wake-up knocks. It is a business travellers’ hotel - no question. If you forget to put the “privacy please” sign on your door when you turn in for the night and you are hoping for a little late sleeping, be prepared for knocks on your door with the perquisite “Housekeeping!” starting at 8:30am or possibly earlier. For this morning (luckily I was already awake and had the deadbolt on the door), I had two “knock, wipe, doorpush” attempts before 9am from two different staff. What was interesting is that I was checking out this morning so I figured that I had a little time. Note to self - privacy card on door handle and deadbolt on at all times!
- Hotel restaurants are a little pricey. The food is great at Epic, but a sandwich lunch with a small glass of wine plus tax and tip came to almost $50. A cheese and charcuterie platter at the Library Bar was $42. It was good, but $42 was a bit much since it takes so long to get it served during the “happy hour” rush.
- The room rates were a little pricey, too, but I found out about the major mining conference that was happening this week which explained the rate increase. I can’t really complain about it since it wasn’t hotel-specific and I used a “free night” to cut the cost of my room (See Saving Money = More Trips for how I earned it.)
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