Hotel info for outside Toronto
 

Greetings, Flying into Toronto end of September, we are staying first night at Hilton Hotel in downtown Toronto (how is this hotel)? For the remainder of 3 days we really want to check out St. Catherines, Niagara on the Lake, Kitchener, St Jacobs. Where would be a good central location to stay for the remaining 3 days for checking out the above sights. What would be the best thing to do for 3 short days? Our plane leaves Monday afternoon - and we were going to stay in Mississauga but this is still 2 hours away from Niagara on the Lake (alittle too far) There is a wine festival in St. Catherines that weekend (how is this)? Thank you for any help. We really love Canada (were in Victoria last year) Loved that area!!!!

www.vintageinns.com will take you to the web site for almost all the hotels in Niagara on the Lake.<BR><BR>This is a good central place for your other trips. St. Catharines is a ten - fifteen minute drive, Niagara Falls (worth a look if you have never been there -- take the Maid of the Mist boat to the bottom of the falls, too) is close, etc.<BR><BR>Set aside a whole day for the drive to Kitchener and St. Jacobs, and you can be back in Niagara on the Lake for a good dinner. Lots of the good NotL restaurants are owned by the Vintge Inns group, plus there are good restaurants at some of the local wineries. <BR><BR>What to do with your days depends on interests and personalities. Some tourists love the Niagara Falls casino, others play golf, visit the butterfly conservatory, go in behind the falls on a tour, go see a play at the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara on the Lake, check out the wineries in NotL, Beamsville, Grimsby, St. Catharines, etc.<BR><BR>People with kids or who just like to look at animals go to African Lion Safari on the way to Cambridge.<BR><BR>I'd count the city of Niagara Falls and the town of Niagara on the lake as one desitination, and spend two days there. The third day is the Kitchener / St. Jacobs trip.<BR><BR>the Hiolton in downtown Toronto is a fine Hilton Hotel, up to the Hilton chain major hotel standards. Expensive but good fancy restaurant called Tundra; a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in the basement, and twenty other good to excellent restaurants within a fifteen minute walk. One of the "best restaurants for wine" in the current Wine Spectator magazine international list is among that group of twenty (La Fenice, on King Street West) <BR><BR>There are Hilton, Marriott and other big chain hotels in Niagra Falls (the city) too, but I like Niagara on the Lake better.<BR><BR>BAK

Thank you for your info. We will skip the falls entirely, were there several years ago. How is the town of Oakville to stay? Looks on the map to be very central to where we would like to go. Also is there a good restaurant close to the downtown Hilton (not real pricey - unique place - especially good fish.) Thanks again.

If its important to you to have one "base camp" for your three days outside of Toronto, I would suggest Burlington, Ont. It isn't a tourist destination in itself but is well located between Niagara and Kitchener. If your priority is convenience, there is a Holiday Inn located near the highway. (Like Mississauga, Oakville is still not that far outside of Toronto.)<BR><BR>An alternative would be to spend 1 or 2 nights in St. Catharines (generally less expensive than Niagara-on-the-Lake) and your remaining night(s) near Kitchener. (There is a great B&B in St. Jacob's called Jakobstettel - but there are also many other inns/B&B's in that area).<BR><BR>

I should add that while St. Catharines hotels are less expensive than those in Niagara-on-the-Lake, there are fewer options. NOTL has many lovely hotel options, especially if price is not an issue.

You can get some good fish near the Hilton by walking over to the Sheraton and going to Le Bifteque restaurant. <BR>and most of the restaruants along King Street West from John to Peter have some fish on the menu. There's a mid-priced fish restaurant at University and Front Street, about three blocks south of the Hilton, but I can't say how good it is.<BR><BR>Oakville is a suburban industrial / commercial town, and a bedroom community for Toronto. Most of the hotels are designed for business travellers who come to Oakville to work at the many offices and factories there, and who don't want to drive all the way to downtown Toronto.<BR><BR>The hotels are fine; just not the kind of places most tourists would pick for a memorable experience on a vacation. Same for Burlington. Same for Cambridge and Kitchener, for that matter. The Holiday Inn in Oakville is reasonably nice and, if memory serves, has an indoor swimming pool.<BR><BR>There are some nice tourist-oriented smaller hotels and motels in Stratford that cater to the visitors to the Stratford Festival.<BR><BR>BAK

If you really want to stay put at one hotel for 3 days then the best bet is Niagara on the Lake if its in the budget. Small Inns like the Moffatt Inn, or large ones like Queen's Landing. There is something for everyone. You can take in Theatre, wine tours, horse and buggy rides, Fort George and shopping and people watching as well as lots of good dining spots. It is a romantic town to say the least. It would be a two hour drive to St Jacobs. However, if you stay 1 hour out of NOL and one hour out of St Jacobs you are going to spend more time driving in the long run. As well as the bed and breakfast mentioned in a previous post there is a Comfort Inn near the Outlet mall in St Jacobs. Elora Falls near that area is also very lovely, small shops ect not quite as touristy as St. Jacobs. In St. Catherines you could go to Port Dalhousie where there are lots of small restaurants, the lake and a beautiful carousal. If it is Wine festival time you better book soon as it will be busy. It is a beautiful time of year to visit the Niagara Region just make sure to bring a jacket. Karen

After spending 2 nights in Montreal and 2 in Toronto, I'm going to be heading back to CT. I'm looking into catching a play at the Shaw Festival, but noticed hotels for a night are rather pricey. Does anyone recommend a place to stay for a night that is reasonably priced?

Both Niagara Falls (the city) and St. Catharines are within an easy drive of Niagara-on-the-Lake and they will have a few more moderate priced hotel options than NOTL. For St.Catharines you could check out the rates for Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Quality Hotel, etc. I expect that Niagara Falls would have similar. Doing a search for NOTL B&B's may also reveal a few lower priced options. I have heard good things about a B&B in St. Catharines called the Wooton House.<BR><BR>www.wootonhouse.com

Sorry ... I should have mentioned that my most recent post was in response to Paul's question ...