My husband and I have never been to Toronto but would like know if Toronto has good hotels in "suburbs" or nice commuting distance(20 minutes) of CN tower, Eaton Center, ect? If so is there good public transportation to downtown for visitors?

We will be driving our car from Iowa to Niagara Falls, Ontario in late June 2004 and then driving to Toronto to spend a couple days so we have a car to bring along with but do not need to have it with us all the time necessarily due to parking problems/costs. Thanks in advance!

The Torontonians are all asleep so you'll have to wait for tomorrow morning for insights about hotel sites etc.!!

Meanwhile, some general info. I once lived in Toronto, so I can tell you that Toronto has a very good public transportation system - streetcars, buses and a subway system - travel by city transit should be no problem.
There are many hotels in the downtown area within a brief subway or streetcar ride from the CN tower; Eaton Center (is it still called that??) is right on the subway line.

Toronto (the metropolitan area) is very big and sprawling, it's the largest city in Canada (5 million people), so any area that would qualify as "suburbs" would be far far away from downtown.

Cleo9340, check out this recent thread entitled "first time in Toronto"

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34468637

Hi Cleo,
We have stayed at The Crowne Plaza Don Valley hotel near the Don Valley Parkway (east side of TO). It was cheaper than downtown, and they threw in free tickets to the TO zoo which was awesome. There are a lot of hotels near the airport as well that are cheaper than downtown. That said, I think it's more fun to stay downtown. You could park your car and either walk or take the subway lots of places. We got a good deal at the Delta Chelsea last year, that included no tax, free parking, food vouchers etc. It was wonderful. Check out Toronto.com to see if there are any good hotel deals. And don't forget you'll be paying in Canadian dollars which is a savings to you.

Since I live here I have never checked it out but I doubt that it would make any sense to be a commuter. Just pick a downtown hotel with parking and save the hassles.

No answers are easy, of course.

First, in Toronto we think that places 20 minutes from the CN Tower by car in rush hour or by public transit are pretty much downtown, too. It would take, for instance, 20 minutes to walk from the Four Seasons at Bloor and Yorkvile Avenue to the Museum subway stop, ride to the Uniion Station subway stop, and then walk to the CN Tower.

And the Four Seasons, and its neighbors the Intercontinental Toronto (as distinct from the Intercontinental Central, which is not central) the Park Hyatt, a Howard Johnsons on Avenue Road, the Windsor Arms, and the MAriott Yorkville are all central and in the middle of areas tourists love.

To get back to an airport hotel after having dinner downtown, would be a 35-40 minute run. Twenty minutes more in rush hour.

Yes, there's a good - excellent public transit system. It's $2.25 cash, per person, per trip but with free trnasfgers a trip can be pretty long. So coming from a hotel to downtown and back, for two people, would be $9. That would cover most of the parking fees at a lot ofhotels, but because of the size of the city, you still might want to go somewhere on the subway and bus.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no good hotels right on the subway route outside of the core, except for a Novatel up on the north end of the Yonge - Finch line.

In broad strokes, for most people, the best bet is to stay south of St. Clair (and it's better to be allmost at Bloor Street), West of Jarvis, and east of Spadina. Within this area, you can do a lot of walking and see a great deal of the best parts of Toronto. Outside this area, but easy by subway or streetcar, in the Yonge-Eglington shopping and restaurant area, the Ontario Science Center, and the Queen Street atWest at Roncessvales antique area.

And, in favor of downtown in June. there will be thousands of people on the streets, the weather will be nice, and it's a pleasure to finish dinner and go for a walk and maybe stop for a drink somewhere and then walk back to your hotel.

And, re another message, even though the Eaton department store chain is gone, the big downtown Toronto enclosed mall is still The Eaton Centre. The Eaton store is a Sears.

BAK

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions!

Becasue I live in a small town I am not used to the big cities and that is why your opinions are so important.

I had no idea that Toronto was spread out so much. Having been to Chicago a few times I am used to staying out in a suburb and driving instead of using public transportation.

I will take your advice and stay close to the action.

I also live in a small city and I just returned from my first trip to Toronto.

I stayed in a wonderful b&b very near the Dupont subway station. I found the transit system very easy to use and the citizens of Toronto to be most helpful and friendly if I appeared lost (which I did on occasion).

The b&b I stayed in (Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast - www.tdbab.com) was charming and warm and my hosts, Jim and Roger could not have been more welcoming or helpful, it was a wonderful time and to add to that, Jim is a marvelous cook. Dollar for Dollar, I would have to say that the b&b was more economical as there is no hotel tax and the breakfast is included.

Dupont is an easy walk to Bloor Street and various interesting downtown sites.

Good luck!

The better bet is to stay in Toronto.

Highly recommend Hotwire.com or go to www.biddingfortravel.com and learn how to bid on Priceline.

The ridiculously low rates you'll get at either will more than cover the difference of "commuting", parking, and taxi fares if the hotel is not all that conveniently located, which will most likely not be the case.

In the alternative, there are quite a few moderately priced hotels, with reasonably priced parking, which you can book directly through their websites.

After a very long drive, for only a couple of days, it is really not worth your which to try to save a few bucks by commuting.

The best way, of course, to truly enjoy Toronto, is waking up in it then heading out for the day.

You should definitely look for a B&B near downtown that has parking. Check out http://www.cabbagetown-toronto.com/

Another solution would be to park at a park-and-ride and take a go-train into downtown.

I am from a small city and I would not want to drive in TO (or any other city larger than mine for that matter). But it is a great city to walk in, and has excellent public transit for the things that are a bit farther away. I felt quiet safe walking around the downtown area by myself during the day.

See my recent trip report on this site.

Suburban hotels have bland overpriced restaurants and Subway as the only alternative.