ezahn

3 of us from Florida are going to Toronto on a business trip next week. We are booked at a hotel at the Airport but think we should probably stay downtown - any suggestions? Also - we LOVE to eat! Any great restaurants you would recommend?
ez

wow

If your meetings are downtown then you shd stay downtown. We need to know your price range for hotels & restaurants as there are many, many choices. Also, do you want to stay/dine "right downtown"? Where are your meetings?(i.e., what street or major intersection?).

Kate_W

It would also be useful to know whether you like to eat adventurously (e.g. cuisines from different cultures and/or blind tasting menus). What makes a great dining experience for you? Quality of food? Value-for-money? Swank setting? Hidden gems?

If you want to start doing a bit of your own research, have a look at the restaurant section on www.torontolife.com.

My favourite hotel picks, depending on what you're looking for, would be:

- Favourite budget hotel: Quality Hotel Midtown on Bloor St West
- Favourite boutique hotel: Le Germain
- Favourite all-round hotel: Cambridge Suites at Victoria and Richmond (small suites, not quite "full-service" but has useful extras like self-serve laundry etc and is a great business location)
- Best star-watching hotel: Four Seasons in Yorkville (not one of the world's great Four Seasons, though)
- Favourite old-world elegant (at a reasonable price): The King Edward Hotel

ezahn

I just found your reply's - I was looking under "Toronto" and could not figure out where my posting went!!
Thanks for the questions - we are actually visiting several sites in different areas of the city. Is the airport very far from downtown?

As to prices for hotels - we usually stay in a Marriott or Westin. The prices seem to vary according to the size of the city.

Restaurants - love French food. Pricing around the Ruth Chris' range.
Love good food - not crazy about real exotic dishes.

Thanks again....ez

BAK

You could stay at the Marriott Eaton Centre, next door to the biggest hsopping center in town, and next door to Toronto City Hall.Toronto's Weston is the harbour Castle, right on the waterfront. A bit of a walk to meetings downtown, but nice location, especially on nice days.

You could actually eat at Ruth's Chris in Toronto -- downstairs at the Hilton, University and Richmond. Hilton's a fine hotel, too.

A little more exotic, and closer to more great restaurants, in Le Germain, on MErcer Street. It's two-three blocks from Avalon, probably the best restaurant with French cooking in town. But real food, not ultra-exotic.

East, On Queen Street West near John, Duncan, is Thai, which I think of as exotic, but there lots of very good non-spicy, tasty, non-exotic items on the menu, and it is a real bargain, considering how nice it is.

BAK

Kate_W

There are so many great, good-value-for-money restaurants in Toronto offering an extraordinary range of cuisines, save the steakhouse for when you're at home.

There are a number of good restaurant neighbourhoods downtown or near downtown to explore:

- College Street, starting a little west of Bathurst, for Italian food and a lively restaurant/bar scene;

- King Street, starting a few blocks east of Spadina and continuing west for 8-12 blocks. Some of the most highly rated restaurants in Toronto are located there (Susur, his less expensive cafe, Marc Thuet's new restaurant). East of Spadina, the restaurants are less adventurous, but good enough to try if you've had a hard day and want something easy.

- Baldwin Street (a short street running East-West) between Chinatown and the University of Toronto. It's quite eclectic: inexpensive Chinese, Malaysian, French, etc. Two of my favourite restaurants (Mata Hari Grill - Malaysian and Bodega Restaurant - a very good French restaurant in an attractive old townhouse).

- The financial district has some very good restaurants. A couple of them (Canoe, on the 54th Floor of the TD Centre) and Bymark are on the pricy side, but are within your range. Canoe is a particularly good choice on a clear summer evening. Great views, without the touristy vibe the CN Tower, great Canadian-themed menu and great service. I haven't been to Biff's on Front Street East but I've heard that it's a good bistro.

I'm not a fan of the waterfront hotels like the Westin because they're separated from the rest of the city by expressways (there are underpasses to walk through). And while the lakeshore is not butt-ugly, it's kind of smelly and the views aren't that great (if you're used to ocean views).