We are 3 high school friends in our early 50's who are traveling to Toronto the last weekend in April
Advice for boutique/historic hotel with following criteria:
Centrally located to pub. transportation, eateries, entertainment.
A nice bar in the hotel.
Not really expensive.
Rooms roomy for 2 people or perhaps suites for the 3 of us. Guess we might have to get 2 rooms?

Right now we are looking at Delta Chelsea, Metropolitan, Germain.

Thanks,
Ruth

Forget the Delta Chelsea for your special occasion. It's a great business hotel and a great family hotel.

There's two Metropolitans. The 'real' Metropolitan on Chestnut Street, behind Toronto City hall. No.

The Soho Metropolitan is at Wellington and Peter, on the south-west edge of the entertainment district, and is a much better choice. It's half a block from Le Germain.

Toronto's most expensive (or close to it) restaurant, Sen5es (with a 5 in the name) is in the Soho Met.

You could do a lot worse than the Holiday Inn on King as your hotel of choice, though. Or the Sheraton Centre or the Hilton. All may be less than Soho Met or Le Germain.

Le Germain is my idea of a great, small, hotel, and would be my first choice, but call about three people in a room.

thanks, BAK
why no to the older metro? thought it sounded pretty nice in fodors/frommers/tripadvisor.coms.
we are most prob. going to go for a suite that has king bed and pullout couch. so we could afford a more expensive option since sharing the cost. will check out le germain for that possibility.
wasn't clear as to whether you were suggesting holiday inn or not.

There are dozens of hotels in Toronto, all of which have advantages and disadvantages.

Time precludes me from a detailed analysis of every one of them. The Metropolitan is boring, and badly locted, for your purposes. It's an OK hotel for lots of people and lots of purposes, buyt you'd be better off in the Eaton Centre Marriott, for instance, if you want to be near City Hall

And I mean the Holiday Inn on King would be a good choice, by location, by the liklihood of flexible rooms and extra beds and mini-suites, and by price.

BAK

thanks again, BAK.

what is your opinion of CAMBRIDGE SUITES? they have a couple of penthouse numbers and bi-levels that look pretty cool. we are splitting the cost, so shouldn't be too bad.

I've never stayed there, but I've visited the lobby and talked to the staff, and been impressed.

Cambridge Suites gets mentioned here fairly often, and i cannot remember one comment that was not postive. It seems to be a popular place.

I don't count it as either a boutique or historic hotel, though.

Location is good for some kinds of shopping; not so good for other kinds. Close to a few good restaurants, but a fairly distant walk from the entertainment district, which is packed with restaurants. That said, you only need a couple of places to eat.

The Fairmont Royal York and the Meridien King Edward are the best historic hotels. Both are great places, well located, too.

BAK

BAK

Second vote for the Fairmont Royal York; it really is something special and very well located for subway travel, eateries, the Eaton Centre et al. BTW, the Sheraton Centre Hotel is great though not historic or boutiquey in the least; however, its lobby is under renovations at the moment making it seem less than galmourous. Maybe that means breaks on rates?

I really enjoyed Pantages; lovely rooms, both comfortable and chic. I walked to just about everywhere I wanted to go from here; it's right next to what was the Pantages theater and just down from Eaton Centre.

I'm afraid I don't know about the bar, though!

The Toronto Hilton is a good hotel and offer some packages with breakfast included there is also a Irish pub in the hotel great location for what you want to do

Historic is not Toronto. Eventhough the Royal York is downtown. Its more for business travellers located in the financial district. Same with Cambridge Suites, more for business travellers. I think the soho is very chic. But its sort of out of the way for gals to go shopping. Centrally located would be near the Eaton Centre. Mariott, Sheraton, and HIlton is nice. Remember to enjoy the Distillery District (Arts) while you are in Toronto.

I've always preferred a Yorkville location. Four Seasons is expensive but with 3 sharing a mini suite it might work.

There is a Marriott in that area that might work for you. Everything is closeby.

The most fabulous, but expensive, would be The Windsor Arms, just off Bloor a little east of University. Think it might blow the whole budget however. Do think of afternoon tea there however.

How about posing this question (if you haven't already) over on the Canadian Board. Lots of Torontonians there and many who travel to Toronto frequently. LMF

LMF

Well don't I look the idiot. I didn't see that this thread was posed on the Canadian board. The question now is, how did I end up here. I was looking at the US board and this post popped up. Strange doings at Fodors this a.m.

LMF

My friend and I spent three nights at The Grand on Jarvis Street last August, and it was fabulous. Fantastic breakfast, bar, rooftop. We didn't pay attention to hotel entertainment, so I cannot vouch for that. Metro stop is about three blocks away, if I remember well.

The Grand gets my vote too! A new, luxury hotel, but rates are still reasonable for the location. Just off the beaten path in the reclaimed area of Jarvis St. Just a couple of blocks from the centre of everything - so a short cab ride.

Don't miss the roof top hot tub overlooking the city!