Toronto Hotels - Help!
 

We are travelling to Toronto at the end of July and need to find a nice hotel in a nice area of Toronto, we have never been before so know nothing about Toronto. We are a family of 5 so we need 2 bedrooms or interconnecting rooms. We have narrowed our search down to 5 hotels, in no particular order, the Westin Harbour Castle, Sheraton Centre Toronto, Holiday Inn on King, the Hilton, Toronto and the Crowne Plaza. If there is anyone out there who has any experience with these hotels, please let us know, or if you could recommend any others. Any comments very gratefully received. Our children are aged, 10, 8 and 4 years.

Since I live in Toronto - I have not stayed at any of the hotels but I have attended functions at them.
The Westin is very nice but not as centrally located as the Sheraton or the Hilton or the Crowne Plaza. However if you decide to stay at the Westin - you will be very close to the ferry docks for the Toronto Islands ferries (In july the islands might be a nice place to go for the day with kids) and you will be close to Harbour Front. I am not faniliar with the Holiday Inn. All 4 that are mentioned are in good areas and are nice.

There is a similar thread with 12 responses that you can access keying "child-friendly Toronto hotels" in the search box at the top of the page.

The Delta Chelsea inn is in the same general category as these hotels, and has the best kids facilities of the central Toronto hotels.

If i was putting them in order, first choice first, keeping the kids in mind, it would be:

Delta Chelsea, for the pool, water slide, kid-friendly cafeteria

Sheraton Centre, for the pool, outdoor gardens, kid's playground beside Old City Hall, easy access tounderground tunnel system with lots of fast food, etc., to keep kids happy

Holiday Inn on King, for nice hotel, friendly staff, the middle of the entertainment district, easy walk for event he four-year old to Harbourfront, CN Tower, and Grange park, where there's lots of playground equipment, and Chapters book store, which kids like.

Westin Harbour Castle, which is by the ferry, which is worth taking to Toronto Islands, and close to harbourfront, but is generally a bit out of the way.

Crowne Plaza, which is well located, but not as good as the ones above, and is sort of dull for kids. Small pool, expensive and very expensive restaurants, but it is really easy to walk to kid-friendly but good food restaurants nearby.

Finally, the Hilton, which has a fine location but seems to me to be just generally dull and too quiet and not all that kid-friendly and the main restaurant is expensive as is the restaurant in the basement (Ruth's Chris Steak House). I'd stay at the Hilton myself, by myself, if I had a lot of work to do and did not want to be distracted.

I live in Toronto, but have slept in them all.

BAK

Hi:

I've stayed at them all as well & given the age of your kids I agree with BAK, go check out the Delta Chelsea.

But as for the 5 you listed -
- drop the Holiday Inn on King (lots of bars nearby which can be loud)
- Sheraton/Hilton almost side-by-side & there is construction going on for the new 4-Seasons 'arts centre' on the kitty corner where the trucks/bulldozers woke me up at 6:30am the last 2 mornings (& I was on the 25th floor of the Hilton)
- Westin Harbour Castle a bit out of the way

So that just leaves the Crowne Plaza from you select 5 ... but Delta Chelsea would be worth a look (location, pools, good/inexpensive resturants in the area)

Hope this helps,

Z

Delta Chelsea ... good central location ... nice hotel with moderate prices.

Agree that although Westin is a nice hotel on the waterfront, it is out-of-the-way for walking to most areas that you will want to go to for sightseeing and restaurants. Delta Chelsea will be in a good location to walk to both the Queen/King Street areas ... popular for theater, restaurants, and shopping. Also will be within walking distance to Yorkville area ... very nice area with more upscale restaurants/shops (Queen St. is more "bohemian.")

My second choice recomendation would be the Sheraton ... still a good location.

I travel to Canada every so often on business. What i have found works best for me, is to find out where i would like to stay (near airport, business meeting, or night life/activity) and then finding a hotel on Orbitz. I have gotten some really cheap deals on great hotels. If you hear a lot of people reccomend a particular area, just type it into the orbitz seach engine and take your pick. It usually works out really well. Good luck, and have a great trip.

Gee BAK, what are you doing sleeping in Toronto hotels when you live there?

A few more hotels to add to the list, but I agree with the recommendation for the kid-friendly Delta Chelsea. If you can't get a good rate, check out the following:

Cambridge Suites (Yonge near Queen). I don't know if it has any special kids' facilities, but the suite arrangement might be a good value for you.

Budget option. Quality Hotel Midtown on Bloor St West. It's in the "Annex", a neighbourhood bordering on the University of Toronto. It's close to the Royal Ontario Museum and the other museums in the area, with easy subway access so that you can get around to other sights in Toronto.

Driver's Option. The Inn on the Park. If you rent a car and plan on travelling to areas outside of Toronto, consider the Inn on the Park. It's beside a gorgeous park and I believe it's got good family friendly facilities, and is near the Science Museum. The downside is that it's about a 15-minute bus ride to the subway, and then a 20 minute ride downtown. So it's good if you have wheels, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

What about the Courtyard Mariott on Yonge Street...it's close to a lot and it was recently renovated.

Before booking the Courtyard Marriott read the thread "Seedy Yonge Street?" You'll see that the area around the Courtyard Marriott isn't dangerous, but it's a bit grungy (and there are porn shops and strip clubs nearby). I said that I wouldn't recommend it for a family with young children. Note that the Delta Chelsea is also near this area, but the child-friendly facilities (including the giant indoor waterslide, supervised activities etc) outweigh the slight "ick" factor of its location.

Kate, I did not always live here, so stayed in the hotels when visiting.

Plus for a while my wife and I lived in both Toronto (a small,unairconditioned apartment for me during the week) and in Montreal, for her, most of the time, and me on weekends. When she was in Toronto for conferences, we used to stay at the conference hotel, rather than in the apartment I used during the week. That got me to several nice hotels, on her expense account.

And, I go to a fair number of other conferences, and often it's easier to just stay at the hotel rather than ride back and forth on the subway. I keep my computer, etc. in the hotel room, and can work during conference breaks.

I wish there were more interesting reasons, but that's it.

BAK

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to respond to my request, all the information has been very helpful. I did read the thread on 'Seedy Yonge Street', and I also note the Delta is quite close and on this note I am not sure exactly what to do. I have narrowed my search now to the Delta and the Sheraton. Have managed to get what I believe to be quite a good deal for the Delta, a 2 bedroom suite for under $300 canadian a night as opposed to $280 per room per night for 2 rooms connecting at the Sheraton. Any additional thoughts and comments on the area around the Delta would be gratefully received, although we believe Toronto is a very nice safe city wherever you stay. Not too sure I fancy walking past too many porn/sex shops with my children, although we plan on having worn them out during the day not to be out too late at night. Looking forward to hearing further from you all.

The Delta location is fine. I've an eight year old, and I would not worry about taking him there.

And once inside the hotel, it's more fun for kids than the Sheraton.

BAK