Toronto Hotel Reviews - January 2006

Every year in January we take the GO train into Toronto to spend a weekend at the Toronto International Boat Show. We have been doing this for the last 4 years. Two Toronto area hotels, The Westin Harbour Castle and the Sheraton Centre, give you great rates for the two weeks of the boat show at $72 a night. This year we had only decided to stay one night instead of two and made our usual reservation at the Westin. In the meantime, the entire Westin chain decided to make all of their hotels non-smoking, so we changed our reservation to the Sheraton.
Sheraton Centre - Toronto *****
123 Queen Street West
416-361-1000
We arrived at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel mid afternoon right before the check in time. There is nothing I like more than the desk clerk asking you what kind of room and floor you would like. We ended up on the 25th floor with a fablous view of Nathan Phillips Square, which houses the newer futuristic looking city hall, and the public ice rink. Of all the times I have visited Toronto, this was one site I never saw.



The desk clerk had even opened up the VIP check-in, as the other two lines were busy. She explained if we wanted a newer renovated room, what floor it was on. We didn't care if the room was newer, or even if it was a king or two double beds, as long as it was a smoking room, and a decent view.



We do like the sweet sleeper beds, as they are so clean and comfortable, and as you can see from the bathroom, it was still a nice clean room, even though this was not the newer renovated section of the hotel. We will be back again next year!


Marriott Eaton Centre - Toronto *****
525 Bay Street
416-597-9200


After reserving the Sheraton for only one night, the week prior we decided we wanted to make a weekend out of it, like we did last year. Unfortunately it was too late to get the boat show rate of $72. So I shopped around with all my internet hotel deals and found that the Marriott Eaton Centre in Toronto was offering an e-break for that weekend. I booked a room for $113. which is a great price for Toronto, as another night at the Sheraton would have been close to $200. After looking at the maps, I found it was located right behind City Hall. They could not guarantee a smoking room, and we went to check in very early to make sure we could get one. We decided we would check our luggage, and head off to the boat show, if the room was not ready, but luckily for us they had a smoking room. It hardly had a view, but we didn't care this time, as we would be out all day. The room was very clean, and we enjoyed the evening in their pub. Marriott went 100% Non-smoking, so we won't be back.


RETURN TO: