SteveDisque

Excellent value

I loved this hotel -- a better quality than I'm used to getting from online travel sites. The staff was uniformly friendly and helpful (although the woman who checked me in misinformed me that local calls were free -- fortunately, I checked again before I made any!). The suite was spectacular. I've been in hotel suites before, but the entry hall/living room is spacious, with broad lines, and beautifully furnished (sectional coach, vaguely modern coffee table, wooden dining table/desk with a strip of outlets, plenty of lamps). The Pullman kitchen is equipped with a mini-fridge, microwave, sink (of course), napkins, and coffeemaker with pods, though no utensils or pans. The queen-size (I think) bed is firm and supremely comfortable. The bathroom is a bathroom, but looks good. The supplied breakfast includes a full hot and cold buffet, plus an omelet chef. A very nice amenity is the daily cocktail hour for hotel guests (who get a pass) in the lobby: a free drink, plus all manner of munchies: pretzels, chips and salsa, sometimes cookies, sometimes pita and hummus -- you get the idea. The location is excellent, at the edge of the financial district as well as on the museum road. City Hall, Market East, and Midtown Village are all a short walk. Here are the small quibbles -- and they _are_ mostly small: --The good news is that there's free in-room Wi-Fi (which contradicts the website). The less good news is that it tends to be spotty -- my tablet kept notifying me it was reconnecting. It's mostly serviceable for simple tasks like e-mail, but rarely consistent enough for video or audio. --The way the breakfast is organized, you can't get back in later in the morning to get an extra cup of coffee or two, (Mind, I still like this breakfast better than most others I've had.) --There's no coat closet in the entry area, if you care about that sort of thing -- I don't. All told, I'd gladly stay here again at a comparable rate.

Pricey, but worth it!

Usually, for my first night in Toronto, I do something fast-foodish: small-time Chinese, for example, or a falafel platter someplace. This time, I was in the mood for a sit-down dinner so I could relax. I checked out the restaurants on Elm Street, and ended up choosing Adega, not least because it offered a $40 prix-fixe. It's actually a Portuguese-fusion place, which wasn't one of the choices above. The atmosphere is lovely: wood and brown-toned stucco, lit by what could have been track lights, had they been on a track. My opener was the "Romaine hearts" -- basically, a small Caesar salad with dried prosciutto, which was good. My entree was the pan-roasted salmon; the serving looked small, atop a bed of vegetables with two roast-potato halves, but was just the right size; the salmon was excellent. Finally, dessert and coffee: I chose the mixed-fruit sorbet, one scoop each of orange and strawberry, atop a few fruits; and first-class, strong brewed decaf. The service was attentive throughout the meal, despite the presence of several larger parties in the place; and the waiter gave me something like three coffee refills. It was lovely, and absolutely worth the money -- which wasn't as much as I thought; at the current exchange rate, it came out to about USD 32 with tip! Strongly recommended!

Nice bar and grill

My friend and I had never been there, though he lives right on the next block; from the name, he'd expected a Chinese place! It's a better-than-average bar and grill. I had a grilled chicken Caesar, which was good; I don't remember what my friend ate -- this is two weeks ago -- but it looked quite appetizing, with mac-and-cheese involved somehow, I think. Very open and relaxing space, and the service was good.

One of my regular hangouts

I always visit Fran's while in Toronto. The College Street outlet -- I've not visited any of the others -- has a pleasing retro diner vibe. The service is usually good, though it slips when the place is really busy. I like the food; my mixed review is based on two meals. Once, I had "breakfast" (but for lunch): scrambled eggs and sausages, which came with their diced fried potatoes and wheat toast. Everything was good, though I might go with the bacon instead of the sausages next time around. Another time, for a casual dinner, I ordered a hot open turkey sandwich, which came with cranberry sauce and vegetables. Everything was delicious. The presentation, however, stacked the two slices of bread vertically -- an American diner would overlap them, or stretch them across the plate, somehow -- with the turkey and gravy on top. This meant I got less turkey than I'd expected! Still, I like Fran's and look forward to my next (probably breakfast) visit.

The best cheesesteak

They were advertising a $4 cheesesteak special in the afternoons when I happened by, so I stopped in. Out of the various cheesesteaks I've had, this was easily the best: rich and a little gooey, yet not overly heavy. The Caesar salad on the side was a perfect complement.

Still the best ice-cream

It's actually just an ice-cream place in the Reading Market, but ice-cream wasn't one of the available categories. I made a point of stopping here on the morning of my departure. Even though I chose relatively bland flavors -- cinnamon, and French vanilla -- the ice-cream was first-class. I remember the fruit flavors as being excellent, but didn't have them now.

I'd expected better

Came by for the menu, which included whole-wheat pasta substitutions -- most Italian places don't -- and lured by the crowds. Perhaps I fudged my menu choice too much: I had their "lighter" version of chicken parmigiana, which was a bit dry, and, strangely, had the cheese and pomodoro sauce _separately_, rather than together, on the two cutlets! I will try it again next visit, however.

Very nice, with a few reservations

I'd never stayed at this particular hotel, although the chain itself has a good reputation. The good things: the staff was uniformly friendly and helpful; the room was beautifully laid out and tastefully outfitted, with a rather large bathroom; the breakfast selection (which came with the room) was excellent. My reservations were about the sorts of niggling things that might matter less for other people, so I'm citing them: --The location -- _behind_ the Convention Center -- means an extra few blocks' walk (through an area where a few homeless people sleep) to get to Market Street, the gayborhood, or other nightlife and restaurants. OTOH, it's near Chinatown. --The 24/7 coffee service in the lobby is a wonderful perk (so to speak!), and it would have been even better if they had urns that kept the coffee consistently hot. As it stood, whether the coffee was hot or not was sort-of-a-crapshoot. --The lightbulbs in the room -- lamps, no overhead -- were strong enough for general lighting, but not quite strong enough to read by, either in the bed or in the comfortable armchair-and-ottoman set (which had its own stand-up lamp). When I reported this to the desk on my first full morning, however, I got excellent service: first the woman at the desk brought up regular 75-watt bulbs from the bodega next door; then, a half-hour later, a fellow from facilities came up with the newfangled-type bulbs, which were even better. --The cable-TV system was a bit wonky, prone to "freezing" on certain stations. (For those who like PBS, it's buried way up on channel 50.) But I really enjoyed my stay, and I'm looking forward to staying again.

Still good, with some iffy details

This was my fourth stay at this hotel, but my first since it left the Delta "fold." The good news: It's not all that different. The desk staff are responsive, housekeeping is excellent, and the rooms are much as they were. And, unlike other respondents on another site, I had no problem with the WiFi over a five-night stay. The location remains more or less unbeatable, with ready access to Yonge Street, and a passel of restaurants behind the hotel on Elm Street. The less good news: The "Market Garden" food center is still wildly overpriced -- and, if you go at an off hour, you might have to wait five minutes or so for the cashier to return from wherever. The "Bb33 Bistro" in the front of the hotel, where they used to offer a breakfast buffet, has been closed -- the space is rented out for special events -- and replaced with another restaurant, towards the rear (the Elm Street side) that's even more fiendishly overpriced. (I did not try it.) Finally, the "Blue" elevator bank that serves the uppermost floors -- where I was booked -- includes six elevators, but no more than three were working at any given time. This sometimes produced massive delays, with the three working elevators frequently stopping at nearly every one of the upper floors; and it left hordes of people waiting for those elevators in the lobby. (This was particularly trying in the late afternoons, when, it seemed, a fair number of airline personnel would be checking in.) I'd thought there might have been a mechanical problem, but no: it was not always the same three elevators that were functioning! If this is a management decision to save money, it's pennywise and pound-foolish. Certainly I'll think twice about staying on an upper floor here again.

Still the best of the coffee bars

We used to have Timothy's World Coffees in the U.S., until 2002, when the firm abruptly shut all its U.S. outlets on the same day. Since then, Timothy's is one place I look forward to visiting in Toronto. Several of the chain's other outlets have closed since last year, but the one on Church Street in the Village is still going strong. The pleasant surroundings -- a variety of chairs-and-tables and armchairs indoors, plus outdoor tables for people-watching -- encourage you to linger. The help is affable. And -- oh, yes -- the coffee is still excellent, far better IMO than the much-touted Starbucks.

Pleasant show bar

Enjoyed my two brief visits here. One night, the pianist began singing and playing: he was good, but I'd have preferred the mike turned down a smidge. One small cavil: I ordered a Kahlua each night. One night, it cost $5.00, and the next, $6.25!

Depends on when you get there

It was my first visit to Spa Excess in some years. I used to get there on weekend nights at 10.30, and found a crowd of sorts, but the action would be winding down. This time, I arrived at 9.30 or so, and the place was hopping! (I could, with profit, have arrived still earlier.) The facility is clean and well-maintained, as always, and there was a good mix of types: younger, older, trim, heavy, White, Black, and Asian. (I don't know which nights might be "good" besides Friday and Saturday; the one time I went on a Monday, it was d-e-a-d.)

Good, and should be better

They've renovated this place since I last stayed, and it's a lot spiffier than it was. The front desk staff are unfailingly helpful and courteous. The room is comfortable, with some design oddities: the modern large-basin sink, for example, doesn't leave as much counter space as an old-fashioned "inset" sink. The location is good for the Village -- right next door to Spa Excess, in fact.

Good menu and friendly service

I was here with local friends. The waiter was friendly. Service was excellent, and the food and selection were good.