I think I was feeling all the “my babies are in high school-they’re going to be gone forever” desperation feelings in summer when we booked our Toronto trip on what was supposed to be a weekend of visiting friends in Montreal. Somehow I let my 15 year old son take over the trip planning and he turned it into a trip to see the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto too. He plays soccer and has very little free time in his schedule but reminds me at least once a month that he would have loved to play hockey as well as soccer because that is the sport of his Canadian roots. I booked the St Regis in Toronto for three nights because there was a deal of some sort on its website and because it was a very short walk to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
We ended up with a gorgeous room at this hotel
I remember reading that this was one of of the more spacious hotels in Toronto and we ended up with a one bedroom suite with two bathrooms and a fold out couch for the kids. We definitely had a lot of space. The kids were doing their driving lessons online on one of the nights we stayed here so this was really helpful. We have platinum Marriott Bonvoy member status because of my credit card so this might have helped get us the room upgrade. I think it always helps to ask if there is an upgrade available when you check in. I think we just booked a regular room.
What do you get as a Marriott Platinum Bonvoy member at the St Regis hotel in Toronto
Breakfast is included for two guests with Marriott Platinum Bonvoy status at the St Regis in Toronto (or you can choose points instead-we didn’t) and we were able to eat breakfast at their stunning Louix Louis restaurant. The food at Louix Louis is pretty exquisite and we looked forward to our meals. The ceiling is so gorgeous too and I was told it was hand painted. We also really wanted to try their chocolate cake but weren’t able to this trip so hopefully we’ll come back again.
I think we also got water and tea with turndown service in our room but I’m not sure if that’s just standard in the room or a bonus. Parking here was spendy but we needed a car to get here from Montreal so that is a cost to factor in at this hotel if you stay here. There is also some kind of saber champagne evening ritual that happens every day in the hotel’s Astor Lounge that you might want to check out too.
The pool at the St Regis in Toronto is worth a visit
Anytime you have a pool at the top of a hotel I think it’s worth at least a peek. This one is a little odd in that you you have to go through the lobby area for the Louix Louis restaurant but there is something very fancy hotel to be sopping wet and casually standing in a bathrobe next to meticulously dressed people on their way to cocktails. The pool is great for laps or for little kids who love a pool and it was busy but not too crowded when we visited. There is a fitness center here too and guys all used it but I didn’t this trip. And yes there is also a spa.
We found cafes, food halls and restaurants a short walk away
We had no shortage of places to eat nearby this hotel. I was really happy to find a Maman Cafe in Toronto-I found one on our New York trip and had no idea I would see this cafe in Canada too. We ate at a place with delicious udon at Chef’s Hall, a fancy food court/food hall about a 5 minute walk away from the St Regis in Toronto too. The St Lawrence Market is also walkable and this was a stop we spent some time eating and shopping and taking the sights in. And yes, we visited the Hockey Hall of Fame as well as the CN tower which was part of CityPASS.
Housekeeping was a little awkward this trip but this might have just been one of those times
We put on the please make up room button in the morning and went out for the the whole day. When we arrived back exhausted from our day someone was cleaning and they told us to come back in 20 minutes. Then about an hour later we went for dinner and came back and someone was in our room doing turndown service. We were stuck out of our room for another 20-30 minutes then too. I think this happened one more time during this visit and we weren’t staying here very long. It was a summer weekend and we found out at checkout there was a giant water leak in the lobby restaurant and there was an epic wedding while we were there so the hotel was a little overwhelmed. In post 2020 travel these are things that happen and I think they just need to be expected as part of travel these days and I’m only sharing because it was part of our visit.
Would I stay here again?
All in all I think staying at the St Regis in Toronto was a comfortable, luxurious and convenient stay. We enjoyed the restaurant and the kindness of the people working here. We enjoyed the space in our room. And this hotel was right across the street from a building used in one of our favorite shows: “Suits” so we are glad we chose the St Regis in Toronto as a home base for our trip.
And if you’re trying to get to Toronto from Seattle….
We were tempted to drive to Vancouver BC and fly from there, but we found a flight through Alaska Airlines (where we book a majority of our flights from Seattle) and booked directly through them. There is not a direct flight from Seattle to Toronto-we were given the option to stopover in Dallas or Chicago and this was a shared flight with American Airlines. And actually booking through Alaska Airlines was helpful because we had to rebook two flights to accommodate a summer meeting for school we did not know about for one of my sons. We were able to change our flight without charge and two of us spent the night in Chicago and then caught up with the rest of the family in Toronto the next morning.
(PS. this trip is part of a trip we took from Seattle to Toronto and also to Ottawa and Montreal. We used a cityPASS to see various sites in Toronto and we planned our trip around the Hockey Hall of Fame. In Montreal we stayed at the Hotel Alt Montreal and met up with friends.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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