turtlemichael
Established Member
- Joined
- May 24, 2006
- Posts
- 1,917
This visit to Toronto is brief. It is really a staging post for the trip tomorrow to Stratford where we go into theatre overload on a binge for a few days. I do like Toronto. It feels like, and is, a big city. The other times I've been here in recent years I've stayed at the Intercontinental on Front Street. When I found prices were through the roof for some reason I decided to use points at the Hilton for this two night stay and the one the other side of the visit to Stratford.
The hotel seems like most North American Hiltons - dated. The desk clerk apologised for there being no upgrades available and then came up with a junior suite which is a slightly larger version of the basic King. The room is fine and even the standard Kings appear to be large by US big city standards. The bed is good and the shower works fine. However, the whole thing needs a refurbishment. The executive lounge, which I have access to as a HH Diamond, is again typical. It is spacious and reasonably attractive with a 32 floor city view. Last night, we went in to grab a first course before dinner. It was strange to see it only sparsely populated and not one person drinking. It has an honour bar and as they want $10.00++ for a glass of poor quality wine, it was not hard to see why no one was drinking. The food was basic (a couple of dips, a small amount of cheese and a couple of deep fried things) but fresh and tasty.
On the other hand, breakfast was really poor. Scrambled egg mix with huge lumps making it looked like something had been regurgitated, cheap orange juice, packet bread, a few pastries, rock hard melon pieces, one or two huge bowls of cereal and that was it! Continental breakfast at its most basic! We'll try the restaurant tomorrow morning though the voucher they gave us comes with an ominous warning of surcharges for a "full" breakfast.
Back to dinner last night. I'd never eaten at a Ruth's Chris Steak House and there is one attached to the hotel so we gave it a try. The prices are of course eye-watering and it seemed to be largely populated by bosses and secretaries.
But the steaks (strip loin and rib eye) were
sensational and eased the sticker shock.
The hotel seems like most North American Hiltons - dated. The desk clerk apologised for there being no upgrades available and then came up with a junior suite which is a slightly larger version of the basic King. The room is fine and even the standard Kings appear to be large by US big city standards. The bed is good and the shower works fine. However, the whole thing needs a refurbishment. The executive lounge, which I have access to as a HH Diamond, is again typical. It is spacious and reasonably attractive with a 32 floor city view. Last night, we went in to grab a first course before dinner. It was strange to see it only sparsely populated and not one person drinking. It has an honour bar and as they want $10.00++ for a glass of poor quality wine, it was not hard to see why no one was drinking. The food was basic (a couple of dips, a small amount of cheese and a couple of deep fried things) but fresh and tasty.
On the other hand, breakfast was really poor. Scrambled egg mix with huge lumps making it looked like something had been regurgitated, cheap orange juice, packet bread, a few pastries, rock hard melon pieces, one or two huge bowls of cereal and that was it! Continental breakfast at its most basic! We'll try the restaurant tomorrow morning though the voucher they gave us comes with an ominous warning of surcharges for a "full" breakfast.
Back to dinner last night. I'd never eaten at a Ruth's Chris Steak House and there is one attached to the hotel so we gave it a try. The prices are of course eye-watering and it seemed to be largely populated by bosses and secretaries.
But the steaks (strip loin and rib eye) weresensational and eased the sticker shock.
