1. Artistic experience: The Gladstone Hotel
Ten years ago this 19th-century relic rented rooms by the hour — anyone staying any longer was probably dead from an overdose. In 2002, local architect Eberhard Zeidler and his daughters Kate and Christine took the place over, cleared out the trash (see the film Last Call At the Gladstone Hotel) and turned the place into a nouveau bohemian mecca. Each of the 37 rooms was designed by a local artist; each is unique: The Teen Queen is decorated with posters of 1970s heart-throbs. The Trading Post has fun fur curtains. The Canadiana Room has an antler chandelier and a forest vista along one wall.
· Prices range from C$175 (£89) for a standard room to C$475 (£243) for the two-story Rock Star Suite. No smoking.
2. Chic and cheerful: The Hazelton Hotel
The Hazelton stands ready to Hoover your bank account: it will cost you $1.50 a night for each thread of the 300-thread-count Italian linens. The latest addition to the flash Yorkville district, it opened its doors in the summer of 2007 and quickly established itself as the place to park one's Lamborghini. It's all here: the 42-inch plasma TV, the bathroom with heated floors, the complimentary bottled water and a designer restaurant – Mark McEwan's ONE -- for preening. There's even a private 25-seat screening room in case you want to screen that film you directed.
· Room rates start at C$450 (£230).
3. Idyllic: Smiley's B&B, Algonquin Island
This is most assuredly not for everyone, particularly as Smiley's B&B has but two accommodations: the four-person studio suite and the grandiosely-named Belvedere, a small room with more windows than floor space. But this is all about location. Accessible only by ferry – a 15-minute journey from downtown -- and vehicle-free, the Toronto Islands are a pastoral idyll from the noise and smog of the city. There's even a nude beach – weather-permitting.
· Belvedere C$75 (£38) per night (one or two persons), year-round. The Studio: C$165 (£84) per night or $900 (£459) per week, seasonal.
4. The history buff: The Fairmont Royal York
Canada's first great hotels were built along the railways and the Royal York is the most iconic। Once Canada's tallest building, this landmark slipped into slight shoddiness but reclaimed its grandeur after a $100m renovation. A walk to the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre (baseball), the Air Canada Centre (hockey and basketball), and across the street from the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's crawling with Americans but what would you expect from a truly Canadian experience?
Ten years ago this 19th-century relic rented rooms by the hour — anyone staying any longer was probably dead from an overdose. In 2002, local architect Eberhard Zeidler and his daughters Kate and Christine took the place over, cleared out the trash (see the film Last Call At the Gladstone Hotel) and turned the place into a nouveau bohemian mecca. Each of the 37 rooms was designed by a local artist; each is unique: The Teen Queen is decorated with posters of 1970s heart-throbs. The Trading Post has fun fur curtains. The Canadiana Room has an antler chandelier and a forest vista along one wall.
· Prices range from C$175 (£89) for a standard room to C$475 (£243) for the two-story Rock Star Suite. No smoking.
2. Chic and cheerful: The Hazelton Hotel
The Hazelton stands ready to Hoover your bank account: it will cost you $1.50 a night for each thread of the 300-thread-count Italian linens. The latest addition to the flash Yorkville district, it opened its doors in the summer of 2007 and quickly established itself as the place to park one's Lamborghini. It's all here: the 42-inch plasma TV, the bathroom with heated floors, the complimentary bottled water and a designer restaurant – Mark McEwan's ONE -- for preening. There's even a private 25-seat screening room in case you want to screen that film you directed.
· Room rates start at C$450 (£230).
3. Idyllic: Smiley's B&B, Algonquin Island
This is most assuredly not for everyone, particularly as Smiley's B&B has but two accommodations: the four-person studio suite and the grandiosely-named Belvedere, a small room with more windows than floor space. But this is all about location. Accessible only by ferry – a 15-minute journey from downtown -- and vehicle-free, the Toronto Islands are a pastoral idyll from the noise and smog of the city. There's even a nude beach – weather-permitting.
· Belvedere C$75 (£38) per night (one or two persons), year-round. The Studio: C$165 (£84) per night or $900 (£459) per week, seasonal.
4. The history buff: The Fairmont Royal York
Canada's first great hotels were built along the railways and the Royal York is the most iconic। Once Canada's tallest building, this landmark slipped into slight shoddiness but reclaimed its grandeur after a $100m renovation. A walk to the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre (baseball), the Air Canada Centre (hockey and basketball), and across the street from the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's crawling with Americans but what would you expect from a truly Canadian experience?
5. Sports nuts: Rogers Centre Hotel
The official name of this Marriott property is the Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown, but its unique selling point is the view from one of the 70 field-facing rooms. It's the world's only "four diamond" hotel located in a major league sports stadium. If your goal is to watch the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (or a monster truck rally) while eating dinner in bed, you've checked into the right place.
· Deluxe room is $599 (£306) for up to four persons.
6. Foodie: The Baldwin Inn
The Baldwin is as small as it is charming – there are only six rooms – but it's the location that makes it stand out. An oasis in the centre of downtown Toronto, Baldwin Village has more good restaurants than you could choose from in a week of dining out, all of them within 100m of the front door: from the spectacular Malaysian Mata Hari Grill to the delicious Chinese savoury buns at the Yung Sing Pastry Shop. It's also a short walk to the Frank Gehry-refreshed Art Gallery of Ontario (reopening autumn 2008) and Toronto's most insane piece of architecture, the Ontario College of Art and Design.
· Rooms from C$95 to C$105 (£48 to £54)
7. Live like a poor student: New College Summer Residences, University of Toronto
If you've ever wondered what it's like to live in a North American university dormitory, here is your chance. When the students go home in the summer, you move in. You get an air-conditioned room, a single bed and – this is Canada's largest university – free broadband internet access. There's even a meal plan at the main floor cafeteria. All conveniently located on the downtown campus.
· Rooms by the night: C$39.50 (£20) (2007 price)
8. Live like a rich student: The Madison Manor
The Madison Manor is a quirky Victorian guest home a block north of the University of Toronto's campus. It's like staying with your posh, if eccentric (and perhaps slightly dipsomaniac), auntie. Connected to The Madison Pub (note the website), one of the most popular university watering holes, the rooms are twee but cozy -- what passes for Old World charm in a nation that came into being in the midst of Victoria's reign. All just steps from the subway.
· Rooms from C$99 to C$129 (£50.50 to £66), suites from C$149 to C$189 (£76 to £96). Breakfast included.
9. Cool: The Drake
By now The Drake is too cool to cut it with the local scenesters, but that doesn't mean its sleek lines and refined rooms have lost their boutique hotel lustre. Once a major flop house, it was purchased by local zillionaire Jeff Stober who transformed it with a seven-figure rethink. Since reopening its doors in 2004, it's credited with reviving the West Queen Street West (WQW) district and driving up the rents for the surrounding tenants. The main restaurant-lounge is a welcoming mix of fashion hang-out and ski-chalet chic. The protected rooftop patio, the Sky Yard, is always alight, particularly with the city's few surviving smokers.
· "Crash pad" rates start at C$179 (£91), "dens" go for C$209, suites start at $289 (£147).
10. Star spotting at the Toronto International Film Festival: The Park Hyatt
Toronto is not LA but it comes close for the 10 nights of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. Celebrities like Jude Law and Keira Knightley don't stay here, but they certainly drink 10 quid cocktails in the rooftop bar. As a guest of the hotel you'll have guaranteed access; spare a thought for the unwashed as you swan past the velvet rope. And don't even think about how much it costs.
· Room rates during TIFF 2008 (Sept. 4-13) C$749 (£382) with a minimum stay of 10 nights.
· Add 6% Goods and Services Tax, 5% Provincial Sales Tax and 3% Destination Marketing Fee
The official name of this Marriott property is the Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown, but its unique selling point is the view from one of the 70 field-facing rooms. It's the world's only "four diamond" hotel located in a major league sports stadium. If your goal is to watch the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (or a monster truck rally) while eating dinner in bed, you've checked into the right place.
· Deluxe room is $599 (£306) for up to four persons.
6. Foodie: The Baldwin Inn
The Baldwin is as small as it is charming – there are only six rooms – but it's the location that makes it stand out. An oasis in the centre of downtown Toronto, Baldwin Village has more good restaurants than you could choose from in a week of dining out, all of them within 100m of the front door: from the spectacular Malaysian Mata Hari Grill to the delicious Chinese savoury buns at the Yung Sing Pastry Shop. It's also a short walk to the Frank Gehry-refreshed Art Gallery of Ontario (reopening autumn 2008) and Toronto's most insane piece of architecture, the Ontario College of Art and Design.
· Rooms from C$95 to C$105 (£48 to £54)
7. Live like a poor student: New College Summer Residences, University of Toronto
If you've ever wondered what it's like to live in a North American university dormitory, here is your chance. When the students go home in the summer, you move in. You get an air-conditioned room, a single bed and – this is Canada's largest university – free broadband internet access. There's even a meal plan at the main floor cafeteria. All conveniently located on the downtown campus.
· Rooms by the night: C$39.50 (£20) (2007 price)
8. Live like a rich student: The Madison Manor
The Madison Manor is a quirky Victorian guest home a block north of the University of Toronto's campus. It's like staying with your posh, if eccentric (and perhaps slightly dipsomaniac), auntie. Connected to The Madison Pub (note the website), one of the most popular university watering holes, the rooms are twee but cozy -- what passes for Old World charm in a nation that came into being in the midst of Victoria's reign. All just steps from the subway.
· Rooms from C$99 to C$129 (£50.50 to £66), suites from C$149 to C$189 (£76 to £96). Breakfast included.
9. Cool: The Drake
By now The Drake is too cool to cut it with the local scenesters, but that doesn't mean its sleek lines and refined rooms have lost their boutique hotel lustre. Once a major flop house, it was purchased by local zillionaire Jeff Stober who transformed it with a seven-figure rethink. Since reopening its doors in 2004, it's credited with reviving the West Queen Street West (WQW) district and driving up the rents for the surrounding tenants. The main restaurant-lounge is a welcoming mix of fashion hang-out and ski-chalet chic. The protected rooftop patio, the Sky Yard, is always alight, particularly with the city's few surviving smokers.
· "Crash pad" rates start at C$179 (£91), "dens" go for C$209, suites start at $289 (£147).
10. Star spotting at the Toronto International Film Festival: The Park Hyatt
Toronto is not LA but it comes close for the 10 nights of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. Celebrities like Jude Law and Keira Knightley don't stay here, but they certainly drink 10 quid cocktails in the rooftop bar. As a guest of the hotel you'll have guaranteed access; spare a thought for the unwashed as you swan past the velvet rope. And don't even think about how much it costs.
· Room rates during TIFF 2008 (Sept. 4-13) C$749 (£382) with a minimum stay of 10 nights.
· Add 6% Goods and Services Tax, 5% Provincial Sales Tax and 3% Destination Marketing Fee
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