My boyfriend and I were really interested in getting a nice, chic hotel for our Toronto getaway to end the winter break from school. After reading the great reviews and browsing the Cambridge Suites website a few times, we booked (at a rate of $160 per night).
The hotel was extremely easy to find after getting off the Express Way. The location was not exactly what I had hoped for as the hotel was surrounded by empty lots and a bit of construction. Parking was available in a underground garage that was accessible from an elevator that exits straight into the hotel's front lobby. Parking was 17 dollars a day which is typical. There is no valet and no attendent to help you with your bags, so once you park you have to lug all your belongings up to the hotel's lobby.
The front lobby was very small, but nice. Dimly lit with marble flooring, rich dark woods, and a small sitting area. The staff were okay, but I found the most helpful and friendly were the cleaning staff (who do evening cleaning which ended up being very useful for us).
The room itself was nice. Every single suite is set up a little bit different, but they all have a sitting area with television, a desk, two closets, kitchenette/bar, bathroom sink with large marble counter, seperate bedroom with television and sliding doors.
We were able to get a smoking room which is available upon request, but we were told when we were booking that if there wasn't a smoking room available when we checked in and we attempted to smoke in a non-smoking room a charge of at least 200 dollars would be made on our Credit Card. The hotel is extremely strict on the no smoking policy.
It was nice having all the extra room, it was welcoming to come back to after a day in downtown Toronto...but the hotel could use an update in the appliances (the mircowave was clearly old and ready to die) furniture, and overall colour scheme. It was all very dull.
The bathroom was a little cramped. I appreciated the large marble counter area for when I was primping for a night out, but I found that part of the room to be too much dead space.
My boyfriend and I took full advantage of the gym (that closes nightly at 11:30pm). Disappointingly it offered only two treadmills, one elliptical, and one exercise bike. During busy times we would have to wait to use equipment. One plus was each piece of equipment came with a personal television, unfortunately if the person on the machine next to you tried to change their channel they could accidently change your channel as well with their remote. There was also a full weight set, a hot tub, and a sauna. No pool.
One plus is the hotel gives you a complimentary basket of coffee and tea (higgins and burke brand), two bottles of water, a bag of microwaveable popcorn, and cookies which was nice. These were refilled daily by the cleaning staff.
The products the hotel uses are all by Aveda (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, and soap) which was nice and of good quality.
My biggest pet peeve was that when I would go to the frontdesk for directions or suggestions about where to eat I found their responses were generally uninformed and lacking. We had better help from our cab drivers.
I liked my stay at the hotel, but will likely not plan on staying there in the future as the overall feel of the hotel just wasn't for me.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
probably not
I recommend this hotel for:
Older travelers, Families with young children
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Shopping, Other