The Toronto Traveler

Talking about the Royal York Hotel in the context of discussing places in Toronto that you can stay when you visit is actually a bit strange, not just for me but probably also for most people that live in Toronto.  The main reason for this is that to most people that grew up in this city, the Royal York Hotel is really a monument and a tourist attraction first and a place to stay second.  Even though the word hotel is right there in the name of the place, most Torontonians would probably associate the Royal York Hotel more with tourism than with hospitality.

This is not to take away from the excellence that is the Royal York Hotel; far from it in fact.  The Royal York Hotel is one of the most luxurious places to stay in the City of Toronto and it is most certainly the most historic.  From the time the hotel was built in 1843 until the present day, the Royal York Hotel has been one of the city’s centres for tourism and business hospitality service.  Many people stay at the Royal York Hotel each year and each year many people end up leaving the hotel and wanting to come back the next time they visit Toronto.

The inside of the Royal York Hotel is really something out of another era of life in Toronto and pieces within the lobby such as this clock illustrate that the interior decoration of the Royal York Hotel is really an exercise in combining modern concerns for things such as safety and functionality with old world trinkets that would look out of place in most of the other hotels in the city.  This nice blending of old world and new is perhaps another reason that people like the Royal York Hotel so much and it is certainly one of the things that make the Royal York Hotel as big a city monument as it is.

However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Royal York is all looks and nothing else, because you’d be totally wrong if you did!  Located at 100 Front Street West (MAP), the Royal York is right by the waterfront of the city.  You could literally walk to the rest of downtown from the Royal York, making it one of the most functionally sound hotels that Toronto has.  It’s quite literally right next to everything and if you stay at the Royal York Hotel, most of your itinerary within the city will likely be within walking distance of your accommodations.

Unfortunately, all of these advantages don’t come cheaply.  Depending on the nights you decide to stay, a typical suite at the Royal York could run you anywhere from $200 to $500 a night and if you include additional services on top of the room that could get even pricier.  The best thing to do if you want to stay at the Royal York would be to book in advance and travel to the city during the off-seasons of tourism in the winter months.  Also, be sure to check out the Royal York Hotel’s website for more information.  I’ll also be including the website in the side links from now on just in case anyone wants to get back to the website.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons, shown under the GNUFDL & Clock in Royal York Hotel by alexindigo on Flickr, shown under the CC-A 2.0 License respectively.

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