I recently went to Toronto for a couple of days and I stayed at The Fairmont Royal York as I have several times in the past. The Fairmont is a beautiful hotel with Gothic Revival styling and beautifully intricate work throughout, I mean you feel like royalty walking into it and are surrounded by luxury. The hotel opened June 11, 1929 and has been a staple in Toronto and its skyline ever since.
Make sure you get my good side
What time is it?
Time to check-in
I arrived into Toronto in the morning coming into Billy Bishop Airport, also known as the Porter Airport. Originally, only Porter flu into the city center airport but in recent years Air Canada has joined them, however to most people I know, it is known as the Porter Airport. Porter offers a free shuttle service from the island straight to The Fairmont so it is the best way to get there directly and the cheapest.
Upon arriving to the hotel I proceeded to the President’s Club line to see if my room happened to be ready for me, as I was early I wasn’t expecting it to be ready yet however I figured that I would check as you never know. In case you aren’t aware The Fairmont has a wonderful free program that guests can sign up for that gives them some benefits such as their own line to check-in and check-out, as well as free wifi. I approached the desk and was told that unfortunately my room wasn’t ready yet however I had been upgraded to a larger newly renovated room. I had some business to attend to so I wasn’t concerned over the inability to get to my room right away. I checked-in and mentioned that I would be back later to grab my room key. I headed over to the bell desk to have them hold my bags, which they happily did and proceeded to my meeting.
After I had concluded my business I headed to EPIC restaurant that is located in the hotel to grab some lunch. The wait staff are extremely nice and I ordered the daily salad which was a prawn, quinoa, and greens salad with a lemon dressing, it was delicious!
So yummy!
After a leisurely lunch I headed back to the desk to grab my keys, they were ready and I headed up to my room. Upon opening the door and walking into the suite I noticed that there were two double beds which I thought was odd as I had reserved a king so I headed back to the desk to see what had happened. The attendant at the desk was very sweet and asked me to have a seat and she would look into it. After a few minutes the manager come out and let me know that he was very sorry about the mix up but they unfortunately did not have any rooms left with a king but asked if there was anything that he could do to make it up to me. I said that was okay given that I was alone, if I hadn’t been than that would have been a different thing, so I proceeded back to my room to get settled in. My room was equipped with a foyer, a seating area that contained a sofa, two chairs and end table, a desk area, 2 double beds, a large closet and a bathroom complete with a tub.
Ready for bed
Have a seat….and a glass of wine
I changed into some workout gear and headed to the gym, bringing along my swim suit to hit up the pool after a run. The gym area is well equipped with treadmills, elipicals, stationary bikes and weight equipment. The treadmills are connected and provided you with an individual tv right in front of you alongside your stats. While I was there it was quite busy and as such I was unable to grab photos, sorry all.
After going for a 30min run, I headed back to the change room to put on my swim suit. In the change room they have beautiful wood lockers complete with keys for you to take with you while you are out enjoying the pool, additionally there is a steam room, a sauna and showers. They also have this really neat machine that you can pop your wet swim suit into after and wring the water right out of it leaving it only slightly damp.
The pool is a 15m long rectangular indoor pool that is only 1.3 meters deep but it is perfect to get some laps in. While I was completely my laps a staff member came out and asked everyone if they would like a bottle of water, which was just so nice to have such service and attentiveness. I did a handful of laps and then headed for the hot tub which was lovely; after which I popped back in the pool for a quick moment and then it was off to the sauna. The sauna is small and quant but can hold 4-5 people comfortably, possibly more if you want to get a little closer to one another and again it was heavenly laying there (I was alone) and just soaking in the heat, I wish I could have stayed longer but I had a dinner engagement and had to leave after a mere 15min visit.
Photo courtesy of The Fairmont’s website
One of the fantastic things about The Fairmont is that it is connected to the Path. The Path is a fantastic, if not occasionally confusing, underground pathway that leads throughout various areas of downtown. You can easily go from The Fairmont to the Eaton’s Centre without ever going outside, which in bad weather is fantastic to be able to leave your coat behind.
After coming back from dinner with my friend I was getting ready for bed and the manager called me to see if everything was okay with my room and if there was anything that he could do for me. I let him know that all was good and continued to get ready for bed, all the while being quite impressed with the care to check in.
The next morning I headed to my conference that was in the building and spent the day going from conference area to conference area. The breakfast, lunch and breaks provided delicious eats. Although I had to pass on the salad after only a few bites as it turned out to have some allergens in it that I don’t normally encounter while out and had a slight reaction to so darn no salad for me. At the end of the day I returned to my room to change before heading out for dinner to find a very nice staff member trying to get a hold of me in order to deliver me a bottle of wine, compliments of the manager for the room mix up situation. I was totally shocked, I obviously was not expecting this at all; I greatly appreciated the thought and gesture and of course the delicious wine.
The following day I woke up and began to pack all of my things and get prepared for the last day of my conference. As check out wasn’t until noon, I left my things in the room ready to go and headed back to the conference. Between sessions I returned to my room to grab things and checked out, then leaving my bags with the bell desk for the remainder of the day.
I left that afternoon by the Porter Shuttle located at the side of the hotel and began my journey home.
The Fairmont Royal York is a beautiful hotel that impresses me every time I go there and leaves me looking forward to me next trip back. If you have never stayed with them before I highly recommend that you do and see for yourself how caring the staff are, how luxurious every space is and how relaxed you will feel after your stay.
Happy Traveling!
sam
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