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What’s Happening on Canada’s Hotel Scene

In 2018, Toronto welcomed 15.9 million overnight visitors, occupying over ten million hotel rooms—a record for the city.

Canadian hoteliers got inspired and 2019 produced a crop of Canada-bred properties: a four-year renovation transformed a strip joint into the chic Broadview Hotel. The exuberant Bisha Hotel, with its glittery clubs, themed floors, and Michelin-starred cred, opened in Toronto’s Fashion District. At Yonge and Bloor, the Anndore brought travellers to comfy/cool suites, and locals to the popular restaurant Constantine.

Perhaps the most-celebrated opening was the reimagined Fairmont Royal York. It’s played host to everyone from Gene Kelly to the Dalai Lama over the past 90 years, and it’s unveiling after a seven-year reno did not disappoint. Check into the Fairmont Gold, the luxury hotel that takes up floors 12 through 18. Guests here are offered premium minibars and pillow menus, though it won’t be hard to rest easy in the pearl and alabaster-accented rooms designed by New York’s Champalimaud. A lush lobby bar honours Champagne, and Reign, the sprawling restaurant and cocktail bar on the main floor, serves up Canadian takes on classic brasserie fare.

2020 will see international players planting flags on Canadian soil.

Many of them will land on Toronto’s Mink Mile. At 90 Bloor East, the W Hotel will debut 255 vibrant guest rooms, with design details that nod to the city’s history. Guests can experience the Whatever/Whenever concierge, a fairy godmother-like offering that conjures for guests everything from gym clothes to plane snacks to private plane rides. Drinking and dining there will be done at the rooftop restaurant, or in a late-night lounge decked out with a recording studio and DJ booth.

Across the street, the Andaz will commandeer 12 floors of the towering One Bloor West building, with 160 rooms, 15 luxury suites, and a food and beverage program by one of the city’s leading restaurant groups. Also holding court in Yorkville, the landmark Park Hyatt will be reborn after years of renovation and preservation by KPMB Architects, known for their restoration work on the Royal Conservatory of Music and Massey Hall.

In close proximity to a revitalized waterfront and Union Station, what once was a Radisson will be reborn Radisson Blu—the company’s first upscale hotel in the country, complete with a pool looking out to the CN Tower. About an hour drive from Ottawa, in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Chateau Montebello will cut the ribbon on their new renovation, adding 102 new guest rooms (built to the tune of $17.2 million) to the super-luxurious log cabin.

If this head-spinning number of new spots is any indication, it’s clear travellers are hungry for more Canada.

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