Intimate and charming yet with a grand two storey Courtyard Café on the ground floor, posh tea room and steakhouse, this boutique style hotel combines privacy with luxurious public spaces.
Afternoon tea is a special experience not to be missed. Prime offers tasty Alberta beef, organic lamb and Atlantic lobsters in a comfortably plush, contemporary setting. The spa, on two levels with pleasantly decorated small rooms, offers a variety of excellent treatments under professional hands. Guest rooms are spacious, comfortable and remarkably quiet for a city centre hotel. The hotel staff is unfailingly polite and friendly. Around the corner from the hotel is Toronto’s top shopping street for high fashion. Nearby are the delights of the trendy Yorkville district with shopping, restaurants and popular bars to see and be seen. All the great downtown Toronto attractions, concert halls, opera, theatres and nightclubs are a mere walk or short cab fare away.
I rarely get to travel with a friend because it’s always so difficult to co-ordinate our schedules and budgets. Because The Windsor Arms is located 15 minutes from my home, I wanted to enjoy their offerings and spend quality time with a close friend. It couldn’t have been more perfect for that. My friend and I planned to do nothing except catch up with each other’s lives and relax.
Our room was ready for us when we checked-in at 1:00 pm (fully expecting to leave our bags with front desk and hit the spa). Instead we had time to unpack, change into our robes and shuffle off to the spa (conveniently located on our floor). After swimming, and being pampered and relaxing, we headed back to our room for a little room service of a cheese plate with fruit. It was delicious! We had fun sitting in our robes for a couple of hours talking and laughing.
We heard a lot about Prime, the Steakhouse at the hotel, and made a reservation for 7:30 that evening. We went for a drink first at Club 22 on the hotel’s main floor, then wandered around admiring all the little rooms and nooks of this historic hotel. It was interesting to look at the photos and reminisce about the many famous guests this hotel has been honoured to host over the years.
The next day we had plenty of time after breakfast to go to the gym, the pool, then pack and checkout before deadline. But first the must-do walk to window-shop and take in the street scene. The weather was perfect for November and gave us the exercise we needed – and worked up our appetites for a leisurely light lunch before heading home. As we left, we remarked that we had done so much in such a short time, and were feeling quite relaxed. And best of all, no planes to catch!