If forgettable, cookie-cutter company motels do not excite you, Marriott’s W model may very well be the reply in your subsequent keep. Unapologetically mixing music, style and design, W properties provide an lodging expertise the place nothing is taken too severely.
After a constructive keep Down Beneath on the W Melbourne final 12 months, I made a decision to attempt one of many newest additions to the W portfolio on a current journey to Canada.
Here’s what it is like staying on the W Toronto, a part of Marriott Bonvoy.
Fast take
Housed in a brutalist-style constructing that was beforehand the precise sort of Marriott property the W model guarantees to not be, the 254-room W Toronto opened in 2022, following a two-year delay and a $30-million makeover.
The bizarre format and design focus visitors’ consideration on the Dwelling Room foyer and bar; it is an opulent but casual assembly area that instantly evokes leisure.
Rooms have been spacious and cozy, and I appreciated the hallways have been sufficiently lit so I didn’t really feel like I used to be stumbling down a nightclub.
Past the Dwelling Room, shifting from area to area was generally awkward, and the views from the interior dealing with rooms weren’t best.
Getting there
The W is in Yorkville, on the northeast fringe of downtown Toronto. Friends can attain the lodge by automobile from Toronto Pearson Worldwide Airport (YYZ) in round 40 minutes, topic to visitors; it’s going to value about 50 Canadian {dollars} ($37) to take an Uber or Lyft.
Should you desire to take public transport, the Union Pearson Categorical practice reaches Union Station in downtown Toronto in 25 minutes for 12.35 CAD ($9). You’ll be able to then switch to the subway Line 1 to trip six stops to Bloor-Yonge station. Anticipate this whole journey to take simply greater than an hour, relying on the time of day.
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Associated: What it is like staying on the renovated Park Hyatt Toronto
Reserving particulars
A base-level Great Room on the W Toronto could be booked for $324 to $518 per night time, or 42,000 to 70,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors per night time.
It is easy to earn Marriott Bonvoy factors with a few of our favourite playing cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Good® American Categorical® Card: Earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus factors after utilizing your card to spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership. Annual price: $650 (see charges and costs).
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Categorical® Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus factors after utilizing your card to spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership. Annual price: $250 (see charges and costs).
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit score Card: Earn 3 free night time awards (every night time valued as much as 50,000 factors) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first three months out of your account opening. Annual price: $95.
- Marriott Bonvoy Daring® Credit score Card: Earn 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus factors after utilizing your card to spend $1,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. No annual price.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit score Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases within the first three months from account opening. Annual price: $250.
- Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise® American Categorical® Card: Earn 125,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy factors after you employ your card to make $8,000 within the first six months of account opening. Annual price: $125 (see charges and costs).
The knowledge for the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit score Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Standout options
- The property will get a lot of the fundamentals proper, with spacious and cozy rooms, luxurious showers, nice workers, and loads of first rate meals and beverage choices. There was particularly faultless room service.
- W branding is taken simply far sufficient with playful and complex touches with out feeling like you might be in a nightclub that by no means closes.
- The Dwelling Room is a well-designed social area that attracts in visitors and the general public alike.
Drawbacks
- Taking on only a handful of flooring in a dated, high-rise (now residential) constructing, the lodge lacks a real sense of place; it feels momentary and even slightly complicated to navigate. It’s kind of of a clumsy route from the road to reception.
- The Yorkville location is near upmarket stores and charming Church Avenue however not strolling distance to a few of Toronto’s most well-known sights just like the CN Tower.
- A number of the bar meals choices are type over substance.
- Whereas the health club is well-equipped, the lodge doesn’t have a swimming pool.
The vibe
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Marriott’s W model has by no means shied away from adopting a cheeky sense of enjoyable to draw visitors. I spied loads of younger {couples}, arm-in-arm, whispering candy nothings into one another’s ears, sneaking out and in of the constructing in any respect hours.
An American couple seated subsequent to me for dinner within the Dwelling Room appeared perplexed at their environment and the Instagrammable meals served to them (maybe they have been anticipating a company Marriott property). Nonetheless, they appeared to take pleasure in their expertise.
The room
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I checked right into a 266-square-foot courtyard view Great King Room on the seventh ground — the identical base stage class I had booked (no improve for this lowly Bonvoy Gold elite member).
General, my first impressions have been constructive. There was loads of area to maneuver across the room, and I slept very nicely within the comfy king-size mattress. It had excessive thread rely sheets and numerous pillows.
Some W room designs could be polarizing of their outlandish and impractical type, however this new mixture of cream, grey and royal blue was pleasing and soothing to the eyes. I wasn’t thrilled with how the mattress was laid out towards the window, although; it blocked a few of the pure mild coming into the room. The view into the inside courtyard additionally wasn’t nice and made it tough to get a way of the climate exterior.
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I am not an enormous fan of uncovered loos, particularly when touring with another person, so I want the self-importance had slightly extra privateness. The spacious bathe had each handheld and rainfall showerheads. It was stocked with Momo toiletries and housed behind frosted glass, as was the bathroom.
Provided that the define of the bathroom was seen by means of the frosted glass, this room would solely be appropriate to share with somebody you have been very comfy with. This appeared like a design flaw.
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The large 55-inch LCD Tv was wall-mounted, however you could possibly swing it round to atone for the morning information earlier than getting away from bed. The minibar featured all the things you would want to combine up an aperitif earlier than hitting the city or a cheeky nightcap earlier than mattress.
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Meals and drinks
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Friends can begin the day on the floor ground Public Faculty espresso home, kitchen and bar. There, a good smashed avocado toast with almond hummus on black charcoal sourdough with two poached eggs prices 24 CAD ($17), and the barista-made espresso is great. An excellent number of pastries and breakfast sandwiches are additionally accessible for visitors seeking to seize one thing on the go.
Throughout the day, lighter choices on the venue embrace (glorious) poke bowls, Caesar salads, jerk shrimp rolls, baked pasta and fried veal cutlets.
The Skylight rooftop bar, with its Mediterranean mezze restaurant, was closed throughout my mid-week keep. Nonetheless, the Dwelling Room bar sufficed with mild bites and creative cocktails. The grapefruit gin and prosecco-led “Flower Energy” served with dry ice in an enormous glass sphere was terrific theater and attracted the eye of surrounding visitors.
The meals choices have been first rate, although the jerk rooster skewers for 18 CAD ($13) solely contained a couple of scraps of meat. The watermelon and tomato salad (additionally $13) was fairly however way more sophisticated than wanted.
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Room service was accessible 24 hours a day. Inside 20 minutes of ordering, I obtained an ideal turkey membership sandwich with recent, crispy fries and condiments for a late-night snack. It value 25 CAD ($18).
Facilities and repair
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Whereas the W Toronto doesn’t have a pool, the FIT health club on the eighth ground is nicely outfitted, and there was by no means a wait to make use of the gear.
The service impressed throughout the property. After I tried to verify in round 4 p.m., the entrance desk agent defined that the room had been cleaned however would want a remaining inspection. She stated she would let me know when it was prepared. Twenty-five minutes later, she nonetheless had not given me my room key. I approached the desk to observe up, and he or she apologized profusely, admitting she had forgotten about me as a result of a big group arriving to verify in instantly after me. She rapidly gave me my room key and two drink vouchers to compensate for the oversight.
This fast service restoration made up for the slight delay. It was indicative of the workers at W Toronto’s capability to ship effectively and clear up issues rapidly.
Out and about
The lodge is one block from Church Avenue, Toronto’s LGBT+ village. I’ve visited homosexual neighborhoods worldwide, and I do not assume I’ve ever seen one as charming and well-executed as this. Regardless of being in the course of a significant metropolis, it has a splendidly relaxed and quaint vibe. There are dozens of bars, unbiased cafes, bookstores, classic outfitters and low retailers. It’s a pretty place to wander down and discover.
There are many high-end retail shops on Bloor Avenue. Additionally, the lodge is near Toronto College with its stunning Gothic and Romanesque revival-style buildings, nicely well worth the brief stroll on a sunny day.
Accessibility
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With no elevators on the bottom ground, visitors with mobility restrictions face a reasonably steep ramp in an unglamorous parking storage to enter the property step-free. As soon as reaching reception on the sixth ground, there are vast hallways with elevator entry to all visitor rooms.
Nonetheless, given the advanced format of this property, it isn’t best for accessibility.
Testing
The W Toronto had extra whimsy than I used to be in search of for a mid-week enterprise keep, however the lodge acquired a lot of the fundamentals proper.
Spacious rooms, nice workers, first rate meals and beverage choices, and the communal Dwelling Room area made for a snug keep. Nonetheless, I wasn’t an enormous fan of the thinly frosted rest room and uncovered self-importance.
For a first-time customer, the situation is a bit far north of the primary sights, nearer to Lake Ontario. Nonetheless, if I have been returning to Toronto on the weekend — particularly with a beloved one — the W could be a enjoyable technique to unwind and discover the sights and sounds of close by Church Avenue till the early hours.
Associated studying:
For charges and price of the Marriott Bonvoy Good Amex Card, click on right here
For charges and costs of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Amex Card, click on right here
For charges and costs of the Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise Amex Card, click on right here
