Shangri-La Opens Toronto Hotel

 

Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto opened this month on University Avenue, in Canada's largest city. 

The hotel takes up the first 17 floors of a new 66-story landmark tower in the city's busy downtown neighborhood. The 202-room hotel is within a five-block radius of the performance center for Canada’s opera and ballet companies, the headquarters for the country’s five major banks, consulates, leading research hospitals, sports venues, the city’s live theater district and the TIFF headquarters. 

Like the exterior, the hotel’s interior is a destination where art and architecture are emphasized. Entering the street-level lobby, guests find themselves in the 90-seat Lobby Lounge, which has four large-scale Chinese calligraphy paintings that depict women from the famed Peking Opera, an Italian handcrafted, light-oak Fazioli piano with the words to My Old Man by Canadian artist Joni Mitchell carved into its lid, and contemporary furniture in dove-grey leather. 

In the Lobby Lounge, guests can choose from an all-day menu inspired by Southeast Asian food vendors, a tea selection of 68 hand-picked teas from around the world, and a five-volume menu of apéritifs and cocktails, wines and beers, scotch, spirits, and fortified wines. 

From there, guests can wander into The Bar, an intimate 30-seat destination which fronts Bosk, the hotel’s signature restaurant. Hanging above The Bar are 180 hand-blown glass fixtures in varying shades of green. Inside, an 80-seat restaurant includes a private dining enclave for up to 30, plus a seasonal outdoor terrace which wraps around the corner of the building. Led by Executive Chef Jean Paul Lourdes, the dining room brings to life a globally-inspired menu with distinct Asian-influences. 

The hotel has 202 guestrooms and suites, ranging in size from 490 to 2,200 square feet. (The bathrooms alone average 150 square feet). The walk-in shower, with rain shower head, stands apart from a jet tub. Bathroom mirrors, embedded with LCD televisions, are framed above a marble-topped vanity reminiscent of an Asian table. 

Each room features an entertainment center with a 47-inch flat-screen LED television and iPad for in-room use, featuring ICE technology that gives guests access to in-room dining, housekeeping, bell service and 24-hour concierge at the tap of an app. 

Coolest touch: Nine guestrooms have private, appointed outdoor terraces. 

We hear the suites are among the largest available in Toronto’s downtown core. Among the 49 suites are five specialty suites, including the premier Owner’s Suite at 1,100 square feet and Shangri-La Suite at 2,200 square feet. Good to know: The Shangri-La Suite also offers a pantry with private butler’s entrance. 

An independently operated spa, Miraj Hamman Spa by Caudalie, Paris, also located on the fifth floor, with nine treatment suites including two couple suites and two Hammam rooms. The hotel is part of a development that also incorporates residential living, the revitalized historic red-brick Bishop’s Block, one of the oldest remaining buildings in Toronto, and a restaurant and bar by acclaimed New York chef David Chang. 

Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto is located at 188 University Avenue in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, visit www.shangri-la.com/toronto.