The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown is a stylish 4-star upscale hotel located in Toronto Harbourfront. Nightly rates can range from $160 to $500 but I managed to snag an amazing deal from Travelzoo for $135 a night and parking fees discounted to $15 a day. You can’t beat this deal and below is a review of our two-night stay.
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Photos courtesy of Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown
Overview
The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown is a stylish hotel set in a modern brick-and-glass building on Queens Quay, waterfront’s main street. The hotel is just 25 minutes from Toronto Pearson International Airport and close to Entertainment District attractions like Rogers Centre, Scotiabank Arena, the CN Tower, and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. The hotel is within walking distance to many shops and restaurants.
Lobby
The lobby is spacious with a large seating area, gift shop and coffee shop. Everything is modern, decorated in white and grey tones. From the lobby, a wide staircase leads to the next four floors where the meeting rooms and seasonal pool are situated. The main hotel entrance was blocked off so the lobby can only be accessed from the café entrance or from the underground parkade by twin elevators. One of the elevators was under maintenance during our entire stay so that was a bit of an inconvenience.
Due to the pandemic, there was a security personnel stationed at the lobby to ensure that only guests were permitted beyond the lobby area.
Check-In
We arrived at the hotel during prime time so we had to wait about 10 minutes for one guest to check-out and another to check-in. Despite the wait, when it was our turn, the process was smooth and efficient. While the front desk was pleasant enough, I couldn’t get her to crack a smile. There’s friendly, and then there’s friendly—a smile goes a long way to make guests feel more welcomed and I didn’t feel any welcome.
Amenities
The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown normally has a wide range of amenities and services but due to the pandemic, none of these services were available during our stay. The beautiful outdoor pool and poolside lounge are seasonal so naturally they were closed. The fitness center, room service and turndown service were definitely not available and I don’t think the laundry service was either.
Aside from the aforementioned coffee shop that is open daily from 8:00am to 1:00pm, the Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown boasts two restaurants. Unfortunately both restaurants were closed, and room service was also suspended until further notice. Thankfully there was a Tim Horton’s right around the corner.
The View, a large seating area on the fifth floor overlooking Toronto’s inner harbour, offers stunning views of Lake Ontario. The area was roped off (the pandemic would be my best guess), but we ducked under and spent about 20 minutes sitting back admiring the lake view.
The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown also offers underground parking for $28 a day with in and out privileges. Fair warning, the ceiling clearance is really low so large SUVs will not fit.
The Room
The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown offers a number of room types from the standard king and two queens to a lakeview studio king suite and hospitality suite. Our two queens room was roomy enough for a family of four.
The room was large and decorated with modern furnishings and light colours. The floors were all wood, which we weren’t fans of since it made for very cold (and dirty) floors. The entryway was very wide but the space was underutilized. A small bench and floor mat would have made putting on and taking off shoes, especially winter boots, a little more comfortable.
In-room amenities included free wi-fi, a mini fridge, a work desk and a 55-inch flat-screen TV. We received complimentary bottled water for the first night, and enough coffee and tea for two mornings. The pillowtop beds were very comfortable but the pillows were much too soft.
The bathroom was large and bright, with all the amenities one expects from an upscale hotel.
Conclusion
We wanted to stay downtown, preferably somewhere with a view of the harbour so the Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown made most logical sense. While we had a pleasant stay, the hotel is not tailored for families with young children. I would only recommend this hotel to couples and solo travellers, and only during the summer months to take full advantage of the rooftop pool.
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