Christine Korda: The Windsor Arms Hotel is located in the ultra-fashionable Bloor-Yorkville area. The area is “ Toronto’s most celebrated neighbourhood of style and culture offering a unique blend of designer boutiques, fashionable restaurants, plush hotels and world class galleries”. Our guests can enjoy shopping at such high end boutiques as Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Harry Rosen’s and many others.  We are less than two blocks away from the Royal Ontario Museum and Gardiner Museum.

CK: Although we are a boutique hotel with only 28 suites we offer all the amenities, if not more of a larger property, including a full service spa with a salt water pool with fireplace and fitness room. Four restaurants; Courtyard Café, where we serve Sunday brunch, Club 22-our lounge, Prime- our main restaurant with a private dining area for intimate gatherings,  and our tea rooms where we serve afternoon tea 7 days a week. We have two meeting rooms, a large ballroom which holds 250 for a banquet /500 for a cocktail reception and a private screening room for 15. We also offer complete vegan menus alongside our regular menus for room service and in Prime.

Recently we refurbished all 28 suites adding musical instruments to them, including baby grand pianos, harps, and acoustic guitars and Nespresso machines. All suites also have butler closets which allow guests to be serviced privately.

CK: At the Windsor Arms,  historic and new-millennium amenities are fused together to create a delicate balance of old-world charm and modern decadence.

In fact, the building dates back to 1927 when the University of Toronto, with its neo-Gothic buildings and distinctive piers, porches, and crests were architectural marvels of the burgeoning metropolis. And that’s exactly how hotelier, William Arthur Price, envisioned the four-storey building way back in the 30s. The original idea was to create a hotel residence to blend in with the university’s signature, Victorian buildings.

When completed, guests and passersby wondered whether Price had stamped the outside crest with his initials or that of the hotel. The question still remains to this day.

Years later, in 1966, the hotel entered Toronto’s culinary scene, opening its restaurant, Three Small Rooms. The Courtyard Cafe was launched in 1976 and that same year, Club 22 opened as part of the city’s growing nightlife.

By the late 80′s, years of neglect took hold and in 1991 the Windsor Arms was shutdown with no prospects of reopening, that is, until developer George Friedmann sparked a vision of resurrection.

After purchasing the property in 1995, Friedmann commissioned architect, Sol Wassermuhl of Page + Steele to maintain the original characteristics from the stained glass window facing St. Thomas Street to the stone portico and vestibule in the entrance, but otherwise to completely rebuild the hotel and add condominium homes atop. Consultants from around the world descended on the plans and the results were custom mahogany furnishings based on 1920s French styles, rooms with cozy fireplaces, and bathrooms with limestone floors and walls, all in a modern, contemporary setting.

In May 1999, with 28 unique suites ranging from 500 to1,500 square feet, conference rooms, and a spa, the hotel reopened to fanfare and accolades. City’s most luxurious condominiums with access to all hotel services were created atop the hotel. The New York Times say’s: Classic Toronto  haunt stands smartly again

The tearoom, with its original 1927 fireplace, is modelled around that same mid-twentieth-century elegance. Even the spa glows with old-world serenity mixed with a contemporary feel.

CK: The Windsor Arms has played home to many celebrities and dignities, from Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor to Canadian heart throb Scott Speedman. The founders of the Toronto International Film Festival first thought up their vision around cocktails in the legendary Club 21 and hosted the first Fashion Week in Toronto.

CK: Depending on the time of year depends on how far in advance  guests need to book their stay. On average I would say it’s best to book at least two weeks in advance.

For more information you can visit The Windsor Arms Hotel online here.