The Hazelton Hotel: Toronto's Chicest Choice

It’s where everyone from Hollywood, fashion, and business, to discerning leisure travelers meets in Toronto.  The Hazelton Hotel is equal parts sleek and comfortable, upscale and relaxing.  It is truly a retreat from Toronto city life in a great neighborhood of restaurants, department stores, small shops, and cafes.  

While the outside gives off a hint of urban apartment building, I was highly impressed from the moment I stepped into the small lobby and saw silver luggage cases as artwork greeting me.  Fresh, bright bouquets of yellow flowers mixed well with yellow accents on the rug, couches I wanted to sink into, and shades of purple throughout. 

I snuck at a peek at the amazing screening room, where Ben Affleck and the cast of The Town screened the movie at 2009’s Toronto Film Festival.  With buttery leather couches and plush purple walls, it’s easy to see why The Hazelton has become the center of action during the famous Toronto Film Festival. 

Even the hallways possess a certain joie de vivre with black and white flowered wallpaper and cheery modern artwork. 

The rooms, from standard to suite, are gigantic.  Stepping into one made me want to open a bottle of chilled champagne, use the state-of-the-art music system to turn on some Ray LaMontagne or Patty Griffin, and relax.  With this job, it’s easy to become jaded by “luxury” hotel rooms.  The Hazelton’s rooms and suites, from each piece of furniture to the gorgeous bathrooms, are pure, understated bliss.

I need to give the bathrooms more attention because they are easily one of the top five hotel bathrooms I’ve seen.  They are extremely spacious, but the true stars are the dark slabs of green granite, TVs in the mirrors, and huge soaker tubs just begging to be used for a bubble bath.

The hotel’s highly lauded restaurant, One, has a buzzing patio during the summer months, and is a wonderful place to escape the cold.  And the city was a frozen tundra when I was there!  It’s another celebrity haunt for those including Reese Witherspoon, Bradley Cooper, and John Mayer.  The Spa at The Hazelton feels fresh and clean, with lovely wafts of whatever makes spas smell so good. Is this not the perfect spa pool?

This perfectly elegant oasis in Yorkville comes with a high price tag.  But I almost don’t notice the price tag if it feels like no other hotel experience I’ve had before.  That, to me, is true value. 

—Annie also blogs about hotels & her hometown, New York, at Hotel Belle.