Toronto, Yorkville to the Financial District
Toronto is Canada's largest city, a grid of towers and neighborhoods on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Yorkville and Bloor Street keep their galleries and boutiques beside the Royal Ontario Museum, the banks and the theaters of the Financial and Entertainment Districts run down University Avenue toward the lake, and the streetcar lines run between. Its best hotels follow that line: a flagship and an independent house in Yorkville, a rebuilt landmark on Avenue Road, and three towers among the banks and the concert halls downtown. We looked at every serious address from Bloor Street to the waterfront and kept only those whose service holds up to the city. Six made the cut – four hold five-star standing and two hold four-star standing, and the copy says which is which.
Luxury hotels in Toronto
6 hotels
The neighborhoods
Four Seasons Hotel Toronto · Yorkville & Bloor Street — © Four SeasonsYorkville & Bloor Street
The low streets of Yorkville and the Mink Mile of Bloor Street, with three of the six hotels. It holds the boutiques and galleries, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Gardiner Museum at Avenue Road, the University of Toronto's campus to the south and Queen's Park beyond it, with the Bloor–Yonge subway at the corner.
Financial District & King West
Downtown between University Avenue and Yonge Street, with three of the six hotels. It takes in the bank towers of Bay Street, Union Station and the PATH walkways beneath them, Roy Thomson Hall and the theaters of King Street West, the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, and the waterfront and the ferry to the islands below.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in Toronto?
Four. The five-star hotels we list in Toronto are Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, in Yorkville; The Hazelton Hotel, on Yorkville Avenue; Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, on University Avenue; and The St. Regis Toronto, in the Financial District. Alongside them we keep two four-star addresses that hold four-star standing and are never called five-star: Park Hyatt Toronto, at Avenue Road and Bloor Street; and The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, opposite Roy Thomson Hall. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.
Which part of Toronto should I stay in?
The six hotels sit in two districts a short ride apart on University Avenue. Yorkville and Bloor Street hold three – Four Seasons and The Hazelton a block from each other in the low streets of Yorkville, Park Hyatt on the corner of Avenue Road and Bloor opposite the Royal Ontario Museum – with the Mink Mile boutiques, the galleries and the University of Toronto's campus around them. The Financial and Entertainment Districts hold the other three – Shangri-La on University Avenue, The St. Regis among the bank towers, The Ritz-Carlton opposite Roy Thomson Hall – with the theaters of King Street, the CN Tower and Union Station within minutes. Choose Yorkville for the shops, the museums and the quieter streets; downtown for the theaters, the lake and the towers.
When is the best season for Toronto?
May to October is the season – patios open along the streets, the islands and the waterfront come alive, and the Toronto International Film Festival fills Yorkville and King Street in early September, when rooms in both districts go first. Summer is warm and humid, autumn crisp and colored. Winter is cold and snowy, and the city moves into the PATH, the walkways under the Financial District; the hotels downtown connect to it, and the fires are lit in Yorkville. Spring is short and wet. The concierge confirms the festival and event dates that fall on your stay before you book.
How do you get to Toronto – and do I need a car?
Toronto Pearson is about half an hour from Yorkville and downtown by car, and the UP Express train reaches Union Station from the airport in twenty-five minutes; Billy Bishop, the island airport, is a few minutes from the Financial District by ferry or tunnel. Once you are there you will not need a car: the subway runs under Yonge Street and Bloor Street between the two districts, streetcars cross the downtown, and the hotels are minutes from each other on foot or by taxi. The hotel arranges a car from either airport with your booking, and for Niagara Falls or the wine country of Niagara-on-the-Lake, an hour and a half away, the hotel arranges a driver.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
