We opted for a mini-break on Saturday and booked a suite at the Sheraton downtown. This is our second time crashing at the Sheraton. Our first was back in July 2006. We’ve given it two trys and I think this shall be our last visit. It’s nice and all but 1) the Club Level – despite the view – is like a zoo and you have to pay for drinks!; 2) the pool is too crowded and too concrete; 3) the rooms, while nice and with great views have no ‘charm’. Put simply, the hotel is just too big. From now on, I think we’ll stay with our usual hotel of choice in Toronto, the King Edward Hotel, which – the horrors of getting an elevator aside – is utterly charming, classy, and oh-so-chic-chic.
2 & 3) the view from our room looking directly south; 4) and at night
At 5:00, we sauntered up to the 45th floor club lounge for drinks and appetizers. Blee joined us and we chowed down on cheeses, beef skewers, fruit, sausages in a blanket, and dips-galore before heading off to Asian Legend (the Dundas location) for northern-style dim-sum. On route, we stopped into the new Umbra store and made our collective thoughts known on the Art Gallery of Ontario‘s renovation, courtesy of uber-international architect (and Canadian) Frank Gehry’s wood and titanium design.
5) me relaxing in the BIG chair in the lounge; 6) our northeast corner table; 7) the concrete mistake that is the Sheraton’s pool taken from our room
8) Toronto’s funky 1960s “New” City Hall; and, 9) across the road, “Old” City Hall
10) great shot of the moon and bell-tower at Old City Hall; 11) Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) (it’s the funky black and white checkerboard building built on chopsticks) taken from the Club Lounge and behind it, the transformation of the Art Gallery of Ontario
12) the new Umbra store; 13 & 14) the transformation of the AGO
15) Gehry’s titanium cladding reflects the setting sun
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