Windsor Arms Hotel
18 Saint Thomas St, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E7 Canada
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About
#74 of 369 hotels in Toronto
Location
4.8
Cleanliness
4.7
Service
4.5
Value
4.1
Consecutively voted the #1 hotel in Toronto by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, the Windsor Arms Hotel is nestled on a quiet street ideally located just steps away from Yorkville, the heart of Toronto's most fashionable shopping and entertainment district. An aura of warmth, discreet luxury, and the latest technology combined with our exceptional level of service makes Windsor Arms Toronto's most luxurious boutique hotel. Behind our century-old portals are 28 new luxury suites with 24-hour butler service. The Windsor Arms is host to the Courtyard Cafe - open for Sunday brunch and special events; Prime Steakhouse -open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a full Vegan menu; the Tea Room for Afternoon Tea and Lounge twenty-two for tapas and cocktails. The Spa offers fully serviced individual treatment rooms, swimming pool and exercise facilities.
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Property amenities
Parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Fitness Center with Gym / Workout Room
Bar / lounge
Nightclub / DJ
Business Center with Internet Access
Conference facilities
Wifi
Hot tub
Indoor pool
Heated pool
Restaurant
Breakfast available
Breakfast buffet
Banquet room
Meeting rooms
Spa
Concierge
Non-smoking hotel
Butler service
Dry cleaning
Laundry service
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Room features
Air conditioning
Room service
Minibar
Flatscreen TV
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
Historic Hotel
Quaint
Location
18 Saint Thomas St, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E7 Canada
Windsor Arms Hotel
Getting there
Great for walkers
Grade: 99 out of 100
99
Toronto Island Airport
1.3 mi•
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Toronto Pearson Intl Airport
11.9 mi•
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Bay
2 min•Toronto Rapid Transit
Rental Cars
188 Restaurants
within 0.3 miles
446Reviews9Q+A73Room tips
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Horrible experience, I went there for the high tea experience for my birthday. Some items from the savoury menu were missing. My friend found a hair in her egg sandwich, they took away her plate for like 20 minutes only to come back with tomatoes and lettuce sandwiches. The sweets and pastries were not fresh. The service was horrible, at the 2 hour mark, as we got ready to wrap up, the waiter rushed us to leave although the place was dead empty. They were in a hurry to close. I will never go back and we didn’t even get compensation or a sorry for the hair in the sandwich!!! Total disaster.
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Date of stay: October 2023Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Our carpet was dirty. The toilet paper roll holder was broken. The bathtub was cracked and chipped. The bathroom sink drain was broken. The hot and cold in the shower were reversed (but nobody told us). Staff were indifferent bordering on rude. Not a 5 star hotel or experience. It may have been grand in it's day, but that day is long, long gone. Bedding was nice.
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Date of stay: October 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
After booking "Mother's Day High Tea" in March, I received a text and email notification the booking was changed to "Mother's Day Brunch" and another notification the booking was at an earlier time. I thought at this point they were not offering "High Tea" rather only "Brunch" and did not investigate. My guests and I arrived for a far below average brunch with unresponsive, inattentive staff and a maitre d' wearing white dirty running shoes. This was not end of the adventure. Upon leaving the brunch room, entering the main entry, we see "High Tea" being served in two other rooms. I have but one conclusion, the change in my reservation was deliberate as the brunch was $135 not the high tea rate of $50. I would not refer nor attend this hotel for any reason and as someone living in the GTA, there are many finer hotels and places for brunch or high tea.…
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Date of stay: May 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Value
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Came for Mother’s Day brunch for 135 per person. It was extremely underwhelming and seemed like zero thought was put into presentation or service. Very casually dressed Managers just stood by waiting for your payment never inquiring how the service or food was. I’m pretty sure the valet man was smoking directly outside the front doors of the hotel as well. Charging what they did for this brunch is embarrassing. You could tell other tables were unhappy as well. Also in this day in age with allergies your labels on food should have whether or not it has gluten, dairy, nuts, alcohol. Etc. I have seen better buffet set ups at 3 star hotels that offer complimentary breakfast.
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Date of stay: May 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
+1
Had to be the dirtiest hotel I have ever stayed in. There was a distinctive odour upon entering the hotel that followed you up into the room. The room itself was completely disappointing starting with the horrendously stained rug as we entered the room. The rug was so old it was rippling throughout. The furniture was dated and poorly maintained. Chipped and threadbare. The bathroom was the worst the sink surround was so dusty and dirty but the tipping point was the bandaid, used bandaid in the bathtub. They offered to clean the room but there is no cleaning possible that would erase the memory of this absolute disappointment. Disgusting
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip: Don’t bother
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
+1
I have stayed at the hotel twice, one year apart, in the same room coincidentally. Our experience was fairly unimpressive the first time but we have relatives very close by and wanted to simplify our visit staying close. Well, this turned out to be a huge mistake. What was already a pretty bad hotel has just been left to fall apart. I'll make this simple: - The hotel is straight up falling apart, it's very evident from the moment you walk into the hotel and the elevator buttons are worn and crooked that this is just the tip of iceberg. A doorknob fell on my foot minute one of our stay. Our faucet handle fell off, everywhere you go there is stuff that is poorly maintained. We came with small children and this is far from ideal. - There is a huge maintenance problem. Somewhat noted above but to add to that our shower DID NOT DRAIN! It was vile. I felt like I was showering in filth. Day 2 I stopped showering there and chose to do it at my relatives. Many complaints about this lead to absolutely no resolve. - It's dirty. Plain disgusting things we experienced. Upon checkin I noticed chewing gum stuck to our mirror (ew!!) as well as a mysterious white substance on our desk. There were layers of old dust behind the bed and endless wires (safety issue). I'm getting nauseous even thinking about this experience again. The best part is, when I asked for these things to be cleaned up - first time nothing was done, second time chewing gum was removed BUT I was told the desk could not be cleaned and the white substance was "patina" (LOL are you kidding me??), third time I said something the desk was removed from the room. See my photos, there was plenty of mold in the shower, dusty shelves in the halls, the list goes on and on. - There was another review that mentioned safety concerns given the fire stairs. It honestly made me so nervous the entire time I stayed there. Given what I saw I could absolutely imagine this hotel has major safety issues. I would not stay there. I would not go for tea there. I would not attend or host an event there. It's disgusting and I imagine another year of letting this place fall apart will lead it to be condemned. I am not keen on posting negative reviews without an attempt to resolve an issue directly with the hotel etc. I spoke to them about our stay while there, many times, and nothing to improve it was done. I tried contacting the hotel after the hotel, and AGAIN nothing was done. Not even a response to our email. You get what you deserve and this hotel is fit for the pit! It's sad, they took what was once good and are slowly killing it.…
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Date of stay: December 2022
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip: Do not stay here. You have been warned.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
So, here’s my story. A few weeks ago, my wife and I decided to take a few days off and explore Toronto (We live in upstate NY). We decided to stay at the charming Windsor Arms Hotel, which boasted a storied history and an English tea service. Upon arriving, my wife asked to use the bathroom as I registered. She was told the only way to get to the second floor, where the bathroom was located, was to use the one elevator in operation. Furthermore, they added that the stairs to the upstairs floors were locked and were only unlocked in case of an emergency, such as a fire. This would not be done electronically or from the front desk, but rather by a hotel employee who could go from floor to floor unlocking the doors. Upon returning my wife asked what we both thought was a quite logical and legitimate question: how could they be sure that an employee would potentially risk his life, going from floor to floor to unlock all the doors if a fire erupted. We all remember that people died in the attack on the World Trade Center when they got locked in stairwells. As I recall, some people jumped out of windows because they were locked out of the stairs.) “How,” I asked, “could you even test this emergency system, since they only real test would be if there was an actual fire.” One can pretend all you want but who knows who people ack in an emergency, right. And, by the way, there was no outside fire escape that could be used as an escape route. After talking this over with my wife that evening, we decided that we did not feel safe in the Windsor Arms Hotel and wanted to go elsewhere. Ah, but here was our mistake: we had made one of those bookings that was no refundable through a third party. And, the manager refused to refund any of the money we had already paid for the entire week. We tried to get the third party to intercede for us, but their efforts were quite useless. We tried to get our credit card company to intercede with the same result. Knowing we had made a mistake booking a non-fundable room, but still feeling unsafe, we offered to come to some compromise with the hotel manager. Again, she would not even consider it. So, we left and lost a significant amount of money. Some of you reading this will say it is our fault for making this type of reservation. I will NEVER do that again. Also, since the aid of the third party was quite useless, I will endeavor to make my future reservations with the hotel itself. The price are really not all the cheaper all the time. But, all that said and taking responsibility for my own failures, I still believe that the hotel could have made some sort of accommodation, perhaps in the interest of understanding the situation or just old fashion good relations. I will let you decide if that would be reasonable or not.…
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
My wife and I stayed at the Windsor Arms September 16-19, 2022. On Saturday we returned to the hotel around 10:30 PM, tired from a full day of sightseeing. We found the entire ground floor of the hotel occupied by screaming young people celebrating a wedding, and the ballroom dominated by a very raucous band. Needless to say, we were unable to sleep. When we called the desk to request that the amplifier be turned down, we were flatly refused. No relief; forget it, we have a party going on. Our second call did not even elicit sympathy from Calvin; he seemed affronted that we would even call to complain. To add insult to injury, when we finally drifted off to sleep after 1:00 AM, we were abruptly awakened by, not one, but two different phone calls--presumably Calvin venting his anger at our complaint. When we checked out on September 19, I complained to the desk attendant and requested some compensation for our inconvenience. She very quickly informed me that would be "impossible." I asked to see her supervisor and was told that "only the "owner" could grant relief. Of course he was not present, and she refused to give me his name or contact information. She did promise to have him call me--what a hoax. Two weeks have passed without any call, and without any apology. Bottom line: don't come to the Winsor Arms for a good night's sleep. Mike Henke…
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Date of stay: September 2022
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
+1
Despite the large rooms and convenient location, this hotel is one to miss. They threatened to cancel the booking in advance of staying, and I really wish they had...A three night stay. To start with, it has seen better days and is in need of a makeover. It isn't helped by cleaning staff bashing their unbalanced cleaning carts into the walls n a regular basis. Service is mediocre to poor at best, with the door opener too busy chatting to open the door for you, some clumsy waitering and some alarmingly poor information and policies for travellers about their bills (my room was already paid in advance and included breakfast, but they still put a hold on my card for the full stay anyway!!!). The rooms are large, but lit with lamps impossible to switch off easily and in one case shorting on me when switching and leaving me thinking I had a lucky escape. I am not there to be electrocuted... But the light is all in the wrong place, leaving me packing and unpacking in the dark. The air con was freezing, and whilst the beds have excellent bedding they are so warm that it requires throwing them off and launching into a freeze/boil cycle all night. The TV remained a mystery to me (I tend not to use this anyway) but colleagues staying in the same place reported requiring coaching for the electrics and the remote controls, none of which really helped. The pool is located on the fourth floor, and I had a swim one evening. It was fine, if weirdly silent (not many guests), but the saunas were fairly cold with no instructions or internal lighting to sort this out. It all felt a bit creepy, like no one really wanted me there. Calling it eccentric would flatter it: it was like a neglected haunted house. Shame as some lovely features, but too expensive for such poor attention to detail and I won't be stopping here again...…
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Traveled on business
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
+1
This hotel is classified as 5 star but that is a stretch. I was in a deluxe one bedroom suite. It’s a very old historic building which does offer some charm but the odd hat stand in the entrance is very tired looking. The checkin took a long time and getting a key seemed time consuming. There was an absence of baggage help. After taking a very old musty elevator to the 3rd floor I entered into a dank dark corridor. At that stage I was thinking of leaving. I was therefore relieved when opening the door to see a nice room with a rather better smell than the corridor. These rooms are traditional and spacious. Bed was quite old a think. Bathroom was quite good. Furniture in the lounge area was aging as was the carpets. Room was very clean. There are only two elevators that staff and guests use. It was adequate but definitely not worth the +700$ Hotel is well located right off Bloor st with easy access to transport and high end shopping.…
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1 Helpful vote
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PRICE RANGE
$442 - $527 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
windsor arms toronto, windsor arms hotel toronto
LOCATION
CanadaOntarioTorontoDowntown / Bay Street Corridor / Old Toronto
NUMBER OF ROOMS
28
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Claim Your ListingWINDSOR ARMS HOTEL - Updated 2023 Prices & Reviews (Toronto, Ontario)
Frequently Asked Questions about Windsor Arms Hotel
Which popular attractions are close to Windsor Arms Hotel?
Nearby attractions include Royal Conservatory of Music (0.3 miles), Royal Ontario Museum (0.2 miles), and Yorkville Village (0.3 miles).
What are some of the property amenities at Windsor Arms Hotel?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include an indoor pool, free wifi, and an on-site restaurant.
Which room amenities are available at Windsor Arms Hotel?
Top room amenities include a minibar, air conditioning, and a flat screen TV.
What food & drink options are available at Windsor Arms Hotel?
Guests can enjoy an on-site restaurant, a lounge, and breakfast during their stay.
What are some restaurants close to Windsor Arms Hotel?
Conveniently located restaurants include STK Steakhouse, Trattoria Nervosa, and Planta.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Windsor Arms Hotel?
Yes, guests have access to an indoor pool and a fitness center during their stay.
Are any cleaning services offered at Windsor Arms Hotel?
Yes, dry cleaning and laundry service are offered to guests.
Does Windsor Arms Hotel offer any business services?
Yes, it conveniently offers a business center, meeting rooms, and a banquet room.
Are there any historical sites close to Windsor Arms Hotel?
Many travelers enjoy visiting The Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre (1.2 miles), Spadina Museum (1.1 miles), and Casa Loma (1.1 miles).
Is Windsor Arms Hotel accessible?
Yes, it offers wheelchair access. For specific inquiries, we recommend calling ahead to confirm.