I wouldn’t recommend a stay at this hotel; it was one problem after another from the moment we checked in. All the negatives mentioned in other reviews that I’ve read are on the money. We actually received a gift certificate at Christmas for the Stage West Hotel and Dinner Theatre but because of the price of theatre tickets we thought we’d get more bang for our buck by just having a little one night getaway at the hotel to enjoy the pool facilities, water slide and restaurant. We are two adults and two children 12 and 14 years old.

Check In:
Slow and unfriendly, almost like we were bothering them by standing at the counter for a room. I told them at time of reservation that we wanted to book the special $119.00 per night that includes 2 children and 2 adults with breakfast the next morning but when I showed up at the desk they attempted to charge me a higher rate because one of the kids was too old for the special rate!!!! He is 14 years and 5 months! They never asked over the phone for the age of the children and I was not a happy camper when they decided to pull this stunt. After much complaining and time wasted they agreed to the previously promised rate. Why should we have to do battle, customer service sadly lacking.

Room:
The website boasts family friendly suites, sitting room areas separate from the beds. The rooms are tired looking but adequate for a family of four to share. Our view was of the top of the adjacent roof a/c unit but we were barely in the room anyway. There was one television set in front of the two double beds and one other set in front of the pull away couch. We brought our own DVD player with us thinking we'd watch a couple movies in the evening but the tv didn't have the correct mode on the remote control to allow this. I guess they want you to buy the movies from the specialty channel.

Leisure Activity Area:
There is an area just across and down the hall a bit from the main restaurant that has three pool tables, one pinball machine and two of the arcade driving games. As well I think there was a dartboard but I didn’t see any darts for it. In addition there is a television in the corner and a walk out patio area with furniture. Our complaint with this area is that you have to pay to use the pool tables. At any other establishment we’ve been to with billiards, you get this as just part of the deal…a nice way to spend an hour as a family. It was $1.50 per game, we lost money in the table twice and one of the balls was missing from one of the tables. There was no beverage service available when you’re sitting there so we brought down some cans of pop from our room. It just seemed tired, tacky and unprofessional.

Restaurant:
The food was ok, nothing terrific but not terrible either. Prices were reasonable and the breakfast the next morning was both hot and cold options. Only complain from the kids was no pancakes. The server we had was attentive and she came around a couple times asking about refills on coffee and such.

Pool/Water Slide/Hot Tub (or I should say “cold tub”!!!):
This is my HUGE pet peeve about this place. When I completed our last minute hotel booking (two weeks prior to going) I told them that I was planning this as a night away with the kids to have fun in the pool, on the waterslide and in the hot tub. We got there at check in (3:00pm), made our way to the pool and found it ICE COLD, not just cold but FREEZING! As well, the hot tub was cold and the lifeguards on the water slide appeared incredibly uninterested. The kids were troopers and dove in regardless but my husband and I couldn’t even put a toe in the water. I approached the incredibly bored looking teenage lifeguard and said, “Wow the water is cold” and was given the pat response “It’s not my fault”. I asked if perhaps he could elaborate with some details as to why it was cold, what was being done to fix it, etc. and was told “talk to the front desk, the heater broke”. I asked him if a repairman had been called and got the response “I think they fixed it but it will take a day to warm up”. So much for using the pool all evening. The kids were already cold half an hour into the stay! I went to the front desk and they said that the heater had indeed malfunctioned and would be replaced within the hour. I voiced my discontent and once again had to battle them for a discount. We did discount the rate after my continuous complaints about the spoiled family time. We returned to the pool area, spent another hour and a half with the shivering but still having fun kids and were told at 6:00pm that the pool would be closing immediately for repairs, not to be opened till 10:00am the next morning!

I went back to the front desk, my new home away from home, and asked for a late departure time since we were out of luck for activities for the kids for the remainder of the night and wanted to use it in the morning instead. They agreed to a 1:00pm departure and my husband and I went in search of things to keep the kids busy. We had obviously assumed that the pool, slide and hot tub would do the trick! We settled on a trip into Toronto to visit the waterfront and a movie at the local movie theatre. More money we hadn’t expected to spend!

The next day we returned at 10:00am sharp to the pool, found it warm again, the hot tub hot again and the water slide slideable….a miracle at the Stagewest Hotel ! The kids enjoyed the final 3 hours of this disaster getaway but the lack of customer service, excuses by the staff and the fact that we had to battle for every little thing made it an experience we wouldn’t attempt again!!!!!

Lastly, I have to mention the lifeguard staff again. I don't want to disparach them but they just came off as lazy, and uninterested. There were multiple groups of children (not mine) riding down the slide at the same time, some very noisy teenage boys standing on the slide for the entire ride down and just downright dangerous behaviours. I was certain I was going to see a horrible accident at any time. I approached the lifeguards sitting in the corner and pointed out that someone was going to get hurt if they didn’t start to control the situation! They just said “yep” and kept talking amongst themselves! I again voiced my displeasure at their supervision techniques and only after this second complaint did one of the lifeguards actually leave her white chair and instruct the kids on the correct way to ride the slide. This was an accident waiting to happen. Have never seen such bad lifeguard techniques!!!!!! Incredible!

We wrote a long, detailed complaint card upon our departure at 1:00pm the next day and just the other day received a generic "thank you for your comments" letter from the management. I guess I just assumed that the comments we made might have warranted further investigation by Management.

The parking lot is a huge ground level open parking lot. It is actually a paid parking lot requiring the guests or banquet attendees to pay a small fee. However, there is one ticket dispenser, one very small, barely noticeable sign on a lamp post at one end of the driveway to indicate pay parking. The Hilton security guards issue $35 parking fines for the Town of Markham. This is absolutely unacceptble. Guests were never notified of the parking fee during check-in.

This hotel in Toronto has become our favorite of hotels to stay at the night before flying off to the caribbean. It is located at 655 Dixon Road, Toronto, 416-244-1711. Years ago it was called the International Plaza.

We have tried other hotels in the area, but continue to return to this one for the best of everything. It is very clean, staff are wonderful, no complaints about the room either. We like the fact that they have tons of parking right on sight, instead of having to walk or be shuttled to another parking area to get to your vehicle. Shuttle ride to airport is also included in your stay.

Also convenient are several options for dining located directly across the street. Not all offer the healthiest choices, but you can chose from Swiss Chalet, Kelsey's, Sushi, Tim Horton's and Harvey's, I believe. There is also a convenience store in the same area as the restaurants for any item you may have forgotten at home. We have never eaten at the hotel as hotel restaurants and room service tend to be expensive.

I will start by saying that the Four Seasons Toronto exceeded our expectations and made for a very enjoyable weekend getaway in downtown Toronto. We had absolutely no complaints, enjoyed every minute of our mini-vacation there and highly recommend it to any travellers willing to spend the extra amount for this 5 star quality.

We are a middle class family from southwestern Ontario, folks who normally have hotel stays in the Holiday Inn, Best Western type establishments. We were lucky enough to have won a contest where the prize was the two nights in the Four Seasons Toronto. Our room rate, had we paid, would have been $345.00 per night for a Deluxe room overlooking the city on the 16th floor. Pricey for us, but like I said, free due to this really great win. Special thanks to Subway Sub for providing us with this win!!!!

At the Four Seasons there is a spa area with indoor/outdoor pool, sauna, showers, hot tub and outdoor deck for those summer months. We spent a great deal of our time there with our niece and nephew and can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a family friendly establishment. The children were treated very well by the pool staff, our every need was looked after and in fact from the maid to the valet parking attendant to the front desk clerk.....all treated us likely were on the same level with the most famous of their guests.....like royalty.

Prior to our arrival I told the hotel that the weekend of our stay was also my husband's birthday. Upon arrival in our room we were greeted with a birthday greeting dessert platter and birthday card for him, as well as two candy apples for the kids. As well, when the kids arrived they were greeted by name at the front lobby with teddy bears. Nice touch! When you book and mention kids they will collect their names and ages for just this reason.

In closing, if you can afford the price and wish to treat yourself.....we highly recommend and are going to try to make it back with a bit of saving.......they have won us over.

We recently spent a night (Sat, Oct 1/05) at the Toronto Airport Marriott after vacationing for a week in the Dominican Republic. Our flight was arriving at Pearson around dinner time, and while the drive home to Hamilton isn’t a long one, we figured we’d squeeze one more night into our holiday experience. After comparing some prices online, we booked a value room at the rate of $109 CDN per night.

Check-in was fast and easy and within minutes we were on our way up to room 407. The room was nicely decorated in soft colours and was furnished with an easy chair, desk and chair, armoire, and king sized bed. The bed was incredibly comfortable - we didn’t want to get out of it in the morning! The bathroom was small but clean, with the toilet and tub in a separate area from the sink. In-room amenities included an alarm clock, coffee maker, Evian water ($4.50/L), iron and ironing board, internet access ($12.95 for 24 hrs access), in-room movies and Playstation (extra fee), and a 1200 watt hair dryer. Pop and ice machines were on our floor, just around the corner from the elevators. One thing that I was particularly impressed with was the small recycling bin in our room - bonus points for the Marriott in my books!

The hotel has 3 restaurants on-site: the Terrace Restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; Mikado Japanese Steakhouse, open from 5:30-10 pm, and Toucan’s Lounge, where drinks and appetizers were available. They also have a coffee lounge in the lobby which is only open during the week. Room service was available at a fairly reasonable price and I was impressed with their selection of special dietary meals (low fat/low carb/low cholesterol). We decided that after a week of Dominican dining, we needed some good old fashioned Canadian fare, so we walked over to the Keg across the street. There was a good selection of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, including Pat & Mario’s, Outback, Le Biftheque, and Kelsey’s. Most importantly, there was a Tim Horton’s just 2 lights to the East on Dixon road.

The Marriott offers several additional services including airline information, babysitting, sauna, pool, and a 24 hour fitness centre. They also have a gift shop on site which offered plenty of snacks, health bars, beverages and souvenirs. Underground and above-ground parking is available on site at a cost of $14 per day.

The Toronto Airport Marriott far exceeded our expectations - the location was great, staff was very helpful, and the rooms were clean and incredibly comfortable. We liked the hotel so much that we are planning to return in November when we meet friends in Toronto. I did take some photos of the room which I will happily email to you if you would like to see them, or if you have questions. You can contact me at ginnyfyris@yahoo.ca

Hotel Website: http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=YYZOT

Spent a night at the Delta Chelsea Inn in Toronto on April 15, 2006. Room prices vary at this hotel, we opted for the lowest price available, which was $110.00 plus taxes. One of the better bargains for a downtown Toronto hotel. Found the cheapest price was by booking online at the Delta Chelsea website. They have underground parking available or there is a lot across the street where you can park for $20.00 a day. Be careful when buying your ticket from the machine there, though, because if you make a mistake like we did and press the wrong button, you get a ticket for $10.00 that's only good for a couple of hours! There is an attendant at the lot, but he claimed he could do nothing about it, and we had to buy another ticket - not sure why he was there if he couldn't assist anyone! I did complain to the concierge at the hotel about it, and he said there had been other complaints, but they did not own the lot so couldn't do anything about it. I e-mailed the owners of the lot, Imperial Parking, but apparently they don't care either, as I never received a reply.

Our room was on the 27th floor. It had a queen-sized bed, a couch, and a desk, along with ironing board and iron, hairdryer, and coffeemaker. It was a standard-sized room, nothing fancy. The thing I liked about it was that it actually had a patio door that opened onto a small cement balcony. Friends of ours in another room had basically the same type of room, slightly smaller, and they did not have doors out to the balcony, but there was a window that you could open. There is an adults only pool and hot tub on the top floor, unfortunately it was closed for renovations the weekend we were there. There is a family pool with a water slide as well, but it was crowded due to it being Easter weekend. They have lots of things for kids at this hotel.

There are several restaurants and bars in the hotel. We had drinks at the Elm Street Lounge bar on Saturday afternoon. For dinner we opted to go outside the hotel and ended up at an Italian restaurant on Elm Street, just down the street from the Elm Street entrance to the hotel, called Frascati's. We had a very nice meal there for a reasonable price. The next morning we had coffee at the Market Garden restaurant in the hotel, and for lunch we went to the Easter Brunch buffet at the BB33 Bistro. It was very pricey at $36.00 a person, but there was a good choice of food, everything from omelettes to shrimp to roast beef, and lots of salds and deserts. They have a brunch buffet there every Sunday, I think the regular price is less than what we paid at Easter.

We recently stayed at the Delta Chelsea Inn downtown Toronto. This was our 3rd stay at the same hotel and a favorite of ours. They often offer package deals. On Labor Day week end, we booked the "Back to School" special. For the rate of $139.00 per night, along with our accomodations, we received 4 tickets to the CNE, and a $10.00 Grand and Toy money card.

Indoor parking is not included and is $22.00 per night.
Don't forget to get your Aeroplan miles for booking at a Deltal Chelsea Hotel.

This hotel is a great family hotel, reasonable rates, and lots for children to do. They call themselves "Toronto's Family Fun Headquarters". There is a 'kids check in counter' where each child receives a gift bag of items age appropriate. At various times they had face painting, balloons and free popcorn for the kids as well. Conveniently located at the front desk to keep your children occupied while you're checking in or out!

The rooms are clean and well maintained with spacious hallways and foyers on each floor.

The indoor pool has a 4 storey 'corkscrew' enclosed waterslide. The pool itself is rather small and wasn't heated when we were there..a little chilly! There is also a smaller hottub/pool, which would hold about 20 people...very crowded. Connected to the pool area is a large kids room/play area where there are crafts and toys, and a few chairs for the parents!This is part of the "Camp Chelsea" program where they offer day care for your children. I'm not sure of the rates as we didn't use this, but it did seem to be busy most times.

Within the hotel there are 5 restaurants or bars. We only went to the "Market Garden" which is the most casual. Lots of variety, but very expensive ($4.00 for a small bottle of juice, $5.00 for a slice of pizza.

The hotel is within a 5 minute walk to the Eaton's Centre (great shopping), Yonge and Dundas Square (music, crafts, snacks), The World's Biggest Book Store (on Elm St) and shopping up and down Yonge St.