A few weeks ago, my family and I spent a long weekend in Toronto, ON. There are several premium hotels to choose from in Toronto, but we chose to stay at the Thompson due to an excellent offer from American Express’ Fine Hotels and Resorts benefit from the American Express Platinum Card.
Location
The Thompson Toronto Hotel is located under a mile west from the CN Tower and just over a mile west of Toronto’s Union Station. Admittedly, prior to arriving in Toronto I failed to research transportation into the city and paid over $50.00 for a cab from YYZ airport to the hotel. A much cheaper option is to take the Union Station / Toronto Pearson Express train (UP Express). The train takes you directly into the city for just $12.00. Tickets can be purchased in advance via the UP Express website. From Toronto’s Union Station you can take an Uber to the hotel for just over $5.00.
The Hotel is located just between two of the city’s main streets, King and Queen. Both offer a wide variety of restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. The hotel is just a little west of downtown Toronto, but the city is extremely walkable and we found the location to be perfect for our long weekend.
Room(s)
We stayed in a standard two bed room for the duration of our stay. Upon entering the room you are greeted with a mix of dark wood with white and red accents. Our room was located on the 8th floor of the hotel and offered views of the CN Tower, but oddly 1/2 of the exterior window is iced which blocked any view from the beds. (On the 6th floor, the iced glass was on the other 1/2 of the windows which allowed views of the landmark from each bed.)
The bathroom featured a large single sink in the center with a large open shower (no door or curtain) to the left and a toilet with sliding door to the right. A sliding door closes the entire bathroom off from the remainder of the room. There is also an iced glass window between the shower and bedroom.
Overall, the room was fantastic. The beds were very comfortable and the blackout shades did an excellent job of keeping limited light from entering the large floor to ceiling windows in the morning. The iced glass window and open nature of the bathroom may make some people uncomfortable if traveling with family members or if you had to share a room with someone, but was not a major cause for concern. The room also features several amenities for purchase (Harry’s Razors, Thompson branded external battery phone case, wine, mini-bar, etc.) which could definitely come in handy if you left anything at home. The amenities shelf also had a Keurig machine and a small variety of K-Cups.
My parents were also staying in the hotel and had received an upgrade to a junior suite. The suite had a single King bed, small living room, and a bathtub, but was not significantly different than a standard room. The layout of the junior suite was somewhat of a small maze and did not seem to be the best use of space available.
On-Site Ammenities
The most exciting feature of the Thompson Toronto hotel is the open-air 360 degree Roof Top Bar & Lounge (photo above). During our visit the weather was quite cold and rainy, but the entire lounge can be enclosed. The top floor also features an outdoor infinity swimming pool which offers wonderful views of the CN Tower and downtown Toronto.
In the lobby of the hotel is a full service bar and lounge area which proved to be a perfect gathering area before heading out for the night.
Located next to the lobby of the hotel is the 24-hour Thompson Diner. Guest can either dine-in or order room service from the Diner, but we found it to be the perfect spot for late-night eats after returning from the King Street bars. During our stay it appeared the Diner was most busy around the 2am hour or for the weekend brunch crowd.
Lastly, in the basement of the hotel is a lively club named WildFlower, but we chose not to wait in the line or pay the cover. The Club is not affiliated with the hotel and guests do not have expedited access to the club.
Fitness Center
An on-site fitness center is shared with the condominiums adjacent and above the hotel floors, but during our stay the area was under construction and closed from 11am to 5pm for renovations.
Final Thoughts
Staying at the Thompson Toronto hotel was perfect for our long weekend in the city. There were several small issues with the hotel (broken do not disturb light, elevators out of service, fitness center under construction, and arctic cold hallways) which made us wonder if the high nightly room rate was truly worth the price. But we were very happy with the location and hotel as a whole. If visiting Toronto in the summer months it is advisable to stay at the Thompson Toronto due to the beautiful rooftop pool and lounge, but during the colder months it may be worth staying at a hotel which is more centrally located with a few more ammenities for the price.
