Windsor Arms Hotel

This "boutique" hotel has one thing going for it: It is in an excellent location. That's it. On the downside, the hotel is not maintained well, the common areas including the hallways are dusty and in need of paint, as are the guest rooms. The air conditioning is not reliable, and the staff is neither helpful, nor accommodating. The owner, George Friedman, who is also the "manager" is downright rude to guests. We arrived on a Sunday and checked-in. The small lobby was packed with guests waiting to enter a wedding in the ballroom which is entered from the lobby. Within a few hours there was loud music blasting through the entire property. In our suite on the 3d floor you could hear the party and the pulsating bass beat. I went to the lobby to inquire as to whether they could address the noise and how long it would continue for. The desk clerk said that there was a wedding going on and there was nothing that could be done about it. The noise would continue until midnight. When the reservation was made, no one told us that this event would be happening at the same time. We were offered another suite on the 4th (highest) floor. We looked at it, but the sound was the same. I went to the front desk and asked to speak to the manager. The clerk put me on the phone with someone, but that person could not hear me because the music was too loud. I was told that I would receive a call back on my cell phone after I stepped out of the hotel where it was quiet! A clerk called and said that a credit would be applied to the room for half the nightly rate for that night. I said that this was not acceptable, and asked again for the manager. When Mr. Friedman called me back, he told me he was not doing anything more and that "you did not rent the lobby, so you have no right to complain about the noise". I told him that the noise pervaded the entire property and I did not appreciate his rude behavior toward me, the customer. He simply did not care and told me it would quiet down, he is doing nothing more, and hung up on me. When we returned after dinner the air conditioning was not working in the suite. I called the desk and asked for help. The desk clerk came up and told me that the thermostat needed to be lowered. It was set to 72 and he set it to 60. He said it would work in a few minutes. It did not. I called back and asked for an engineer. I was told there was none. When I complained the following morning to the desk, I was told that the air was actually out in multiple rooms and someone would be fixing it later that day. The air was repaired. The suite came with a "continental breakfast" which was of very poor quality and choice. On the second morning of our stay there was a mix-up and the same waiter who had attended to us the prior morning set out menus and we placed orders. He then charged us for the same, telling us it was our fault, and that only the continental breakfast was included with the suite. The price of the continental breakfast was the same as the items ordered. I went to the front desk again, and asked for the charge to be removed. The waiter came to the front desk and told the clerk that it was our fault! Eventually, the charge was removed. The service in the dining room at breakfast was poor, and there were also complaints from the other guests present the following morning. The gym in the hotel has a fair amount of equipment, but is cramped and the air conditioning was not on in the gym at 5 pm in the afternoon. No one was present in the adjacent "spa" at that time. This hotel apparently enjoyed a good reputation in the past and it was recommended to us by friends. However, it's heyday has clearly ended and the rude owner/manger insured that the experience was not the least bit welcoming.

I stayed here with a friend and her dog. We all loved this intimate, luxury hotel! It's location was perfect--in the university area, half a block off Bloor with all the shops, and only a few blocks from the vibrant Yorkville neighborhood. The historic hotel has retained its glory with a charming lobby and bar/dining room. It serves afternoon tea! The best part, though, was our room--large, with incredibly comfortable beds and a huge marble bathroom with wonderful shower (great water pressure) and big tub, big fluffy towels. All around wonderful hotel. Plus, the staff there was incredibly kind and helpful.

Oh, where to begin... First, let me say that this is my third attempt to get the Windsor Arms to acknowledge their bad behavior. The first being asking to speak with a manager live, and being told there is none. The second begin commenting my issues on their Instagram, which they promptly deleted. Good call, guys. It's 2019. You think deleting Instagram comments is the way to go? Now down to the issues... My mother is a Torontonian who has since moved away and we come back often. We typically stay at the Park Hyatt but it's now under renovations. Back in the day the Windsor Arms had a great reputation as the place to see and be seen. Well, today, not so much. I'll break it down -- keep in mind this is a 5 star hotel in the poshest neighborhood in Toronto and there are not that many rooms OR guests, which I guess should've been a sign. 1) The hotel needs a cosmetic revamp. Other than the lobby, which is attractive, the hallways are dank and the elevators are run down. But this is the least of it. 2) There was very inconsistent attentiveness to servicing the room -- we went out for the day and came back to dirty dishes still in the dumbwaiter. Random pillowcases on the chair. When we asked for fresh glasses, they told us it "might be faster for us to get room service". Are you serious? 3) The coffee maker is so loud it could wake someone in Montreal. I woke up every morning to my mother making coffee, which wasn't her fault, but a coffee maker not made in 1897 would be ideal. 4) The TV needs a tutorial (literally, the guy told us he'd come up to teach us how to use it). Same goes with lighting. You'd think they'd have someone escort you to the room and teach you how to use all of these things so you don't have to be frustrated with 2 remotes and lamps not turning off at midnight. 4) The kicker now. My mother asks for extra sets of towels in every hotel room she ever goes to. At the Park Hyatt, they expected it and would have them ready for her each day. At the Windsor Arms, they simply couldn't handle this request. My mother is extremely patient and kind and simply asked to have them delivered to the room. The first day it took some time, but she got a couple. Not exactly what she had asked for, but fine. The next day, it took longer and she also didn't get exactly what she needed. No complaints, fine. The third day, we asked on our way out for the day to have them in the room when we got back, knowing we'd be showering then. We come back to no towels. She calls again. The surly desk manager (white guy, gray beard, short - he was obnoxious to someone on the phone as we were checking in - also a bizarre way to welcome guests - so none of this was a huge surprise) told my mother the towels would come with the turndown service. Um, what? It was 5pm and we wanted to shower and needed extra towels. Why did we have to wait til turndown? She nicely explained we didn't want a turndown service but did want the towels to shower now. He then had the nerve to ask, "Why exactly do you need these towels?" I'm sorry, WHAT? You think you have the right to question a guest who is paying $400+ a night and who asked you for these towels HOURS ago about WHY she needs them? My mother told him she was offended by his question and that she did not owe him an explanation. He said they keep tallies on the towels, to which she said, great, tally the extra towels I'm asking for. He never apologized, despite her calling him back AGAIN to ask to speak to a manager, to which he replied there wasn't one. I'm sorry but how do you run a hotel without a point of escalation when your surly desk manager offends your guests? The butlers also had no idea how to contact anyone. And on top of all of this, it still took another hour to get the towels we requested at noon that day and they were still missing a set. Now the best part of all -- since we had no way of contacting a manager at the Windsor Arms after we left -- I left a comment on their Instagram explaining the above issues. What did they do? DELETED IT. Within 5 minutes. It's interesting that in 2019 they think the best approach to customer service in social media is to delete comments. As if that won't just make someone go to literally every other outlet to let every potential guest know about their experience. It's 2019, Windsor Arms. I'd advise you to spend less time deleting comments on social media and more time improving your guest relations and your staff attitude. We're not infrequent travelers to this city and we know it well. It was a mistake to not rectify this situation when the opportunity was given to you.

It's not worth $490 per nigh. Hotel need deep cleaning! The room we got was spacious but had a bad smell, meaning old cigarettes smell, so terrible that even open windows didn't help. We asked them to change the room and it took them half of the day to do it. The room wasn't clean, shower had obvious brown spots of dirt that I was able to remove with one swipe. The Spa area had 2 steam rooms and none of them was working. The only good thing about it was the location, as it's close to the shopping and museum. They have nice events space but the rooms are so poorly managed. The are so many buttons on the wall that are not doing anything, to turn off the light you need to go to the each lamp.

We were at the Windsor Arms for the 2nd time this summer and it continues to be one of our favourites. The location is fantastic for our needs, and I love the fact it is on a quiet side street. The hotel is also small enough that it is quiet and not overcrowded. The staff are friendly and helpful, the beds and linens top quality, and it is generally less expensive than other comparable properties. We will be returning next time we are in Toronto overnight.

We are from Toronto but stayed here for our anniversary. I’ve stayed at three of the other top end hotels in Toronto and so think I can accurately say that there are some very nice things about the Windsor Arms but it needs to step up its game if it wants to be considered 5 star. Don’t get me wrong. We had a good time mostly because the room was so fabulous and we were happy to be out on the town. I would probably even recommend the hotel but I would say keep your expectations in check. The room was by far the highlight. Our suite was spacious and beautiful. It had a piano which was so fun for someone who used to play. If you are visiting Toronto, the neighbourhood is a good choice. Quiet, pretty street near lots of things. Windows that actually open in the rooms is a nice touch. The pool and sauna were nice although small and lacking windows. With everything else tho, I found the hotel wanting. For example, - no in room movies (just plain old cable and a relatively basic package at that) - the “Butler” didn’t seem to know much - I asked him where the gym was. He told me he didn’t know. - no water in the room unless you wanted to pay for one from the mini bar - turn down service was lacklustre - I think they took a towel off of the bed and closed the blinds. Did not restock bathroom amenities. Did not leave anything on the pillow. No water. - Living room bar was mostly. We sat at an empty table only to find it had not been wiped down (to be fair, it was quickly attended to). My drink wasn’t very good (tho my husband liked his). When I didn’t drink it, no one asked why - service generally did not have the smoothness that typically comes with 5 star places - initially no server in the breakfast room when we went down. Breakfast buffet looked very so so. We ended up eating elsewhere. - bathroom seemed dated with some basic design flaws (eg. No convenient place to hang towel from the shower). Bathroom amenities were a nice brand (Molton Brown) but only basic things provided.

We chose the Windsor Arms primarily for its location and advertised Old World elegance and charm. It did not disappoint. The hotel is very well situated on a quiet street just off of a main downtown street with lots of high-end shopping and restaurants within walking distance. We took a fixed-price limo ride from the airport that made its way to the hotel within 40 minutes, during the afternoon rush-hour. Check-in was smooth but formal, and the suitcases delivered to our spacious room, a two-bedroom suite on the top floor, without delay. I liked that we could open our windows, but it wasn't necessary as the air conditioning throughout our stay was perfect, quiet and fully functional in every room (each having its own control). There are control panels at the entrance to our room that added lighting to the rooms -- sometimes this ws needed as the room lamps were not always adequate. Room furnishings were lush, almost Tudoresque -- and luxuriously so. I could have been somewhere in an English country home. And the guitar hung on the wall was a cute touch. Friends who stayed in the very next room also had a guitar on their walls. We appreciated the Molton Brown amenities in the bathroom, but the toilets occasionally were incredibly loud when flushed and took a while to refill. We found the indoor swimming pool located down the hallway to be on the small end but incredibly hot and stuffy because of the salt water used in the pool -- no natural light made the whole area less attractive. The only other "negative" was that we found the breakfast offerings and service there to be a little wanting. But overall this was a great place to stay at, and we'll definitely stay here again on our return to Toronto.

we've enjoyed our stay here. The hotel is small and personal, the rooms are huge and comfortable. It's in a great part of town. Kosher dinner is available on request. It also has the ability to hold functions and celebrations.

The Windsor Arms Hotel offers an old fashioned luxury hotel stay. This is not an ultra modern minimalist looking hotel but plush velvet and chandeliers type of hotel. Service is prompt. Our requests were filled quickly. The room was very comfortable. The tech could use a bit of updating--no USB ports for recharging electronics, for example. We tried the spa which was very good. Afternoon tea is very popular and fun. The location cannot be beat. It is right in the lively Yorkville area but on a quiet side street.