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4.5
#61 of 128 hotels in Toronto
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Windsor Arms Hotel is a luxurious boutique hotel nestled on a tranquil street, ideally located just steps away from Yorkville, Toronto's premier shopping and entertainment district. With its blend of warm hospitality and discreet luxury, Windsor Arms stands out as Toronto's most opulent boutique hotel. Our century-old building features 28 newly renovated luxury suites and breathtaking common areas. The Windsor Arms Hotel is home to the Gatsby, a distinguished restaurant offering exquisite lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The Tea Room, renowned for its exceptional Afternoon Tea, was named BlogTO's 2024 #1 Afternoon Tea in Toronto. Our spa includes fully serviced individual treatment rooms, a halo-therapy salt cave, steam, sauna, comprehensive exercise facilities and saltwater swimming pool. Experience unparalleled comfort and elegance at Windsor Arms Hotel during your next visit to Toronto business or pleasure.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quaint
Historic Hotel
Location
18 Saint Thomas St, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E7 Canada
Windsor Arms Hotel
448 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
We went for the lunch Summerlicious menu at Gatsby. The venue is quaint and charming. The music selection is perfect for background. I ordered the crisp calamari, I tried one and it was so chewy and my husband tried it and agreed, so I sent it back. Both servers came back and said they had tried it too and it was way overcooked. I was asked if I would like it grilled instead. I was astonished by this offering and very pleased. It came out grilled and delicious. That they could pivot like this impressed me. The servers were pleasant and very efficient. I had the steak, a very generous portion (the server kindly wrapped the remainder for me) and my husband had the mussels which he enjoyed immensely. The pavlova was to die for!
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Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled 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.
First, advice: do a walk thru of the mini bar with staff & document it at the beginning of your stay.
Second, the hotel decor is very charming, our suite beautiful if just a little run down—a lived in feeling— the spa after hours for guests was a dream. Included breakfast pastries and turndown cookies, delicious—now my favorite cookies ever. The spa services including massage and the little salt cave totally worth it. Tip-if you turn off the salt lamp it's as dark as a sensory deprivation chamber or a real cave.
The only downside is that we were charged for the minibar which we did not use and which they said we would not be charged for as we left. They reversed the charges eventually. Tip 2-Since they do not know how this happened, I don't know how they'll stop it from happening again. I'd definitely enjoy the hotel again, but take precautions to not risk random charges.
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled 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.
A stunning historic hotel with bags of exquisite charm and quirkiness. Food good and plentiful in the restaurant, and from a design and furnishings point of view this is one of the most eclectic and stylish hotels I have come across. Spa treatment ( massage) was one of the best I’ve ever had and I’m fussy. It feels like this hotel is revving it’s engine ready to come back with a vengeance after the struggles in the hotel industry linked to Covid. Naturally a lot of the staff are new and learning as they go, but whatever small niggles they are working through right now will be ironed out without doubt and I can’t wait to come back to give this charming place and its welcoming and friendly staff a well deserved 5.
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled 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.
At over $500 a room per night one would expect not to find dirty underwear from previous visitors left over in your hotel room!
To mine and my friends dismay, upon searching for creamer for coffee in the morning after one nights stay my friend found herself manhandling someone else’s dirty underwear!
When my friend reached into the top drawer of a unit housing the coffee maker and pulled out a bra we were both horrified to discover that this, along with socks and a soiled pair of men’s underwear were overlooked by the cleaners. We immediately brought this to the attention of the concierge who sent an attendant to remove the dirty items. He himself took pictures. My concern is, if an entire drawer containing dirty undergarments was missed, how much other attention to sanitization may have been missed?
What’s more upsetting is when we attempted to have the nightmare of my friend having handled the undergarments, thinking it was mine that I might be leaving behind, rectified in some way, the manager “was not available” and the person we spoke to said the most they could do was comp a water bottle from the mini bar and over night parking! $50 total compensation for an over $700 stay as we told them we were also staying for high tea, which they refused to comp. Horrible customer service for a place that prides itself on giving a great experience to it’s patrons. Emailed the manager who was of no further assistance. VERY disappointing for a $500 a night stay. And a $700 experience. Just gross!
Then as if that were not bad enough, they failed to verify our luggage and sent us out with someone else’s personal belongings! A backpack containing who know what because we are honest people and even after Having been treated the way we were, returned the bag immediately.
Never again. No thanks George (manager)!
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Travelled 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.
My husband surprised me for my birthday with a trip to the city, and a night at this landmark. Hotel has an old world charm, though could use some TLC and clearly in need of repairs. We had a nice dinner at Gatsby restaurant, food & service were good. We retired to our lovely room and we’re asleep by 10. We were woken up shortly before 1am to a dripping noise, which soon turned in to a steady stream of water coming out of a pot light (!) in the bathroom, splashing in to tub, and running along ceiling, down wall and pooling on floor. We called the front desk and they came up, but by the time they arrived it had slowed to drip again. They offered to switch our room (at this time it was nearly 1:30am), which we had no desire to pack up everything and move in our pyjamas! My husband had booked a massage and rock climbing in the morning and we woke very late after the eventful night, rushing to get ready for bookings. As we rushed out front door the same manager who’d been up in the night asked if we wanted breakfast, but we were clearly in a hurry and racing out the door. We arrived back at 11 for check out, and a massage. My husband went to speak to the manager about the nights events and hoped they would compensate us in some manner for an awful night. He was told by same gentleman that he had no authorization to do so (despite being the manager) (!?), and had offered us a room move and breakfast, which we declined. My husband was shocked by the lack of dust service, explaining that moving rooms at 1:30am was in no way desirable, and we had reservations in the morning, and offering us breakfast on the spot as we were rushing out the door didn’t fit in to our plans. He told us there is nothing more he could do. We are completely understanding that it was likely another guests’ error of leaving water running that caused the issue - yes these things do happen, and we understand. What we can’t comprehend is the complete disregard demonstrated to us as customers as we spent well over $1000 at hotel on our room, dining, and massage, with scarcely and apology.
So disappointed that this lovely historic landmark has fallen in to such standards.
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Save your money and go elsewhere where they understand customer 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.
Everything should be perfect for the price at this hotel. It was not. One on the wash clothes in the bathroom was dirty. The rooms furniture looked as if a cat was scratching on it. We reserved the pull out couch for an extra guest but it was not made up. The person at the front desk was very rude when we brought this up and said that we did not reserve the couch. I have an email to show that i did. There is no convenient stairway to the second floor where our room was and the only washrooms for the ballroom. This is a fire hazard. Breakfast was very expensive. My order was wrong and took for ever to get even though there was only 1 other couple in the room. The music from the wedding was so loud that I could not get to sleep until after 12 midnight. The ballroom is not sound insulated. The hotel gives the appearance that it is going out of business.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:don't stay here
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.
First, we had originally tried to cancel our reservation a few days before and were not allowed to. We were very much looking forward to our stay but we had something come up so accommodating our request would have been appreciated. We decided to go as it was a lot of money, so we moved things around to make it work. We were still very excited to come stay at the hotel as we had heard great things about it and the photos we had seen online made it look amazing.
When we arrived at the hotel we were informed that our room wasn't ready and we needed to wait for it. We were slightly early so we didn't mind. We went out for a bit and then came back for a couple drinks at the hotel bar. We were very disappointed to see some of the staff were very relaxed with their mask wearing, either pulling it down under their chin or nose. Also, customers were walking around without masks and the staff did nothing about it. This made us feel unsafe, and wondered what other details were being missed if something as big as COVID regulations were being ignored.
When we got to our room we were let down. It was very small. Everything felt old and dirty. There was an odd smell in the room. The carpet was old and bunched up in areas. The TVs were at least 10-15 years old. The bed was horrible, it had massive sunken areas. We went out for an early dinner with friends and came back around 8. We laid down and tried to rest, and it was a very uncomfortable experience. That's when we decided to leave.
We packed up and went downstairs, and met the person at the desk, who had his mask also pulled down. I said we were leaving and he said ok and went and caught our car. He did not ask once about why we were leaving. You would think that if a customer was leaving at 8:30pm instead of staying the night you would inquire about why they are leaving to see if there was something wrong.
Before coming to this hotel we had stayed 2 nights at the Four Points in Niagara Falls. It is a basic hotel. That experience was so much better than what this hotel offered, and for a fraction of the cost. The Windsor Arms is supposed to provide a 5-star experience and what we experienced was one of the worst we have ever had at any hotel.
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Date of stay: November 2021
Value
Cleanliness
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.
We went for high tea for our friend birthday, it was 6 of us . We were seated in a small table, we had to be super careful, pouring our tea, or serving our scones. The table was no more then a meter long, by 50, a wrong movement and will have been a disaster The bathroom, had an awful smell, that you can smell though the mask. For the price that we pay ($432.00) was NOT worth it, Tipping it’s up to the client, and NOT a 18 % tip on your bill 15% would have been more then plenty, under the circumstance
Teresa C.
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Date of stay: November 2021Trip type: Travelled 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.
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: Travelled 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.
We stayed here for a staycation experience. We wanted to treat ourselves and stay somewhere luxurious. Based on the photos on the website and the 5 star rating we were quite excited for our stay.
When we arrived, the staff were not that friendly and seemed indifferent about us being there.
When we got to our room, the first thing we noticed was an odd musty smell. There was a large stain on the carpet in the entrance way, likely from water damage. The bed was made very sloppily, with the sheets that are supposed to be under the comforter touching the floor and wrinkled. The pillows appear if they were just tossed onto the bed. The television uses a very old cable box, and kept cutting in and out, making it difficult to watch any shows. There were also stains on the desk, as if it wasn’t wiped at all from the last guest.
5 star hotels usually pay attention to every detail, and Windsor Arms seems to overlook everything. We have stayed at Ritz Carlton, Shangri La and the Royal York and they are far superior. Windsor Arms needs to step up their game if they even want to be in the same league as those properties. I would not recommend staying here, there are far better hotels out there.
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Date of stay: February 2022Trip type: Travelled 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.
I have only parked over night and they charge $40. Best to call and inquire. You could also park in Yorkville at the Green P on Cumberland and walk over.
There are more places to choose from in the Toronto area.
PRICE RANGE
C$607 - C$732 (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
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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