The best boutique hotels in Toronto
An insider's guide to the top boutique hotels in Toronto, including the best places to stay for quirky design, stylish interiors, hip bars and restaurants, chic spas and fabulous rooms, in locations including Downtown, King West Village, Queen Street West and Yorkville.
The Ivy at Verity
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8Telegraph expert rating
Situated in the heart of downtown on Queen Street East in what was once a chocolate factory, the Ivy is very close to the financial and theatre districts, plus historic St. Lawrence Market. The Ivy is Toronto’s smallest boutique hotel, featuring just four richly textured and vividly coloured rooms. The elegant, historic building has been restored to its original mid-19th century charm. The club’s comfortable public areas have a welcoming residential feel, like you’re in somebody’s drawing room, with people chatting away in nooks and side rooms, having tea or busy with their laptops. Recurring fabrics and wallpapers lend a design thread. Read expert review From £185per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
SoHo Metropolitan Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8Telegraph expert rating
This luxe boutique property, part of the LVX Collection of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, enjoys the company of not one but two integrated celebrity restaurants: the Wahlberg brothers’ Wahlburgers and star Canadian chef Susur Lee’s haute Chinese food hotspot Luckee. A huge portrait of Steve Jobs by the lift sets a creative tone. There’s a ton of (mostly Canadian) art throughout the property, plus a striking Dale Chihuly glass sculpture housed inside the main entranceway canopy. The hotel sits at the crux of where the entertainment, theatre and sports districts overlap. Read expert review From £134per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Thompson Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8Telegraph expert rating
With two restaurants, a diner, a hopping lobby bar, a nightclub, and a jet-set rooftop lounge with a 360-degree view, the Thompson is a favourite of both Hollywood royalty and urbane west-enders alike. Travellers tend to be either young or young at heart; urban professionals who feel that the characteristics of the Thompson brand reflect their lifestyle. Minimal elegance defines the rooms; like you’ve walked into the pages of a glossy magazine. The look is sleek, but with a residential feel, more like an apartment than a hotel room – all wooden floors, designer lamps, warm colour palettes, natural textures and white cabinetry. Read expert review From £157per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
The Drake Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8Telegraph expert rating
It doesn’t get much cooler than this. Informal, quirky and fun, The Drake is a pioneer of the small boutique experience in the city – artsy and original, with a high and low-brow look and feel. The building’s façade, original granite floors and front lobby design details hark back to the building’s rambling past. Art springs out of almost every corner, as you would expect from a hotel with a full-time art curator. Culinary offerings in three main spaces – café, lounge and rooftop Skybar – are inventive, with the kitchen producing as much as possible themselves, including all the bread, charcuterie, pasta, and preserves. Read expert review From £121per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Gladstone Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8Telegraph expert rating
With art everywhere and artist-designed rooms, the Gladstone Hotel is one of a kind. Although out of the centre of Toronto, this hip place to stay is within easy reach of attractions, thanks to the frequent streetcars. It was built as a grand railway hotel, and is the city’s oldest, dating from 1889. The look could be described as Modern Victorian: plenty of wood throughout, but with a relaxed, informal ambience. All 37 rooms were designed and decorated by Canadian artists, so you can choose what suits your taste or mood: the elegant Map Room, the risqué 1940s Parlour of Twilight Room or the maple and snow-inspired Sugarbush Room. Read expert review From £121per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Templar Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
9Telegraph expert rating
Forget signs, doormen and driveways: this architect-owned hotel is almost invisible on a busy street in the fashion district. Its 27 suites are ultra-cool (think in-room iPads, huge bathrooms and spacious desks) yet ultra-affordable, while facilities include a spa and outdoor glass-bottomed pool. Inside the eight-storey modern block is a quiet oasis that feels far from the urban bustle. Sophisticated tastes are catered to, from the charcoal-and-silver colour scheme to the intimate bar. The owners, Del Terrelonge and John Wee Tom, not only designed the furniture, but now sell it as a special range. Read expert review From £91per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Hazelton Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
9Telegraph expert rating
This independent property, tucked away in the tree-lined heart Yorkville, has the type of full-on luxury favoured by lifestyle-conscious high-achievers, and the occasional pop star. The style speaks of a well-appointed old-style private club — all dark and plush, with plenty of texture and cosy seating nooks. Retro colours — rusts, greens and oranges — are given a contemporary twist, with amber lighting, metal accents, soft fabrics and ostrich leather warming things up. It's anchored by Mark McEwan’s ONE Restaurant and ringed with one of the hottest patios in town. Read expert review From £237per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Ocho
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7Telegraph expert rating
The contemporary 12-room Hotel Ocho, in Chinatown, retains the wood pillars and exposed brick walls of what was once a garment factory. From the ground floor entrance, steps lead down into the open-plan common area, with its bar/restaurant/café/lounge. Locals hang out here, with their laptops and lattes. The white walls are brightened with “artist of the month” displays. The rooms are plain and straightforward, with large windows providing plenty of light. The cream and charcoal colours suit the post-industrial look; unusually, beds are in the middle of the room. Read expert review From £72per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
