Maybe you’re the type who never wants to leave the cluttered comfort of your own home. Or maybe you prefer the interaction with hosts and other guests to the cold faceless institutional feel of large chain hotels. Or maybe you like the individual charm of the boutique hotels but cringe at the exorbitant nightly rates. For whatever reason, if bed and breakfasts are your cup of tea, you don’t need to go to the country to enjoy the charm of their old world hospitality. Even a teaming metropolis like …More

With locations in several US hotspots including New York’s fashionable neighborhood Meatpacking District, Thompson Hotels have made a name for themselves in the world of luxe travel and chic nightlife. The chain’s Canadian outpost is no exception. Set atop the 102-room hotel is one of the world’s 10 best rooftop bars, as according to travel website Frommers. It’s located in Toronto’s King West neighborhood, which is known for its high-end shopping and design community, and like New …More

Toronto would seem like to last place on earth one would want to open a book, with a wealth of riches from film, theatre and music, to major sporting events and street festivals every week to distract the leisure mind. But sometimes you just want to sit back, put your feet up and crack the spine on a new hardcover. So the next dilemma is where to go to find some choice reading material. Eschewing the box stores, which are great if you want the 25th volume of the Twilight series, or Wall Street’s latest …More

Although some of us are still mourning the loss of the beloved Upstairs at the Senator, jazz venues are alive and well in the city known more for its conservative airs, than its swingin’ sensibility. The downtown standby is the Reservoir Lounge on Wellington Street, a stone’s throw from the financial core. This downstairs lounge has a classy vibe that showcases top quality performances in subdued settings with a handy glass of wine. At the other end of the spectrum is the Rex Hotel, near Queen and …More

Theatre in Canada is a different beast than the shows in most large American cities. We in the north have a tendency more towards the smaller independent stage than the large for-profit mega-shows. Now don’t get me wrong—we like our "Mama Mia’s" and our "Billy Elliot’s." We’ve even spawned a few ourselves: remember “Ragtime?” “Lord of the Rings?” Well, maybe we’d best forget the last one. But for the intrepid visitor who wants a taste of the arts scene …More

  The Toronto Transit Commission has been of late fighting an ongoing battle of poor public image, but in spite of this, it remains one of the most efficient and economic ways to get around the city. This is especially true if, like most tourists, your activities centre around the downtown core. Like most cities whose growth is focused on the last century, Toronto is built on a grid of north-south and east-west streets. As such, the transit system works on a similar grid. The downside of this is that if you …More

The Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF as it is affectionately known here, takes over the city for ten days in mid-September. If you’re a visitor to the city, it is unlikely that you’ll do more than wet your toes in the experience as it is apt to swallow up your entire stay in a series of glitzy cocktail parties, red-carpet star gazing and the requisite lining up for almost everything. Unless of course you have come to the city expressly to take part in the movie madness —not such a …More

You’ve gone on vacation and yet you can’t quite make a clean break from the office. You just have to check those emails everyday. Or maybe you’re looking for somewhere to Google the best Thai restaurant in the downtown core (Golden Thai, btw). But where to go and stay connected if your hotel just hasn’t upgraded to Wi-Fi in every room? In the downtown core there are a lot of options for free Wi-Fi. And some of them can be downright fun. Of course, the simplest to find and the easiest to …More

Casa Loma   Not a real castle. Not really. The grounds of this ornate mansion include stables, a hunting lodge and two underground passages, and have housed a colorful past which includes a dancehall, luxury hotel and during WWII, a research facility for the construction of U-Boat detecting sonar devices. But since it opened to the public in 1937, this fanciful folly of Toronto financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt has attracted hordes of tourists for years, to stroll through its faux hallowed halls and lovely …More

So you finally got away from the office, the kids, the stress of home routine, and you’re on vacation in Toronto—but that doesn’t mean that you have to let it all slide off the rails. What about that healthy routine that was the cornerstone of your last New Year’s resolution (alright, last three New Year’s resolutions)?  Toronto, the healthy city, now offers many diversions that don’t involve foie gras and too much vodka. The city’s waterfront has been undergoing a …More

For the discerning consumer virtually anything to be bought can be bought in Toronto (we are a world class city, dontcha know). But where to buy it? Anyone can pop into Gucci or Tiffany’s and stroll out with a $3000 handbag or a simple tiara (and if you’re not a celeb in rehab you might even pay for it), but to get the one-of-a-kind knick-knack or tchotchke you have to dig a little deeper than the big name stores at Bloor and Yonge. Queen West between University and Spadina has been slowly taken over …More

Toronto boasts some of the top galleries in Canada for contemporary and classical art, however, sometimes it’s the tiny, hole-in-the-wall store front galleries that can provide the most intriguing glimpse into the indy art scene. The strip on West Queen West from Shaw to Dufferin is probably the densest population of small independent galleries. Many will feature the work of a single artist, or small group show for a few weeks and then change their display.  The West Queen West Business Improvement …More