Suite Sounds? W Hotels’ Luxe New Toronto Outpost Will Help You Record Your Next LP

W Hotels is now welcoming guests to its second Canadian property.

The upscale hotel chain, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, opened a Montreal outpost in 2004. On Thursday, it cut the ribbon on a Toronto location.

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Set in an 11-story building in the vibrant Yorkville neighborhood, W Toronto has 254 guest rooms, 30 of which are suites. The four-star hotel was designed by global creative agency Sid Lee to evoke a juxtaposition of the city’s man-made grid and brutalist architecture.

The striking exterior of the W Toronto - Credit: W Hotels
The striking exterior of the W Toronto - Credit: W Hotels

W Hotels

The building’s facade uses warm LED lighting to highlight its sculptural design. The elegant reception desk and a sociable living room space are located on the sixth floor. Both are clad with jewel-tone upholstery and a design created to evoke the city’s counterculture movements in the ’60s and ’70s. A communal fire pit, circular destination bar and an outdoor terrace surrounded by a three-story atrium were installed to balance public and private spaces.

Executive chef Keith Pears will oversee menus at all three of the hotel’s eateries. Skylight, the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant, serves up Mediterranean-inspired cuisine across three different areas. These spaces include The Loft for semi-private events, The Den for intimate seating and The Terrace which offers birdcage-style seating for a more unique experience.

If you’re looking for local flavor, head over the Living Room. The space honor’s the city’s multicultural scene with an assortment of “Toronto Tapas.” For quick meals and coffee, check out Public House, which serves as a coffee house, kitchen and bar driven by barista culture.

The gorgeous rooftop bar - Credit: W Hotels
The gorgeous rooftop bar - Credit: W Hotels

W Hotels

Post meal, you can retreat to one of the luxe guest rooms that draw inspiration from Toronto’s popular theater district. The beds are situated in front of sapphire velvet curtains that can be drawn open or shut. Other design touches you’ll notice include curved banquettes, dressing-room style vanity mirrors and record-like tables that were incorporated to honor the city’s musical legacy. You’ll even spot nods to nature in the rooms as reflected in abstract floral wallpaper and mushroom-shaped lamps.

Throughout the hotel, you’ll also notice eye-catching murals created by local artists. The Living Room holds spaces for the Self Care mural by contemporary artist Sage Barnes, that depicts a woman holding garden shears, as well as Forms of Joyful Engagement by Kirsten McCrae. Both works are made of colorful rocks arranged in various shapes and patterns, they are also only visible from the guest levels above the space. Toronto Gush, located in Public House, is another mural you’ll see that was made by Costa Rica-born artist Alan Ganev and inspired by Toronto’s Graffiti Alley.

Elsewhere, you’ll find three murals by Dutch-born artist Mikael B. His work titled Below the Surface is located in the driveway, while Hidden Gem is found at Lift Level G. Mikael’s final mural, found in one of the five meeting and event spaces, is titled Clear Vision.

The new destination is also the first of W Hotels’ Canadian properties to have a Sound Suite, the chain’s signature recording studio experience. The first suite was unveiled at the W Seattle in 2017, but there are also studios at the W Hollywood and W Barcelona. Like the others, the Toronto edition is outfitted with professional equipment that can be used by musicians, podcasters and other creatives.

Inside one of the Extreme Wow Presidential suites - Credit: W Hotels
Inside one of the Extreme Wow Presidential suites - Credit: W Hotels

W Hotels

“From its street art scene and ongoing musical legacy, Toronto is a natural fit for W Hotels,” says Benoit Racle, vice president of W Hotels Worldwide in a statement. “Our unassuming, playful interpretation of luxury is poised to make W Toronto a regular stop for those living and working in Toronto as well as the perfect place for an out-of-town guest to revel in the city like a local.”

Click here to see more images of the property.

W Toronto in Photos
W Toronto in Photos

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