I've started telling Toronto-bound travelers to pack a hardhat -- and I'm only half joking. My hometown has been reinventing itself over the past four years. It's hard to say what's behind the renovation frenzy, since no central organization coordinated all of the redesigns and new construction. However, the urge to splurge on new properties has spread to some large hotel chains. Think you already know Toronto? You'll be in for plenty of surprises on your next visit. And if you haven't visited yet... there's no time like the present.
Planning Your Trip
Porter Airlines (www.flyporter.com), which celebrated its one-year anniversary in October 2007, is expanding its operations. In December 2007, it began offering direct flights between Toronto and Mont Tremblant, Quebec; in 2008, it will begin flying passengers from New York to Toronto. The airline also has plans to fly to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Porter Airlines uses the Toronto Island Airport as its base, which means getting to Toronto's downtown area takes as little as 10 minutes.
If you're visiting Toronto for the holidays, be sure to check out Toronto Tourism's new website, www.mytorontoholiday.com, which offers shopping-themed tours of Bloor-Yorkville, Queen Street West, Downtown Yonge Street, and Old Town Toronto. The website also lists hotel packages and transportation information. If your travel plans bring you to the city in late January or early February, be sure to take part in the WinterCity festival (www.toronto.ca/special_events/wintercity). Running from January 25 to February 7, 2008, it includes indoor and outdoor events. Its most popular offering is Winterlicious (see the Where to Dine section below), but there are special events across town.
Where to Stay
Toronto's upscale hotel scene is expanding. The hot new property is The Hazelton (www.thehazeltonhotel.com), a boutique hotel and condominium tower located in glamorous Yorkville. Its charms include a state-of-the-art spa and a Mark McEwan restaurant. The Hazelton has received plenty of admiring press in the past several months, so it will be interesting to see what happens as its equally upscale new competitors start to open their doors. Hotels from the Ritz Carlton and the Trump empires are currently under construction; both projects represent their parent companies' first forays into the Toronto hotel market.
Toronto's best hotels aren't taking the news quietly. The Metropolitan Hotel and the Soho Metropolitan are offering an "Instant Star Power" program for the first three months of 2008 (www.metropolitan.com). The Metropolitan properties are beloved by visiting celebrities, and the plan is to surprise guests with the treats and perks that stars expect. Some of the offerings include a session with one of Jennifer Lopez's personal trainers, in-suite salon services that were offered to Nelly Furtado, and an upgrade to the three-story penthouse Jay-Z has called home.
The Four Seasons Toronto has a "Shopping for All Seasons" package that throws in a CA$100 gift card for Holt Renfrew, the fashion-forward Canadian retailer. Deals are also being offered by the Park Hyatt Toronto (www.parktoronto.hyatt.com), the Delta Chelsea (www.deltahotels.com), and the Fairmont Royal York (www.fairmont.com/royalyork).
Where to Dine
My favorite new restaurant is Greg Couillard's Spice Room & Chutney Bar, 55 Avenue Rd., Hazelton Lanes (tel. 416/935-0000; www.spiceroommanyata.com). It's hard to believe that a restaurant in the middle of a mall courtyard -- even in a very upscale mall -- could transport you to another world, but once you slip behind the heavy velvet curtains here, you really do feel like you're in another world. Couillard blends flavors from Asia, Africa, India, the Middle East and the Caribbean, and the results are seductive and often quite spicy. Try the Afro Samurai (seared Saku tuna with a fiery spice rub) and the beef tenderloin flavored with Madagascan peppers and ginger. Be sure to make a reservation before you visit.
If you're visiting during the WinterCity festival (from January 25 to February 7, 2008), be sure to experience Winterlicious. Many of Toronto's best chefs offer prix fixe menus for lunch or dinner: a three-course lunch will cost between CA$15-$20 and three-course dinner will run between CA$25-$35. Check out www.toronto.ca/special_events/wintercity/winterlicious for details about participating restaurants and a complete listing of the special menus.
What to See & Do
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) celebrated the opening of its Michael Lee-Chin Crystal in June 2007, but that event was a bit of a tease, since visitors could admire the stunning new exhibition space, but not the collections the addition would house. The newly installed galleries are now opening in stages: the dinosaur gallery and the mammal gallery open December 15, 2007; the South Asian gallery and the Middle East gallery open February 16, 2008; the gallery of Africa, Americas and Asia Pacific opens on April 19, 2008; and the textile and costume gallery opens on May 17, 2008. The ROM is also presenting an impressive roster of special exhibits in early 2008, including Darwin, which will be the broadest collection ever assembled on the life and work of Charles Darwin, and The Black Star Sapphire of Queensland, the first appearance of the famous 733-carat gem in Canada. Visit www.rom.on.ca for more information.
The Ontario Science Centre (OSC) may be renovating and expanding its exhibition space, but that's not keeping it from hosting some amazing exhibits. Currently on display is Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, which allows visitors to become "passengers" on the doomed ship, experiencing through sounds and images the grandeur of its construction and the tragedy of its collision with an iceberg. The show presents remarkable recreations of a first-class stateroom, third-class cabins, and the ship's boiler room and 250 artifacts recovered from the wreckage. This exhibit will be on show until January 6, 2008. Also on an aquatic theme: the IMAX film Deep Sea will open at the OSC's Omnimax theater on January 18, 2008. The movie takes viewers into rarely seen deep waters around the globe -- and lets you meet their bizarre-looking inhabitants up close. Visit www.ontariosciencecentre.ca for more details.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is currently closed for renovations; it is expected to reopen in the fall of 2008, but no date has been set.
After Dark
The Hummingbird Centre has a new name: the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (www.sonycentre.ca). There is an impressive roster of performances lined up for the first months of 2008, including Trinity Irish Dance, James Blunt, and Feist.
Over at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the stage production of Dirty Dancing is drawing record crowds. It's so popular that its run has just been extended to August 31, 2008. For information, check out www.dirtydancingtoronto.ca.
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