The Future Of Toronto: 6 Hot Luxury Hotels Opening In 2020
THE W HOTEL
Coming to Yorkville in summer 2020, Toronto’s first W Hotel will be a 9-story, 255-room luxury property surrounded by Bloor Street’s high-end shopping boutiques and will also feature a DJ booth recording studio. Located in the fashionable Yorkville neighborhood, the property will be surrounded by high-end boutiques, galleries and design studios as well as cafes, bars and fine-dining restaurants. The $40 million design transformation began in July 2019 and will reinvent the property’s guest rooms, restaurants, and amenities.
W Toronto is expected to feature multiple food and beverage venues, including an indoor/outdoor lobby bar and lounge, a specialty restaurant and a 9th-floor rooftop restaurant, accessible from street level with a glass exterior elevator, and a specialty coffee and cocktail bar. W Toronto will also offer up a 3,300 square foot fitness facility.
1 HOTEL
Opening in summer 2020 is 1 Hotel Toronto. The hotel was inspired by Canada’s natural and sustainable surroundings, the character of King Street West and the Toronto marketplace. 1 Hotels reuses existing structural and reclaimed materials gathered from the local community, including timber, driftwood and local limestone in the building of the hotel.
Some of the sustainable elements found in other 1 Hotels include filtered water all throughout the building, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, rainwater reclamation system, and low-energy light bulbs. The hotel will remain open and operating as the Thompson until the renovation begins.
ACE HOTEL
Scheduled to open late 2020, Ace Hotel Toronto was designed in partnership with acclaimed architects Shim-Sutcliffe. The Ace Hotel Toronto is inspired by the multicultural blend of traditional and modern and will be the brand’s first Canadian location. There will be 124 rooms, plus a gourmet restaurant and a rooftop bar.
In keeping with the brand’s industrial vibe, there will be red brick and exposed concrete throughout. “The public spaces feature North American materials valued for their intrinsic strength and integrity, and tied to Toronto’s layered history and natural resources including Douglas fir, red Toronto brick, and steel,” says the hotel.
NOBU HOTEL RESIDENCES
Nobu Hotel, Residences, and Restaurant will open late 2020. With its modern and minimalist Japanese design, it will be a game-changer in the city. The Nobu Hotels, Restaurants, and Residences will interact to provide Nobu products and services that will share the vision of the unique Nobu food experiences. The 45-story building includes a hotel, the flagship Nobu restaurant, a spa, and private residences.
The Nobu residential towers will feature 660 units, while the hotel will offer 36 boutique suites. The building will retain the brick façade of the original Pilkington Glass Factory with two modern towers rising above. Both towers will be for the exclusive residences, with a signature Nobu Hotel on top of the West Tower.
PARK HYATT TORONTO
The original Park Plaza was located across from the University of Toronto and north of Queen’s Park. It has long been a popular destination for the art world as well as with politicians for over a century.
The rooftop bar is famous for countless well-known Canadian authors from Mordecai Richler to Margaret Atwood. Developed in two parts: the 1956-built 14-story north tower will reopen as an upgraded hotel. The 1936-built 17-story south tower is undergoing a major interior renovation with a new elevator, while adding 65 luxury residential rental suites which will be known as Two Avenue Road.
THE DRAKE HOTEL – EXPANSION
The new The Drake Hotel expansion on Queen Street West is set for late 2020. The redesign will unveil a new lobby, an additional 32 rooms, and a new suite, inspired by the Owner’s Suite at the Drake Devonshire. The new addition will feature 32 hotel rooms linked to the existing hotel property via a third level connection over The Drake’s rooftop patio.