We had occasion to visit Toronto at short notice recently. No hotel rooms were available (apparently because a major international conference was taking place at the same time). As an alternative, we were offered accommodation at Suite Toronto, Inc. According to their website – “we are not a hotel; we are your better alternative”. The cost was similar to most downtown hotels and the downtown location was convenient for us. So we decided to stay there.

We made reservations online and had to pre-pay for the entire stay. When we arrived on a Saturday afternoon, the office at 136 Simcoe was still open (if one arrives after hours, the keys are left at 140 Simcoe). The young lady in the office was pleasant and gave us our keys after taking our credit imprint. It was our understanding that we had requested parking for 1 car, and a nonsmoking room on a high floor, but she said that she had no record of those requests. She also told us that our prepaid reservation could not be changed in any way (i.e, we would not receive a refund if we decided to leave early), and that we had to find parking ourselves in a nearby garage and that parking would cost approximately $20 per day.

The lobby of 140 Simcoe was locked; there was a security station with a man who was reading the paper. We had difficulty opening the front door, but the security man did not look up from his reading or attempt to help us in any way. We eventually managed to get through the front door and go up to our suite, without receiving any type of acknowledgement from the security man. He later told us “I have nothing to do with the inside of the apartments or who stays. There if anything goes wrong inside the apartments, they have to call the office. I am only responsible for the security of the building”.

When we first saw our suite, the setup looked as if it would work for us. Our suite was a small one bedroom apartment on the second floor of 140 Simcoe Street (apparently a condominium building). The bathroom fixtures were modern and looked clean. The kitchen was fully equipped with a fridge, stove, microwave and dishes/cutlery. The bedroom contained a double bed, 2 night tables and a dresser. The living area was furnished with modern chrome and glass furniture (a small dining table, a small computer table, a coffee table and 2 end tables), 4 chrome chairs, a sofa and chair, a TV, VCR and DVD player, small music system, and there was broadband internet connection. A clost in the hallway contained a washer and dryer (though we only discovered this on our last day).

As our stay progressed, we encountered several problems which we greatly diminished our enthusiasm. (1) The first time we took a shower, the shower curtain fell down. This caused the water to fall on the floor and make it very slippery. We used a small mop in the bathroom closet to try to make the floor safe to walk on, but it was inadequate. (2) We found that the apartment was poorly sound-proofed. The street noises were very loud. (3) Most importantly - no housekeeping services were provided even though we stayed for several days. The small trashcans in the apartment filled up quickly. They supplied 1 bar of soap and 2 sets of towels. When we requested more soap and towels, we were told that it was not their policy to provide additional supplies. We attempted to address these issues by calling the number listed for housekeeping services. The woman who answered the phone identified herself as “Elena, the owner”. She said: “We are not a hotel. We do not provide housekeeping services. We only provide what is needed to set you up”. She also stated that if we wanted to get rid of the trash, we had to do so ourselves (it should be noted that there

were no additional trashbags in the suite, so that if we threw out the

accumulated trash, we had nothing to line the trashcans with). When we told her that these facts about housekeeping services had not been made known to us when we made the booking, she repeated “This is not a hotel”, and added “Next time, you should stay in a hotel”. No other constructive suggestions were offered.

On the positive side: (a) when the shower curtain fell down, we called the number listed for maintenance; the man who answered the phone said that he would arrange to have it fixed and it was done by the end of that day. (b) Suite Toronto is reasonable well-located in the downtown area even though the immediate surroundings are unprepossessing. (c) The location and the concept is excellent if one is in Toronto for 1 or 2 days on a business trip.

However, because of the lack of housekeeping services, it is NOT a good place to stay in for longer than 1-2 days (unless you are forewarned and come with toiletries, trashbags, toilet paper, paper towels, extra bath towels, bath mats etc, or are prepared to buy these items in downtown Toronto).

The aspect that we found particularly dismaying was the housekeeper/owner’s statement that housekeeping services would not be provided. We have stayed in a number of similar suites in other cities in North America and Europe. In our experience, all the suites have had daily basic housekeeping services, so that the trash is emptied, the bathrooms are cleaned and basic essentials (e.g., soap, towels, toilet paper, etc) are replenished. Such arrangements ensure that the surroundings are kept clean and basic principles of hygiene are followed. If Suite Toronto does not indeed provide any housekeeping services, that fact should be clearly mentioned on their website or in notices placed within the suite.

ASSESSMENT:

1.Suite Toronto is certainly not inexpensive by local standards (~$200 per night). The suite itself was comparable to lower-end suites elsewhere and quite adequate for certain types of business/family travel.

2. We believe that the Suite Toronto experience would be greatly enhanced if (a) a brochure or booklet containing a map of the immediate surroundings, a description of their policies, and information about how to operate the appliances, TV and internet connection was placed in the suite, and (b) simple housekeeping services were provided on a daily basis.