You’d be forgiven for thinking that the new Four Seasons Toronto hotel, opened in October 2012, would have gone the grand diva route that lets you know just how fabulous it is. After all, it’s the flagship hotel in the hometown for the entire Four Seasons chain, which itself is a collection of wish fulfillers and pampering providers in exotic locations the world over. And make no mistake, the 55-storey newly built tower is gorgeous with artistic flourishes. But when we visited, we discovered a hotel tha’s less about trying to impress, more about being your friend.
Walk through the front doors and you’re immediately in a lounge area with practically regular-home proportions: sofas, flowers, coffee table. You’re in a space where the person, not the echoing space, is central. Around the corner is the big “wow” moment: a registration desk with dandelion sculptures floating overhead and screens that soar upwards. The dandelions are part of a motif throughout the hotel. There are also 1,700 works by Canadian artists are featured — a touch I really like.
We stayed in room 1614, a suite that could easily house a family of four (including our growing teenager), with us in the ample bedroom and the kids on the sofabed. This room also connects to the one next door. That meant instead of sharing the sitting area, we could actually throw them in a separate room, where we could occasionally hear them rushing from room to room and cackling between themselves. Upon arrival they promptly made coffee for daddy with the in-room Nespresso machine (sadly, no George Clooney provided), clambered into their round bathtub (ours was a regular rectangle), tried out the in-room iPads and started devouring their edible welcome message from the hotel with their names spelled out on a dish along with candies and goodies.
Throughout our stay, the staff really engaged with the kids. While we had a couples’ massage, the hotel had booked the kids in for a mocktail lesson with the bartender. When we met up afterwards for a swim they were full of advice on how to properly shake a cocktail, what’s a good garnish and their favourite drinks — virgin versions of classics like strawberry daiquiris with names they made up themselves. Start ’em young, I say. They love mixing fruit juice drinks at home and so were chuffed to have professional knowledge. A bonus for us: they wanted to visit the Daniel Boulud dBar lounge as frequently as we did.
The spa, usually an amenity cast down into the basement, presumably to make way for revenue-generating rooms, here is on the 9th floor. It features a pool edged by windows over the city, skylights and an outdoor terrace. The mani-pedi salon is similarly swamped with light. It serves as a spa and gym for the guests who live in the attached 26-floor residential tower and is the largest Four Seasons spa in the group. I had one of the best massages I’ve ever experienced during our couples’ treatment (and believe me I’ve researched the matter. Arduously). “She’s strong,” my husband said of his therapist and her technique — what he could remember before dozing off, while their thumbs and elbows turned our knotted muscles into taffy.
That night we ate a casual dinner in dBar, lounge type restaurant from Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud. I had the Firehouse #312 burger. The story goes that chef Daniel Boulud visited the heritage Yorkville fire station next door and asked the firefighters what they wanted in their ideal burger. The result is a beef patty topped with pulled pork, jalapeno mayonnaise and Boston lettuce, served on a cheddar bun with fries — perfect in advance of rushing into a burning building. I tried it and while I couldn’t finish it, I would like to say thank you to Toronto’s firefighters for thinking it up.
The kids ordered regular burgers and mocktails and loved them. We ate early, around 6pm, when dBar was buzzing with an after-work crowd. At the next table a Louise Brooks ringer in an assymetrical dress had cocktails with a man in a sharp suit. Laughter occasionally burst through the room. I would have liked to linger but we were off to see a local production of Wizard of Oz, which included impressive pyrotechnics and an elaborate stage.
The next night we ate at Cafe Boulud upstairs. It’s decorated by Rosalie Wise Sharp, wife of Four Seasons founder Isadore Sharp, in a style distinctly different from the creams and greys in the rest of the hotel. Here it’s bright colours and Mr Brainwash artwork, street art that has an entire backstory related to Banksy. (There are two other Cafe Bouluds, one in New York City, one in Palm Beach.) The menu here focuses on seasonal and regional ingredients, organised around the Boulud’s inspirations of classic French cooking (La Tradition), seasonality (La Saison), the vegetable garden (Le Potager) and flavours from around the world (Le Voyage).
Here’s the place to indulge and order the terrine of foie gras, the crispy duck egg, the Ontario venision. Even though it is the fancier restaurant, we weren’t the only ones there dining with children. The staff rustled up an adapted version of the risotto for our daughter and our son tried the steak au poivre and declared himself a fan of the dish forever more.
The breakfasts served here are also to die for. My husband pronounced the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon as the “best he’s ever had”, perhaps even including his own. I know – shocker. I had a decadent eggs benedict (with Canadian bacon, natch) one morning and luscious lemon ricotta hotcakes the other. The kids ordered pancakes for all 3 breakfasts — and are now regularly requesting them at home (thanks, Daniel!).
All of this was fantastic, but most of all we like the attitude of all the staff — not just toward us but toward the children as well. They seemed interested in why we were visiting Toronto. They gave advice for our outings (we would have cynically missed out the impressive dinosaur exhibits at the Royal Ontario Museum and the delightful side trip to Niagara on the Lake if not for their tips). They treated the children like valued guests, not just short, nuisance hangers-on. Despite its status at the hotel of the prestigious chain, it exuded friendliness. No attitude. No snootiness.
It was humble yet impressive in ways that caught us by surprise. It doesn’t shout about itself. All that low-key confidence makes sense, in a way. It seems like a perfectly a Canadian trait.
We flew to Toronto as guests of Porter Air and stayed at the hotel as guests of Four Seasons Toronto but were otherwise not paid. The opinions in this review are mine and my families’.
More family travel reviews
My video review of Four Seasons Park Lane, London, England, UK
