W Hotels Worldwide, part of the Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio, has opened its latest property in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood.
Making its debut on July 21, 2022, the W Toronto was incorporated with aesthetics that reflect different aspects of Yorkville, along with the overall diversity found within Toronto.
In a media announcement, Benoit Racle, vice president, brand management for W Hotels Worldwide, stated that Toronto was a natural fit for the brand because of its musical legacy and street art scene, in particular with Graffiti Alley.
The Living Room of the W Toronto is located on its sixth floor and holds both a communal “fire” pit … [+] and a circular destination bar.
Marriott International, Inc.
“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,” said Racle.
Standing at 11 stories, W Toronto’s design has both the Welcome Desk and W Hotels’ brand lounge, Living Room, on its sixth floor. It is detailed with jewel tones of ruby, amethyst and topaz. As a nod to Toronto’s sixties and seventies counterculture movement, the 5,000-square-foot space is adorned curved lines and velvet furniture. It also holds a communal “fire” pit and a circular destination bar.
Additionally, the hotel’s sixth floor leads to The Yard, an outdoor terrace surrounded by a three-story atrium of guestroom windows.
W Toronto King Spectacular Guest Room is the property’s Presidential Suite.
Marriott International, Inc.
Amid its 254 guestrooms, W Toronto has 30 suites with two of them being Presidential style suites known as Extreme Wow suites. Their layout reflects Toronto’s theater district, with their beds being flanked by stage-inspired pendant lights and situated in front of a sapphire velvet curtain that can be automatically drawn open or shut.
Design touches include curved banquettes, dressing room-style vanity mirrors, “record”-like tables in honor of Toronto’s musical legacy and nods to nature like the abstract floral wallpaper and mushroom-shaped accent lights.
Double Queen Rooms are graced with wall art that reads “Not everything has to mean something. Some things just are.” by Canadian writer and musician, Charles de Lint.
W Toronto also boasts Canada’s first W Sound Suite, the brand’s signature recording studio experience. Situated off 0f the Living Room, this suite is outfitted with professional equipment where accomplished and novice musicians, podcasters and other creatives can draw inspiration.
Among its 254 guestrooms, W Toronto holds two Extreme Wow Suites.
Marriott International, Inc.
Executive Chef Keith Pears is in charge of W Toronto’s three distinct beverage and food venues.
PUBLIC SCHOOL, the hotel’s ground floor coffee house, kitchen and bar, balances barista culture by day and then new school tonics, elixirs and low or no alcohol beverages by night. The plant-forward menu is served across two sweeping levels, accentuated by late sixties/early seventies-style seating. The decor includes “Toronto Gush,” an original mural by Costa Rican-born artist Alan Ganev that was inspired by Toronto’s Graffiti Alley.
The Living Room pays homage to Toronto’s multiculturalism with “Toronto Tapas.” These light, shareable bites represent the city’s diverse neighborhoods. Selections consist for Barbacoa Tacos (as a nod to Kensington Market); Jerk Chicken Skewers (for Little Jamaica); and Fogo Island Cod Cheeks (for Little India).
“Sparkling” is the theme of the Living Room’s beverage program, with champagne, rare bottles and a Perlini corking system along with sparkling cocktails such as the Celery Sour and the Green Goddess Bloody Mary.
The W Toronto’s SKYLIGHT, a rooftop bar and restaurant, is all about curated cocktails and … [+] Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.
Marriott International, Inc.
SKYLIGHT, the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant, serves alluring curated cocktails and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. The indoor-outdoor boho oasis overlooks Toronto’s iconic Bloor Street, celebrating the provocative and artistic spirit of the 60s Yorkville hippie revolution.
Along with a bazaar-inspired main room, with a nightly DJ booth and performance stage, SKYLIGHT features The Loft (for semi-private events); The Den (an intimate seating nook); and The Terrace (with birdcage-style seating). Patrons can order familial-style mezze, salatas and maneesh served with tagines as well as an over-the-top Seafood Tower. SKYLIGHT’s cocktail program is Vermouth and Amaro-centric with a selection of upscale curated drinks, seasonal spritzes and adult slushies.
In addition to its 3,300-square-foot FIT gym, W Toronto has five event spaces. At 1,980 square feet, W. Industry can be divided into three intimate spaces. Studios 1 and 2, off the Living Room, as well as Strategy 1 and 2, offer more casual working session settings.
W Toronto honors the city’s multidisciplinary art heritage through the W Monument, designed by Sid Lee, on Toronto’s Bloor Street; and three murals, by Dutch-born artist Mikael B,placed throughout the hotel property.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
