A palace of mediocrity. (Bond Place Hotel (Toronto, Canada))

Member Name: The Daz

Product:	Bond Place Hotel (Toronto, Canada)
Date:	30/10/08 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Centrally placed, good value.

Disadvantages: Needs redecorating, a dreary atmosphere.

Caution, Warning, Vorsicht, Alert!! This picture is an estate agent's trick. Do not take images of this hotel to be representative of the décor, light, furnishing or service. The enjoyment of your stay will be adversely affected by taking the descriptions and images as literal representations.

Ok - got that out of my system. As you will see if you peruse an earlier review, this is the second Hotel in Toronto I stayed in during my holiday to Canada earlier in the year. Go on....it's just a dozen or so reviews further down: Days Inn Hotel. Go on, go on....you will, you will, you will.... Etc.

A long established hotel of firmly 3 star, middle of the road status, the Bond Place is aimed squarely at coach groups, non-fussy tourists passing through, and hard-up business travellers without limitless expense accounts. Having got such a good deal, I should really have been more wary, but heyho.
I should point out, before I begin my array of criticisms, that we found the staff to be both polite and helpful at all times, save the opening exchange, which I shall detail later, when the receptionist was constrained by the limits of her power and understandably unwavering, but nevertheless courteous.

Located on Dundas Street East, right behind the neon glitz and communal entertainment area of Yonge & Dundas Square, which lead due south and west to all the shopping, eating and entertainment points of note in Downtown Toronto, the hotel is very centrally placed. The streetcar speeds its way past the front doors, the Dundas Subway station (Yellow Line) is below the main square, and the Eaton Center of shopping delight also has an adjacent entrance, giving excellent access to the immediate area both above and below (via the spiffy PATH network) and beyond.

The building itself is a rather drab 20+ storey grey-brown skyscraper that sits uncomfortably between the small and slightly neglected area east of the hotel, and the refurbished, rampant development of Yonge Street and beyond. Just behind the hotel, the street leads down to the old Canon Theatre, and you're reminded by the quieter and less imposing buildings around here of the city's urban transformation from industrial melting pot to flash financial nexus of Canada's economy in the last few decades. I've tried to find out how many rooms they have, but the information eludes me - but based on 20ish floors with similar floor plans to the one on the inside of my room door (fire escape notice), I would reckon there are more than 200 rooms and suites.

Within the hotel itself - the ground floor houses the restaurant/breakfast room, a lounge area and the reception. Manning a desk beside the front desk were staff offering discount brochures (some of them very useful as it turned out), and organising minibus trips to/from the Airport for customers with more money than sense. Downstairs lurked a gym and conference facilities, although I doubt it's very pleasant down there surrounded by the sounds of the lift shafts and the laundry room!

We were told upon checking in that our reservation had been confused and we had been allocated a smoking room. Not wishing to breathe the effluence left by previous guests, we refused and asked for a non-smoking room. Upon finding there were none left that night we requested that the manager come to us. As the receptionist was powerless to help us we felt some authority was required. Some guests roll over willingly and put up with a smelly room, but we were determined to get what we'd paid for, and so politely argued until we were given a free upgrade for the night. We were offered the same room for the last 2 nights for a small premium, but in the end we weren't too fussed about changing rooms, especially as we'd told the manager they could move our bags for us whilst we were out.

Our room had 2 double beds in, as opposed to the one in our regular room the following 2 nights, but aside from that, there was little difference. The décor of the rooms, as with the communal areas of the hotel looked to have been last updated in 1973. Floral patterns, old and noisy bathroom fittings, and scarily wired appliances gave us cause for concern - but in their defence, the rooms were spotlessly clean, the beds large enough to sleep more than just two (a common theme on this Continent), and the coffee machine worked properly (priorities!).

The views up on the 18th floor were rather good, looking out to a vista of apartment and office skyscrapers, to the lights and noise of Yonge & Dundas Square, and if you really bent your neck you could just see Lake Ontario. We got a 3 for 2 night deal and paid about £50 per night after currency conversion, which for a centrally located hotel in a giant city represents rather a good deal.
The windows had a limited opening, I'd imagine to prevent the desperate, drunk or stupid from hurling themselves rather messily onto the street below, but good old noisy Air Conditioning units were obviously installed, and became a rather handy ventilation and clothes drying unit for our stay. (Tip - handwash socks and t-shirts, dry on Air Con unit - free washing!).

We did see a few other couples in the lifts during our stay, and determined that they also were rather bemused by the time warp that was the Bond Place, but the majority of coach party guests seemed perfectly content with their stay. We didn't partake of the restaurant facilities - but as it was a baking 30C that week in late April, we took regular trips to the hidden room with the Ice Machine, that all hotels on the Continent have (tip - usually on odd numbered floors 5 and above, and just behind the lift areas).

I'll be honest. There are better places to stay in Toronto - and for less than twice what we paid you can get a seriously good hotel to stay in (maybe even the swanky ones if the deals are right), but for the price and location, and given that we only used the hotel (as most do!), to sleep and wash in, it wasn't that much of a hardship to endure paisley wallpaper, floral bedspreads and patterned carpets for 3 nights. I can't rate the Bond Place Hotel too highly, but you could do a lot worse!

Summary: Worthwhile for saving money to spend in the rest of Toronto!