Hotel Snapshot
Every city has one hotel that the others quietly measure themselves against. In Toronto, it's the Hazelton. Sitting on a brick-and-white corner of Yorkville Avenue—the city's most polished stretch of galleries, boutiques, and people—this 77-room property is Toronto's only member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The vibe is private club minus the application process.
Design & Character
The Hazelton was designed by Yabu Pushelberg, the Canadian firm whose fingerprints are on half the world's great hotel lobbies, and this one is a home game. The look pulls from 1940s Hollywood—polished metals, ostrich leather, amber lighting, dark zebrawood. What I kept noticing instead was the art, especially in the lobby. The collection is largely Canadian, and it's everywhere: Bruno Billio's precarious towers of nickel-plated suitcases in the foyer, Sorel Etrog's bronze figures mid-tango on the mezzanine. There's an art concierge on staff if you want the full tour.
The Rooms
The 62 rooms and 15 suites start at 575 square feet—apartment territory by any measure, and genuinely rare for a boutique property. (Nine-foot ceilings help.) Some rooms have French doors, which open onto Juliet balconies or small terraces overlooking Yorkville's slow parade of very good outfits and very expensive cars. Inside: pillow-top mattresses (with a pillow menu, if you have opinions), a Nespresso machine, and a tablet that you can use at your leisure to order room service, book a spa treatment, and so much more.
The bathrooms deserve their flowers, too. Floor-to-ceiling marble, deep soaking tubs, standalone rainfall showers, heated floors, L'Occitane products, and a TV embedded in the mirror if you’re feeling like watching some Netflix while hanging in the tub.
The Food & Drink
ONE Restaurant is the hotel's culinary anchor—a Yabu Pushelberg-designed room with a menu of refined North American cooking under executive chef Michael Hawryluk, and a tree-lined wraparound patio that locals will tell you, unprompted, is the best in Yorkville. The atrium section has heaters and retractable walls, so the patio works year-round, which, if you know anything about Toronto, Torontonians do not play around about patio season.
If I’m being honest, I never made it downstairs. I was here on a pretty quick trip and opted to eat most of my meals outside of the hotel, but the 24-hour in-room dining made a compelling case for staying put, and I treat myself with some room service for breakfast. My choice? The longanisa breakfast sandwich with eggs and banana ketchup—a nod to Filipino culture that I did not expect to find on a Yorkville room service menu. It was pretty delicious: the sweet, garlicky sausage complemented the condiment of choice perfectly(I know banana ketchup sounds weird, but trust me, it works), and it was sandwiched between perfectly toasted bread. The freshly squeezed orange juice to wash it down was also refreshing and very much the right move for breakfast.
Spa & Wellness
The Spa at the Hazelton runs on Valmont, the Swiss skincare line, and it's earned its reputation as one of Yorkville's most exclusive escapes. I booked a deep tissue massage and it was one of the better treatments I’ve received from any spa, let alone one at a hotel. Beyond the treatment rooms, there are eucalyptus-infused steam rooms and a heated saltwater lap pool with a marble-clad deck that photographs like a Slim Aarons outtake. The gym is open 24 hours and well-stocked.
Amenities
The hotel's 25-seat private screening room—leather armchairs, state-of-the-art projection, surround sound—does brisk business during the Toronto International Film Festival and sits there the rest of the year like a very glamorous secret. The concierge team is Les Clefs d'Or, pets are welcome, and there are Tesla charging stations plus a green roof, one of the first among the city's hotels. Wifi is free and fast enough to support Zoom calls for the business travelers out there.
Location & Neighborhood Recs
Yorkville is bougie.. The hotel sits steps from the Mink Mile—Bloor Street West's run of Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, and Prada—plus Holt Renfrew for the quintessential Canadian department store experience. The Royal Ontario Museum and the Bata Shoe Museum are within walking distance, as are the smaller galleries dotting the surrounding streets. You could spend a full day within four blocks of the front door, but the metro is nearby and Uber is plentiful if you just want to keep the Hazelton as your home base for exploring the city.
Fast Facts
Location: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada
Address: 118 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 1C2, Canada
Vibe: 1940s Hollywood glamour by way of Yabu Pushelberg
Rooms: 77 (62 rooms, 15 suites), starting at 575 square feet
Pricing: From $801 per night
Dining & Cocktails: ONE Restaurant and its wraparound patio (Yorkville's best, per basically everyone), the ONE bar, plus 24-hour in-room dining
Gathering Spaces: The lobby and its Canadian art collection, the Norman Jewison Cinema (a 25-seat private screening room), and the Valmont spa's saltwater lap pool
Nearest Airport: Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ), 15 minutes; Toronto Pearson (YYZ), 30 minutes
Toronto, Canada
