St. Regis is one of my favorite hotel brands, thanks to the fact that it’s a luxury hotel brand that also fully participates in one of my favorite loyalty programs. It’s nice to be able to earn and redeem points for stays at great properties, all while being eligible for suite upgrades, breakfast, late check-out, etc.
For points enthusiasts, Toronto hasn’t been the most exciting hotel city, historically. There’s the Park Hyatt, which is reasonably nice, though is in the process of being renovated. Meanwhile Starwood hasn’t had a luxury hotel in Toronto for as long as I can remember. That’s finally changing.
The Trump Hotel Toronto is being converted into a St. Regis. The hotel first opened in 2012, though hasn’t been doing well financially. Earlier this year it was announced that the building was being sold off by the developers, as the project was bankrupt. JFC Capital, which was behind the building, was willing to sell it for less than the cost of the debt they had on the project.
The project has apparently been a total disaster, and occupancy at the hotel has been 15-45% at most, and has only been getting worse since Trump has been in office, given that he’s not especially popular in Canada.
It looks like I missed this news the first time around, but it was announced a couple of weeks ago that InnVest Hotels LP has taken over the project, and plans to convert the hotel into a St. Regis.
CTV News Toronto notes that the Trump Hotel will first be rebranded as the Adelaide Hotel Toronto while it undergoes some soft renovations, and once those are complete, will be rebranded as a St. Regis. The Adelaide Hotel should be joining Starwood later this month, and will operate under the Marriott brand in August of 2018.
I don’t believe they’re doing especially extensive renovations, so I’m told this should be a St. Regis before the end of the year. While some Trump properties have a lot of faux-gold, etc, the decor of this hotel actually looks pretty similar to what you’d expect from St. Regis.
It’ll be interesting to see how taking the “Trump” name out of the hotel impacts occupancy.
The only Trump hotel I have stayed in is the Trump Soho - which was very good. And now, they are going to de-Trump it. Yeah!
https://www.2paxfly.com/2017/11/24/de-trumping-the-trump-soho/
@MichaelBradley
Did you know that Ben is not a journalist, and this is a blog? Now you do……………
@KeepingItReal
Did you know that Ben is not a journalist, and this is a blog? Now you do...............
I stayed there last year. I found the hotel to be very comfortable and we'll run. The hotel mainly suffered from a lack of dining options.
I understand that you don't like Mr. Trump, but when you let your politics influence your journalism, it undermines your credibility.
Thats sad, Trump hotels are classy and elegant. Sad people dont stay just because they dont like the President. Oh well!
henry LAX, the King Edward hotel used to be a Le Meridien property. Based on my experience there, I would also call that near luxury
When that signed is scrubbed from our skyline in a few more weeks, it will almost be as big a celebration as our recent 150th birthday.
Nobody in Canada likes Trump, even pre-election, that's why the hotel never did well.
His tacky style is not appealing to Canadians, whether it's his hotels, clothing, or whatever else he stamps his name on.
I personally would rather stay at a Motel 6 for $500 a night than a Trump hotel for free.
I think the Trump family realizes how unpopular their brand is in the educated, moneyed circle, which is why they're trying...
Nobody in Canada likes Trump, even pre-election, that's why the hotel never did well.
His tacky style is not appealing to Canadians, whether it's his hotels, clothing, or whatever else he stamps his name on.
I personally would rather stay at a Motel 6 for $500 a night than a Trump hotel for free.
I think the Trump family realizes how unpopular their brand is in the educated, moneyed circle, which is why they're trying to go downmarket.
All the hillbillies will go and stay at the $99 Trump motels and buy his cheap, garish products.
What a pity.
I always enjoy staying at Trump hotels.
The service and morale is often of the highest in the market.
At least we know there will always be more Trump hotels.
Cheers for the shout out Ben! :)
Fully agreed that this'll be a great addition to the chain hotel options here in Toronto. While we've got quite a few luxury hotels as some of the commenters have pointed out, SPG/Marriott points are by far the easiest hotel points to earn in Canada, and so far we've only had the Ritz-Carlton in terms of luxury properties in that umbrella. So this'll be a big boost for...
Cheers for the shout out Ben! :)
Fully agreed that this'll be a great addition to the chain hotel options here in Toronto. While we've got quite a few luxury hotels as some of the commenters have pointed out, SPG/Marriott points are by far the easiest hotel points to earn in Canada, and so far we've only had the Ritz-Carlton in terms of luxury properties in that umbrella. So this'll be a big boost for Canadians and a popular move all around given the removal of the Trump name from the city's skyline.
I stayed at the hotel a while back and loved it. The worst part was the Trumpf name and Ivanka on the pre recorded tv message. Most likely stay there again if changed to St Regis.
Good riddance. And, I agree, Toronto has many fabulous and points-friendly hotels. I also don't get why the Park Hyatt seems to be the only one to get any airplay. To each their own, I suppose.
But...you really have to read this Globe and Mail review of the "America" restaurant at the Trump Hotel Toronto from a while ago. It's nasty and perfect: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-reviews/america-at-the-trump-hotel-the-food-is-amazing-but-you-shouldnt-eat-here-ever/article21833277/
Good riddance. And, I agree, Toronto has many fabulous and points-friendly hotels. I also don't get why the Park Hyatt seems to be the only one to get any airplay. To each their own, I suppose.
But...you really have to read this Globe and Mail review of the "America" restaurant at the Trump Hotel Toronto from a while ago. It's nasty and perfect: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-reviews/america-at-the-trump-hotel-the-food-is-amazing-but-you-shouldnt-eat-here-ever/article21833277/
"Toronto hasn’t been the most exciting hotel city". I would probably rephrase this to "Since Starwood and Hyatt are the only programs important to me, Toronto hasn’t been the most exciting hotel city." I am not sure why points bloggers from the states always seem to stay at the Hyatt on the corner University and Bloor across from the ROM? The only nice thing about that hotel was the bar on the roof.
Like mentioned...
"Toronto hasn’t been the most exciting hotel city". I would probably rephrase this to "Since Starwood and Hyatt are the only programs important to me, Toronto hasn’t been the most exciting hotel city." I am not sure why points bloggers from the states always seem to stay at the Hyatt on the corner University and Bloor across from the ROM? The only nice thing about that hotel was the bar on the roof.
Like mentioned before Toronto has many brands here. Just off the top of my head are 2 Intercontinentals in the core, Shangri-la, Ritz-Carlton, Hazelton Lanes, New Fairmont and 4 Seasons, many Carlton properties like Raddison, many westins and sheratons...and yes the Delta Hotels (L tower) which is new and recently bought by Marriott.
Don't forget Toronto is the headquarters Four Seasons and also the Fairmont. Toronto can hold it's own when compared to North American cities if not much better. So my advice to travel bloggers coming to Toronto is to stop staying at that boring Hyatt at the corner across from the ROM and explore the city a bit more. Just in the past year OMAT and Points Guy stayed at this same hotel.
Does anyone know if the Vancouver property is having similar challenges? I was out there a couple weeks ago and chose the Shangri-La which was lovely, the Trump Hotel is just down the street.
For all but a small segment of social misfits, identifying with Trump is a serious social liability in Canada. As a Canadian, I'd rather stay at a Days Inn than admit to my colleagues that I was staying a Trump-branded hotel.
This is a brilliant business decision and it will have a major impact on occupancy rates.
Any word on what category the Adelaide will be and whether it'll remain the same category once it becomes a St Regis?
The Trump Organization seems to be focusing on their golf resorts more than their city hotels. There's no question that @POTUS 45's controversial image has something to do with overall occupancy rates however.
To be entirely fair, Trump isn't particularly popular most places his hotels are at, and even if he was, their reservation system can't handle figuring out how the whole wife is also sister thing works.
The property consists of both hotel suites and residential condominiums (plus condo hotel rooms). The condos have not sold well and many empty ones were advertised this past weekend. The condo hotel rooms were sold to individuals who expected high occupancies and thus a good ROI since these were never intended as personal residences (as the true condos in the building were). The underperformance has led to law suits against the original owners who claimed...
The property consists of both hotel suites and residential condominiums (plus condo hotel rooms). The condos have not sold well and many empty ones were advertised this past weekend. The condo hotel rooms were sold to individuals who expected high occupancies and thus a good ROI since these were never intended as personal residences (as the true condos in the building were). The underperformance has led to law suits against the original owners who claimed this was not unlike the Trump U scam. Most were unsophisticated people who put their life savings into the units expecting great returns...while now only seeing their units losing money every month. BTW the original developer was a recent Russian immigrant to Canada...seems the Donald Jr was right about most of their business has been with Russian businessmen!
Do Trump hotels have any sort of loyalty program? I used to stay at some of the properties before I became more knowledgable with FFPs.
@ henry LAX - Delta Toronto is a "near-luxury" hotel? That's like saying someone is a "near-virgin."
I'm happy along with many many others that the Trump name is finally being peeled off the Toronto skyline! Morale among employees was extremely low and most were embarrassed to admit they even worked there.
The St. Regis will be a very nice addition to Toronto's luxury hotels scene that include The Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La and Four Seasons.
@ Ben -- "total disaster"? :)
"Meanwhile Starwood hasn’t had a luxury hotel in Toronto for as long as I can remember. "
That's only if you're still counting "Starwood" as a standalone entity. Ever since the merger closing, SPG folks could already access Ritz Carlton Toronto and another near-luxury property in the form of "Delta Hotels Toronto" (no relation to DL airlines).
Is this the same Trump that said covfefe? What a world!
I actually stayed there 2 and a bit years ago on a quick business trip (before the whole Trump show started) and I really quite enjoyed it - it was modern, service was pretty good and the decor overall was quite nice. I was going to take down the review a while ago, but turns out I haven't https://mrsoaroundtheworld.com/luxury-travel/north-america/my-hotel-trump-toronto-hotel-canada/