So I just got back from an awesome conference in Niagara on the lakes. I unfortunately was unable to visit Niagara falls. But oh well I will see them one day I am sure I will be back. We stayed at White Resort and Spa. Didn't see much of the spa too busy! Oh my goodness, What a work function!! I totally got a room to myself which was fantastic. Holy those rooms were massive. The hotel is fantastic for big work parties and conferences. The service was awesome and all the staff were so friendly!! Great place for weddings and groups! They didn't mind that we were all terribly loud but closed down the bar early to start settling down some rowdy flighties. :P Even the guests were friendly (I mean its kinda hard not to be when there is a massive group of people running around with Day of the Dead Make-up on). It was a blast and very successful. At Flight Centre we work hard and play hard. I really enjoyed the seminars put on by our suppliers and have the biggest desire to go on an escorted Contiki or GAdventures tour.
I am going back to Toronto in about two weeks for a couple days. I am excited to do a bit of Christmas shopping and maybe some site seeing. Last time I was in Toronto I stayed at the Fairmont Royal York! I flew into the Billy Bishop Island Airport with Air Canada and took the free shuttle right to my hotel. I got lost the first time I walked in there and couldn't find the lobby. There are a ton of shops, a little cafe, barber shop, restaurants, and clothing & jewellery stores on the bottom floor. The hotel is totally haunted! The 8th floor is haunted by some man and the 19th floor and up is restricted. Apparently, I worker hung himself in the stairwell. And sometimes people can hear music and loud noises coming from the floor upstairs which is an empty ball room shut down due to "fire regulations" and never re-opened. It’s totally creepy I was terrified some weird things happened- nothing crazy but just eerie. Everything was an arm and a leg in that hotel. Wi-fi was like $20.00 a day, water was $8, and room service was a lot as well. The pool was a bit small but just what I needed. Hot tub, sauna, and steam room were so relaxing. Fitness room was good but the lockers were difficult. The rooms in the hotel were small but what do you expect from such an old hotel. The shampoo and conditioner smelt like roses but kind of cologne as well. Yes, I smelt like that for two weeks! Spent Thanksgiving there as well, not a lot of restaurants were open but my co-worker and I had a “turkey dinner” at Casey’s across the street. Ate at Casey’s a lot it was great food at a great price point. Good for soup, sandwiches, burgers etc. There was a Tim Horton’s right next door to the hotel. We got breakfast and Coffee there every morning. If you show up at like 6:45 or 7 you just miss the morning rush as the herds of people filling the streets starting their days. I swear it is the most bizarre thing to watch women dressed to impress in pencil skirts and good looking business men hoping on bikes you can rent pretty much everywhere with a credit card. Ladies in their high heels and men with briefcases just stepping over (literally walking over top of) homeless people curled up on the ground sleeping where the warm subway air blows up through the vents.
Flight Centre’s main office in Toronto is pretty much attached to the Eaton Centre right in Dundas Square. Around the square I witnessed street performers (some weirder than others some were actually really good), Preachers, Crazies, and an Abortion protest. Freedom of speech, right? It was really neat being right in the downtown while the city was alive during the day. There is a pretty good food court in the bottom of the Eaton Centre. Great Mediterranean place!
Restaurants I enjoyed while in Toronto were:
Earls: They had a fantastic little outside area with heaters and blankets it was so great and chic. We drank wine and ate great food. Even once we had the guilty pleasure of ordering it and picking it up on the way back to the hotel and just munching out in our beds!
Green jeans: GREAT BLOODY MARY’S (I can’t have Caesars cause I’ll die- I am definitely deathly allergic to shellfish). But if a Caesar drinker enjoys them like I do my bloody Marys than you’ll definitely enjoy them too. My co-worker had one and she loved it. It had a skewer with sausage and pickles! The macaroni and cheese was the best I have ever had and the burger was giant!
Jack Astors: Don’t forget to JACK IT UP. Haha, they have great slushy beers. The location in Dundas square was great they accommodated about 10 of us last minute right at lunch time we all ate and drank and the service was fantastic. We went there several times while there.
Ohkay, now that I have talked about restaurants I enjoyed I have to say I love Elephant and Pub Castle but this time I was unimpressed.
I filled out a Survey for the restaurant I will share it with you:
Elephant & Castle Pub
212 King Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 1K5
416.598.455
It was an awesome location. I love Elephant & Castle Pub
I am from Edmonton and just moved to Halifax so there aren’t any of these pubs
there. I was super excited to come to this one because I was in Toronto staying
at the Royal York. The tables were a bit small and a bit crowded- hard to order
a lot of food and drinks especially ordering appys. Maybe putting the share
plate (which was three appys split between two people) on one big plate instead
of separate ones would have helped. There was the cutest old couple they looked
like they were one on of their first dates almost seated close by. But then
right next to us there was a couple snogging. The waitress walked up to us and
was quite rude, maybe having a bad night or something. I asked if they served
scooners and she replied no only bar food? So I had a pint of Keith’s which I
have really started to enjoy since I have been out East. It came quickly and
was nice and cold with almost perfect head on it. The appys came quick but some
other guy brought it out not our waitress which had seemed to disappear. The other waitress bumped into our table a
bit as she "covered" our servers section. It seemed like this server
just thought she was doomed from the beginning for a tip from us. She didn't
come back and check to see if our food was good. Which was awesome I love dip
fried pickles there they are fantastic an absolute must have! Our server didn't
come back until we asked the girl who was covering her section for our bill. We
waited a very long time and then our original server came and just dropped it
off came back with a debit machine. I gave her a 13% tip not the greatest. I
was willing to order another drink and dessert but I didn't get asked or sold
really. The server was obviously having a bad day. I would have given her a
great tip if you were a little nicer to me! Other than that I love this pub and
I would give it a second chance at this location because of how much I have
enjoyed other locations!
When I go back I will try it again. I got a response from Elephant and Pub and it sounded genuine I appreciated that they said they would actually take my suggestions into account. When I visit this location again I will eat my dip fried pickles and hopefully it will be a better experience. I’d love to see if my feed- back actually did anything, haha.
Still lots of places to visit in Ontario. I'll get around to them. I'll be back in Toronto soon. You'll be reading more about my shopping, not staying in a haunted hotel (hopefully), and probably more about what I ate. We'll see- stay posted.
