Isabella Hotel and Suites

Toronto is an expensive city so we stayed in this small hotel a bit old and the room is dark but it has tv, elevator and coffee. Continental Breakfast is bountiful and it's nice to watch the news while eating. There is smell in the lobby, I can't put a finger on what it is.. well a little bit of glade will surely help.

So I was sort of forced to choose this location after my original choice was over booked and denied my reservations. At first I thought it was a charming location since I was familiar with the area. As in any city property space is limited. The reception area is clean and nicely appointed. The desk clerk seemed overworked or stressed and had no pleasantries to welcome guest. They only have 6 parking spots across the street for $30 per night. It was either pay that if a spot is available or on the street parking. Room 601 on this day may very well have been a room someone refused to stay in because there was a towel hanging on the back of the bathroom door and there were bits of hair and dust on the sink. The room size was adequate but the bathroom is ridiculously small. I had to wriggle myself onto the toilet seat and when I sat down my knees were under the sink in the most uncomfortable way. There is a water damage in the bathroom ceiling. The shower tiles were grimy and showed black mildew. I didn’t complain as I was in town for the night and intended to be out for most of the night. I placed my jacket and sweater in the closet and I am sure I got bugs on my jacket because I was bit by a bug a few hours later. At checkout the same clerk from check in was back and seemed to display a better disposition. I handed in my keys, got my deposit refunded and left. I did not want to try the complimentary breakfast or the coffee in the room. All in all if I had to sat another night a Toronto hotel this would not be in my top 10. I will show the pics.

My most recent visit to the heritage-protected “boutique” hotel on Sherbourne was largely a disappointment. As was the case a few months ago in Palm Springs, there was a waterworks issue. The toilet had a perpetual drip that the manager couldn’t quiet: “I will call maintenance.” The only remedy was shutting the bathroom door (thank goodness there was one--after more than two days, maintenance was still MIA). Worse than that, the coffee maker only managed to spill its heated water all over the too-narrow work station, almost threatening my MacBook Pro. A day later, a brand-new caffeine brewer was delivered. The only saving grace--especially for a writer--was the comfort that this same hotel was “home” for Ernest Hemingway during his Toronto days. Nothing like that history to kindle the muse--and it did.