The SoHo Hotel & Residences

Toronto’s SoHo Hotel & Residences is an example of what’s probably the most significant secondary effect of the boutique-hotel revolution: now, thanks to eccentric small operators, the luxury market is moving in a more design-forward direction. This is the sort of hotel that, a decade or two ago, might have been content to sacrifice style for comfort — but the SoHo, as it exists today, makes no such concessions.

Witness the crisp lines, the neutral tones, the stylish modernist furniture, and the riotously colorful glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. And the pleasures, naturally, are more than just visual — the bathrooms, for example, feature soaking tubs, elaborately functional shower stalls, and Molton Brown bath products.

The SoHo’s city-center location is essentially Toronto’s version of midtown Manhattan, convenient for business travelers, shoppers and theatre-goers alike. As such it needs to appeal not just to boutique diehards but also to more casual travelers as well, and its particular brand of stylishness is an understated, accessible one. It’s not the sort of place where your sense of hospitality will be aggressively challenged — unless being chauffeured in the hotel’s luxury sedan is your idea of a challenge.


How to get there:
SoHo Hotel & Residences is located 2.5 miles (15 min) from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and 27.5 miles (35 min) from the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Transfers can be organized from Bishop for CAD60 and from Pearson for CAD125.