Ace Hotel Toronto

Character and identity

The Ace's first Canadian outpost is a 14-story new-build on a tight corner of the Garment District, designed by Shim-Sutcliffe to echo the area's heritage warehouses through pre-cast red brick and monumental structural concrete arches. The 123 rooms blend Ace minimalism with Douglas fir cabinetry, custom quilts by Kyle Parent, in-room guitars and turntables, and deep window benches over St. Andrew's Playground Park. The soaring lobby functions as an "urban living room," with a bar platform suspended on steel cables above Alder, the subterranean wood-fired restaurant from chef Patrick Kriss. Rooftop bar Evangeline handles cocktails, small plates and DJs.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What anchors a stay here is the architecture-and-art experience plus Alder's wood-fired cooking, not flawless five-star choreography. Book if you want to be in the thick of downtown Toronto's creative quarter and will use the lobby as much as the room. Pick a higher floor facing the park for the window-bench views, and don't skip the grilled octopus or the coconut cream pie.