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Downtown Toronto's Sheraton Hotel looks north on Queen Street West opposite City Hall, Osgoode Hall and Old City Hall. Given its location it is probably one of the most seen buildings in the city. The 42-year-old hotel underwent an exterior renovation over the last year and a half that involved replacing the scores of windows that make up its façades, along with a smoothing and buffing of its concrete face. The hotel also renovated its meeting space, refurbishing the meeting rooms on the Mezzanine and 4th floor, expanding them to upwards of 130,000 square feet with the addition of the Provincial and Willow Ballrooms.
Last week the Sheraton Centre Toronto—the Canadian flagship for the hotel brand—announced another $90 million renovation. This renovation will focus primarily on the hotel's interior and will involve a "floor-to-ceiling transformation" of all the hotel's guest rooms and suites. Two new suites will also be added, totalling the hotel's guest space to 1,373 rooms. The renovation will begin in early November of this year and its completion is anticipated for 2015.
“As one of Toronto’s most prominent landmark hotels it is essential for us to provide the best accommodations and experience possible for visitors to the city,” said David Connor, Area Managing Director, Eastern Canada, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “The extensive renovation to our guest rooms and suites will bring a revived energy to our hotel. Our exceptional guest service and superior location in the heart of the city will assert our place as the premier option for those visiting the city.”
The guest room and suite renovation will brighten the rooms with colours and graphics inspired by Sheraton's brand design. The renovation will involve the replacement of all floor and wall finishes in public corridors and hallways. In the guest rooms will be new case goods, seating, lighting, mirrors and window treatments, 50" flat screen televisions, wired and wireless internet platforms, and an energy efficient heating and cooling HVAC system which will allow guests to control the thermostat in their rooms regardless of the season. All rooms will feature the all-white Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed, designed to meet AAA's Five Diamond Award Criteria. Renovated bathrooms will be fitted with consumption-conscious low-flow toilets, shower hears and faucets. Some of the renovated bathrooms will feature walk-in showers.
These environmentally-friendly changes, combined with the $13 million retrofitting of all guest room windows, will reduce energy consumption by 30 percent and water consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020.
From ballrooms to bathrooms, this is a lot of work to undertake in a few years, but soon we will be able to judge if the guest room renovations were as successful as their exterior counterpart. If you have any comments you can post them in our Forum thread for the project, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
