Toronto The New Residences of Yorkville Plaza | 92.05m | 31s | Camrost-Felcorp | WZMH COMPLETE

[buildup]

Sounds like your friend was in a huff.

 

[interested]

^^
I don't think so buildup.

I personally think one should cut slack to a new hotel due to growing pains but this is after all a 5 star chain.

The individual in question simply stated that service was slow and poor. The hotel nothing to write home about in his view.

He is a wealthy individual and accustomed to staying at 5 star resorts and so has a basis on which to compare the Ritz in Toronto to other Ritz and 5 star properties around the world. Let's hope that the growing pains of the Ritz that he experienced improve.

 

[Ramako]

Well, at least we know that they'll be facing stiff competition.

 

[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

There will be a reduction in the number of hotel rooms when comparing the old and new buildings (don't have the numbers off hand), perhaps that also has something to do with staff reduction. They may have also designed more efficient layouts that will requite less employees.

 

[interested]

Well, at least we know that they'll be facing stiff competition.

You just hit the $64000 question on everyone's minds. Can TO fill over a 1000 5 star hotel rooms and if not; which chains will be winners and which losers.

4S will be OK as it is in Yorkville. SL is known to Asia and other locales around the world but will have to perform. Trump will appeal to Americans due to familiarity as should Ritz but thus far, Ritz has perhaps had some stumbles.

 

[androiduk]

 

[Ramako]

You just hit the $64000 question on everyone's minds. Can TO fill over a 1000 5 star hotel rooms and if not; which chains will be winners and which losers.

4S will be OK as it is in Yorkville. SL is known to Asia and other locales around the world but will have to perform. Trump will appeal to Americans due to familiarity as should Ritz but thus far, Ritz has perhaps had some stumbles.

I'm sure that Ritz will do very well during TIFF but what about the other 11 months of the year? Thankfully they're very close to the convention centre.

 

[interested]

When there are large conventions, I am sure all the hotels will get visited. The question I wonder about is unless companies are paying, how many tourists are there willing to spend the $400-500 and up/night that supposedly these hotels will be asking?

 

[Tewder]

That price is par for the course in Manhattan but in Toronto it'd be a fairly niche market, I imagine... it'd be fairly niche in most North American cities quite honestly.

 

[androiduk]

Application: Zoning Review Status: Not Started

Location: 21 AVENUE RD
TORONTO ON M5R 2G1

Ward 27: Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Application#: 12 153875 ZPR 00 ZR Accepted Date: Apr 13, 2012

Project: Non-Residential Building Other Proposal

Description: Proposal to sever one lot into two, while maintaining the existing building. Parts 3-9 will retain existing hotel. Parts 1-2 will retain existing retail. This file is for Parts 1-2. Also see related file 12-153872 for Parts 3-9.

 

[allabootmatt]

When there are large conventions, I am sure all the hotels will get visited. The question I wonder about is unless companies are paying, how many tourists are there willing to spend the $400-500 and up/night that supposedly these hotels will be asking?

I am the farthest thing from an expert on the hotel industry, but I don't think these new properties will have too much trouble. I think many of us aren't aware of the extent to which Toronto has become a major business travel destination. There's huge international interest in the Canadian natural resources space, and contrary to popular belief considerably more of that business gets done in Toronto than Calgary. On a macro level, this is sort of an under-covered story--how Bay St and its related industries (law firms, consultancies, accountants etc) are benefitting hugely from a resource boom taking place very far away. On a micro level, it means a steady flow of deep-pocketed visitors. The one caveat would be that most big companies stick to one or two big chains and a relative one-off like Trump Tower might not get much of that business.

Combine that with the convention trade, big events like TIFF and Luminato, and a reasonable amount of high-end tourism and I don't think 1000 rooms at the five-star level sounds too crazy.

 

[Lizthevw]

Four Seasons has a tremendous reputation for looking after their staff and providing them with the training and resources they need to do their best. They have in the past done a good job of relocating staff when positions have been made redundant. I am curious therefore about the discussion that employees won't be rehired to the new hotel. Does anyone know whether many staff are transferring to other cities within 4S? My experiences with the staff were always positive and historically the company would retain them if possible.

 

[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

I guess they're going with modern everything in the new building. Selling all the old. Too bad.

 

[gabe]

I heard that a lot of the staff at the old 4S will not be rehired. Not sure if this is accurate information. It seems strange to me that they would opt to use new staff who would have to be retrained but perhaps much of the staff has been there so long and is older and this is an opportunity to "release them" in favour of younger, more vigorous, and perhaps less expensive staff? I am just speculating on this last point.

Looks like you heard right.

http://www.torontolife.com/daily/informer/the-harrowing-present/2012/06/01/four-seasons-severance/

Is the Four Seasons being stingy when it comes to severance pay?

The storied Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville is going condo, but not without a snag or two: several laid-off banquet servers are accusing management of cheating them out of some of their severance pay. Most of the employees involved worked at the hotel for decades and pulled in some decent paycheques once their tips and service charges (paid by clients up-front to the hotel and fully taxed as income) are factored in. But in talks with the servers’ union, the hotel excluded the service charges from the severance agreement, basing the pay-outs solely on wages—meaning there are some massive gaps between what the workers were earning, and what they’ll be getting as severance. An example: Alex Litkowski worked for the hotel for 26-years and made a whopping $80,000 last year; but, because his hourly wages added up to only $19,000, that’s all he’ll get from the hotel, which is obligated to provide a year’s pay to longtime employees. The dispute, now in arbitration, is another sign that hotel workers are aggressively looking out for their interests. That said, the unionized workers at the new Four Seasons on Bay Street, which will open this summer, will be paid less than the workers at the old location—and the three other new luxury hotels in Toronto are all non-union

 

[interested]

Thanks for posting Gabe.

I would hope they are going to offer at least some of the workers the opportunity to bid on jobs. Granted they will be more expensive but it may well be worth it to at least carry over some of that "old" 4S mystique.

As I had said before, perhaps they are going for a different demographic now.

I have to say I have sympathy for those being let go but I am not sure the hotel which did not pay the tips before should really be held liable to sever the old employees for the tips. I understand them being responsible to pay 1 year wage but how can they be held responsible to pay them for tips which were paid by a 3rd party?