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Since Delta Hotels and Resorts announced its departure from its flagship location at Yonge and Gerrard in 2012, they have been busy with construction of their new landmark at Simcoe and Bremner in Toronto's Southcore district. Our last story in September depicted the hotel in a much less polished condition, as interior work continued throughout the building. Now, the 46-storey tower, designed by Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects, has officially opened for business and UrbanToronto had the opportunity to do some exploring inside the four-star hotel.
Developed by bcIMC and GWL Realty, the Delta is now Toronto's tallest hotel-only tower. Containing 567 guest suites, the hotel is located within a mecca of top tourist attractions and entertainment venues, including the CN Tower, Air Canada Centre, Ripley's Aquarium and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The convention centre connection via the PATH network also connects the Delta to the adjacent Southcore Financial Centre and by extension to all of Toronto's Financial Core, making the Delta an obvious choice for business travelers too.
When guests first enter, they will be welcomed into a glowing lobby, complete with colourful seating arrangements and public artwork. A slightly canted ceiling adds a bit of architectural appeal to match the diagonal lines and sharp edges found throughout the interior and exterior spaces of the building.
There are 29 different types of suites in the hotel, some of which contain kitchens, while others give the guest a full view of the city from corner bathrooms. The Mode Deluxe Room offers such a view, which is pictured below.
The top floor contains the Club Lounge, which is only accessible for guests staying in the top four storeys of the tower. Designed to act as a mini-lobby in the sky, the casual lounging areas provide fantastic panoramas of the city. The space, which also features small private boardrooms for more intimate meetings, will host a buffet-style breakfast for the morning crowd.
Rooms on the highest floor offer great views of the city, as seen in this view to the north in the image below.
Several amenity spaces are located throughout the fourth floor, including the north-facing pool and spa that both provide dramatic views of Toronto's Financial District and a panorama of Union Station and the rail corridor. For those wanting to sweat instead of swim, a fitness studio is included on the same floor.
The south end of the fourth storey includes another major amenity space in the form of a large outdoor patio overlooking Simcoe and Bremner. A canopy will provide shade for what will become a rooftop bar once good weather returns, while landscaping by Corban and Goode rings the edge of the terrace. From here, the white specks of glass flowing up the tower can be easily appreciated. Likened to the bubbles found in a champagne glass, the playful pattern will be replicated in real champagne glasses once the rooftop bar becomes operational.
Another outdoor space, the open-air 'Urban Forest', will provide sanctuary for the Delta guests and office workers of the adjacent Southcore office tower. This is also the perfect vantage point from which to gawk at the 'zipper' which makes its way up the west and east faces of the tower. The zipper section is illuminated by night, with the colours alternating in a manner not unlike the CN Tower. Whichever colour the zipper takes on will be replicated inside some of the common spaces of the building, including the pool room.
The second and third floors contain the meeting spaces and ballrooms, each of which have been given a name representing a distinct Toronto neighbourhood. At 6,500 square feet, the largest room, naturally coined the SOCO ballroom, is spacious enough to be split into three separate areas. Other meeting spaces, like the Harbourfront room, emphasize light by maximizing window sizes, allowing an ample amount of sun to enter the space.
Though the hotel has many private spaces for guests only, the SOCO Kitchen + Bar may help satisfy the hungry public. Located on the ground floor at the corner of Simcoe and Bremner, the restaurant will overflow onto the wide sidewalk in the Summer months, adding some life along the northern side of Bremner that up until now, had only been lined with office space east to the Air Canada Centre. The kitchen also has a takeout option, to open on Monday, that will welcome patrons 24/7. Joining the restaurant on the ground floor will be a 30-seat whisky bar that will soon be open as well.
Just north of the restaurant and a few floors up, a PATH bridge will connect the hotel with the SkyWalk and the extensive downtown pedestrian network. While the south side of the bridge will provide views of Lower Simcoe, the north walls of the bridge will be adorned with artwork by Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins, something we won't be able to see until early 2015 when the bridge is scheduled to open.
The Delta Toronto represents a major and exciting step forward for the hotel chain as it continues to reposition itself. We will return next week with a look at some of the impressive array of art pieces installed within the complex.
For more information about the Delta Toronto, check out the dataBase file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Visit the associated Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.
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