nfitz
Superstar
Does it? In the UK, Toronto has a higher recognition. But perhaps so would LA, Chicago, Florida, and Washington. I don't really think Chicago has as much profile in Europe as you might think.
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Toronto/Chicago comparisons
- Thread starter CITY_LOVER
- Start date
nfitz
Superstar
Has the person who wrote that been out in Toronto in the last 30 years? That's an exceedingly old stereotype - and I'd assume an equally old commentator.
To be fair, that town isn't really a standalone town, and is part of the 5.5 million Miami metropolitan area.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
I agree completely. Outside of NA, Chicago doesn't have any kind of widespread recognition. Our media bubble kind of skews how important we view the city.
DtTO
Active Member
Meet family A living 50km from Chicago, and family B living 50km from Toronto. They both own small businesses located 1km from their house. Family A (and all other businesses/people in their area) is counted as part of Chicago's metro GDP, while family B isn't. Why? Because a certain number of family A's neighbours work in Chicago.
That's pretty ridiculous. I don't care where people go to work, especially since even those working in Chicago will likely contribute very little to its economy as most of their spending will be in their burb. The important part is how much GDP is generated in a certain area. In that respect, I have no doubt that Toronto will surpass Chicago in just a few years (certainly by 2020) if current trends continue.
Data is a few years old, but here are the top 10 hotel occupancy rates in North America. Chicago hasn't even made it on the top 10.
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/01/27/toronto_posts_record_year_in_tourism.html
This doesn't really say much though. Hotel vacancy rates are relative to the number of rooms each city has. Unless absolute numbers can be found, this is pretty meaningless.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
^^ Yes, so let's see a list of how many hotel rooms there are in both cities, so we can put things into perspective.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Well in Toronto in 2010 the approximate number of hotel rooms sold was 9 million. But I can't find any numbers for Chicago, so that information isn't of much use.
DtTO
Active Member
Since Toronto gets more international visitors (almost guaranteed to be staying overnight) than Chicago, if it has a significantly smaller number of hotel rooms, this will also answer the question of whether or not most of those tourists are visiting relatives. I'm also curious to see just how much our number of hotel rooms has increased (decreased?) from 2003 to 2013.
denfromoakvillemilton
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You're right. They close be 2 and most people are gone by 1.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
I would imagine she has, it was Sue-Ann Levy, from the Sun (no surprise there) who wrote this outright lie. She hates Toronto and takes every opportunity she can, to tear it down.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
It's definitely increased. There have been quite a few hotel openings in the past few years. We should see even more as we aproach the 2015 Pan American games.
Deport her!
-If you regularly read the comments on the Toronto Sun website you'll understand the reference.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
It's funny, I've read that Toronto had five, 5 star hotels but according to Forbes, we don't have any. In fact we only have four, 4 star hotels. (Ritz, Trump, Hazelton & Park Hyatt) I guess Shangri-La and Four Seasons have not been rated yet. Chicago on the other hand, has three, 5 star hotels and three, 4 star hotels, so Chicago wins this match up, easily. I can't believe Toronto hasn't earned one, 5 star hotel yet. According to the Forbes 2013 Travel Guide, there are no 5 star hotels anywhere in Canada.
//www.startle.com/about/awardwinners
Ontario Hotels (listed under 4 stars)
The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto
Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto
Park Hyatt Toronto
The Hazelton Hotel
Restaurants
Scaramouche
Canoe
The Dining Room at Langdon Hall
One Restaurant
Splendido
Spas
Spa at the Hazelton
The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Toronto
Stillwater Spa
The Royal York better up its game.
//www.startle.com/about/awardwinners
Ontario Hotels (listed under 4 stars)
The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto
Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto
Park Hyatt Toronto
The Hazelton Hotel
Restaurants
Scaramouche
Canoe
The Dining Room at Langdon Hall
One Restaurant
Splendido
Spas
Spa at the Hazelton
The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Toronto
Stillwater Spa
The Royal York better up its game.
Last edited:
TOareaFan
Superstar
Well, I do not know how Forbes rates hotels relative to other rating systems but for the longest time Toronto had the reputation of being the largest city in the developed world without a true 5 star hotel.
There was a fairly well read study (I think by Horvath) that made the rounds of developers and then, via them, to their lenders. I am pretty sure that while the report did not say Toronto needed a bunch of 5-stars it did say there was a shortage.
The construction of Trump, new Four Seasons, Shangri La, Hazelton and Ritz was all geared towards or driven by the need shown in that report.
They were all, reportedly, built to 5 - Star standard and offering 5 Star accomodation/services.........perhaps Forbes has some requirement for them to operate at that level for a period of time before they get Forbes' 5-star notation.
Riverdale Rink Rat
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As someone who doesn't stay in 4 or 5 star hotels, pray tell what is the difference and why should we care?
vz64
Active Member
Interesting. Maybe she lives in the suburbs? Then it might be true... But I agree with that 30 yr old observation, even 10 yr ago Toronto was more sleepy/quiet place than it is now. I remember visiting my wife back in 2000-01. She was articling at the time and she lived close to Bay and Edwards. We would go out to lower parts of Yonge, also to Bay and Dundas area, even to Queen W. These parts of downtown were becoming very empty after 10pm... and that was on Fri-Sat nights! I had to return to Kingston late on Sat/Sunday and, even around 1-2am, Princess was still bustling with toursists and Queen's students! Well, that was 10 yr ago... My wife did not like the downtown back then, but now she compares Toronto to San Francisco.
TOareaFan
Superstar
It is an extremely subjective rating system...this gives a decent summary of the ratings......http://www.areatravelinc.com/star-ratings.html
When I said "need" it was more of hole in the market segment....of course Toronto as a city was fine without any 5-star but there was a market niche not being filled....and that presents opportunities. I will say that the type of person that chooses to visit a city and looks for nothing less than 5 star accomodation is, likely, someone with pretty deep pockets and might just be a tourist/visitor that will increase the average tourist spend stats and, therefore, have a bigger impact on the local economy.
If you go on various travel sites, hotels like the IC, Hilton, Royal York, etc. are regarded in Toronto as 4 star......the new ones I mentioned are rated 5 star (albeit not by Forbes
).......if you can get a room at the Intercontinental for $200 - $250 a night (not including the uberdiscounts you can get on sites like hotwire) and yet the Ritz/Trump/Shangri La are at $500 per night.....that might be the biggest difference.