Windsor Arms Hotel Reviews

I have been visiting the Windsor Arms for high tea over the last several years. I took my husband to celebrate his birthday this year. Normally we've had exceptional service and it's been a seamless and very positive experience. However this time I was told that I would have to pay full price for my 5 year old daughter. When I explained that she would't be eating anything (she does not like any of the offerings, as she is too young to appreciate them), I was promptly told I would have to pay full price. So I did. I paid $55 + tax and tip for her to sit there. What did not sit well with me was this experience. Management didn't even come out to explain or assess the situation. We were in the 3 pm seating, which isn't that busy, which I did purposefully so she wouldn't be taking a seat away from anyone during a busier time. In the end it cost me $220 for 2 people to have tea. This is a disgrace. I certainly hope that $55 was worth it as we won't be coming back.

Great breakfast and dinner options, but I have never stayed at the hotel.

The location was easily accessible on Bloor street, with all options including driving, public transit and walking available. As soon as you enter, you check in with reception for your booking. We made reservations for high tea for a 2hr session. We we're seated in a room shared with about 4 other tables. There was one other large room that served more guests. Service was friendly, and quick. Only complaint was that the table was cramped for our reservation for 6 people and we are not big people. Furthermore the lavatory facilities happened to be 1 floor away only available via elevator but very clean and tidy. The food was expected.

Beautiful building, incredible location within the downtown core, and unbelievably accommodating staff. Will be returning without question.

Must go to 2nd floor through elevator to use bathroom. Otherwise it's a cool place.

The General Manager refused to accept an Open Table gift certificate even though they participate in the open table program. The gift certificate is actually a travelers check issued by Royal bank. There is no legal reason to decline a traveler's check. The GM was making up an excuse not to recognize the committment to the program. This is a clear sign of a struggling business.

Enjoyed high tea at Windsor Arms. Great selection of teas (and hot chocolate for the kids). The scones were moist and crumbled. The petite fours were also good. Could have been a little more generous with the sandwiches which tasted ok. Good atmosphere and courteous service. Would return.

Very rude customer service! I would not advise anyone to take their business to this hotel!

I have never written an online review, but my 4 day stay at this once bastion of elegance in Toronto, was so dismal I simply must. I cannot go into all the issues but all must know there is NO on site management presence-so if you have a problem-too bad. George & Michael Friedmann-father/son operators simply ignore all messages sent-so do not bother.Also, no housekeeping-all calls go to front desk. In theory, this should work-this is a tiny boutique hotel-however the system is an epic fail in every way.I will give only 1 example of days of mounting frustration.There is an old VERY LOUD Keurig machine in the room-my daughter actually bought ear plugs since I have my coffee early-to go with the old TV-which literally required someone to
come to the room to turn on. When I went to make coffee, the turn down service had not replenished glasses, coffee pods or creamer. I called the front desk-only to be told the 'butler' doesnt come in til 7am. I asked for someone else to bring it-the answer was no. I said I would come down to get it myself-to which I was told he did not know where they were!!!The front desk is literally right next to the restaurant. He told me my choice was to order room service and pay for my coffee or wait til 7-even though I reminded him this was the hotels fault for not restocking our room. I got dressed, and went out in torrential rain to get coffee-and then at 7 called again to get what should have already been there. I asked the gentleman about a manager, and thats when I realized there was none.Its sad for me to see what was once such a magnificent hotel turn into a place of mismanagement-well actually, NO management-and a total disregard for a guests happiness.If you truly want to stay at a 5 star hotel-stay at the Hazelton Hotel-truthfully stay anywhere but here.I must reiterate-all this could have been smoothed out if someone had simply respected us enough as clients to return a call or make any attempt. I never even got an apology from a surly front desk gentleman when I complained. Clearly they dont care- and for that reason alone staying here is ill advised.

Hidden gem. Great bar with piano player. A bit pricey, but here you get value. Location, highly professional service, comfort, atmosphere. Great place for a date.

Just a gorgeous place. The decor is so elegant, I enjoyed the French style ambience and the setting. It would make lovely gift experience for someone who has fine taste

High Tea was fabulous. Decor, service and food quality and quantity. Pricey but excellent for a special occasion

I went for tea and the room was great and a great experience

I recently booked the Russian Red room for high tea for my birthday for a group of 15 girls. Prior to my booking I paid the balance in full as requested by the agent. I specifically requested that no beef or pork be served due to religious restrictions. During my conversations with the booking agent Harriet, I did let her know that there would be little girls attending and she told me that it would be a lovely experience for them. I was told that the grilled cheese would take the place of ham and cheese sandwiches. Upon arrival of the booking day, everything seemed lovely. Everyone was in conversation and we had placed the smaller children on the smaller table in the room to sit together. Once food arrived and my mother checked to see that there was no pork/beef served she then noticed that there was meat in the grilled cheese sandwiches and she immediately shouted for none of our family to eat it. But unfortunately, one of the little ones had already reached for and taken a bite out of a ham sandwich. My aunt slapped it out of her hand. I immediately asked the server to remove them but he did not. He asked us to stay away from them. It was very upsetting that my request had been disregarded and was now being belittled. We made the best of the remainder of our sitting and then just as we were about to leave the restaurant manager apologized and left. To my dissatisfaction, I paid for ham when I do not even consume it. Upon letting Harriet know she informed me that the general manager of the hotel was willing to donate $100 to a charity of our choice. When my mother asked to speak with the manager he then compared our religious belief reasoning for not wanting pork on the table to a food allergy. He mentioned that his friend had consumed seafood and was allergic to insinuate that it was not a big deal. I understand his lack of understanding of our religion seeing as though he probably hasn t the slightest clue about our religious practices but it would be nice to have understanding, a formal apology and some sort of credit directed towards the victim, not a third party (businesses get tax breaks on donations). Nonetheless, the management demonstrated hard headedness, disrespect and the inability to step back and examine things from our perspective. If you had a child and they consumed something that they were specifically not to no matter the reason and the person liable was belittling the situation, what would you do? To my displease, an understanding of religious beliefs and restrictions was not even addressed. I understand that being outside of a religion makes it sometimes hard to develop a clear understanding but customer service should never be lost along the way. If the issue was addressed properly, we could have let it go and possibly return but the general manager was not nearly as apologetic as the booking agent and clearly felt like what happened was not a big deal. The attitude on the phone demonstrated by the manager made it nearly impossible to carry out a civil conversation. Also the manager's name was George; I wonder if it s the same George that owns the entire establishment. It would be quite dissatisfying to know that the owner was the one demonstrating arrogance and not just an employee.

Very cool atmosphere. Drinks and food were fantastic! Great for a date night or just out with some friends! Live music was really nice.

Absolutely terrible customer service. A family friend had an engagement celebration here and left their car with the valet service. A hit and run occurred under their supervision, the staff and manager/ owner took no responsibility, not even a valid apology. Instead, they received disrespectful tones and facial expressions instead. It took a male to come before they wanted to resolve the issue. Sexist much?

Went for the High Tea and it was delicious! Everything was impeccable and our server super friendly, very nice experience in a beautiful environment. We rented the hats which is for charity, and the hotel concierge staff was snobby and unfriendly. At a boutique hotel and high-end property like this, you should have nice staff, always smiling at any of your guests- otherwise their annoyed faces impact the entire experience.

5 STARS ++
We celebrated our wedding day at the Hotel on Nov. 3rd, 2018.
From the venue, food, service, to all the staff who stepped forward in delivering a truly 5 star experience, I thank you for all your efforts and hard work.
The entire team came together to deliver a truly magical and exceptional experience for us and our guests.
Thank you for a great life memory.
Joel & Micaela

This was definitely a new experience for me.

Came here on my girlfriends birthday on a Saturday and the place was moderately busy with customers coming and going. The tea and scones were probably the best things I ve had here. Sweets are super rich and sandwiches aren t really all the special.

Staff is super informed and friendly. Our table waiter knew every dessert, sandwich, tea, scone, jam inside out! Very helpful :)

I got the masala chai and she got the fruit tea. We also got both the vegan and regular lunch sets. Again, best thing was the scones on strawberry jam. They were so perfect (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside)

Loved it! We booked it for valentine's day and for twilight tea. We were well served and it was a lovely experience! Highly recommended.

Beautiful hotel! was clean , the staff were very respectful...would go back and experience this lovely stay

Went for high tea; the service, snacks and tea were all good

Recent visit Windsor Army Tea House. Service ok. tea not bad, but we had really not too fresh basket food: 5 Sandwiches / 1 Tart / 2 Scones / 2 Petit Fours.... too bad my friends also found the china pleat that we using are borked edge. the floor at our setting area are dirty! same at elevator if you look it carefully,
I was their many years ago. It was very classic elegant place, now I don't see any thing near the before, I have to say sorry to my friends, I feel shame for " OLD WINDSOR AEMY TORONTO" this is not the one place should introduce to ....

We spent three nights there at this historic hotel this month. Although it has a wonderful location and most of the staff (excluding the General Manager) are very friendly and accommodating, we were disappointed. Certainly it was not as clean as we would expect a 4+ star hotel to be, and in the first room we had, the A/C didn't work. We were moved into a nicer room at the same rate, but it isn't worth the money in our opinion.

Went here for a Xmas party. Really nice looking building. Food was good.

My wife and I were treated really well by hotel staff, starting with the valet who took care of our car and Carol who checked us in at the front desk. The room was clean, fresh and beautifully set up, with all the conveniences. The bar staff were excellent. This is the kind of hotel where you go to treat yourself to a special time. The breakfast was simple but well made and tasty.

Great place to stay for a vacation, rooms are extremely well-appointed. The kosher restaurant is pure bliss.

Food was very good. More seating would be nice. The decor was superb. Really enjoyed it there.

This place is disgusting. Very outdated and I've seen cockroaches here. Management could care less about the health of their customers.

Stuffy, old and dated with archaic lunch menu. Slightly better menu for dinner. Great for a quiet private business meeting. Tea room remains as good as ever.

you definently pay for the top quality service here, and the wedding accommodations are very elaborate and professional.

We had lunch at the Gatsby restaurant inside the hotel. From the moment we arrived, the service was absolutely horrible and unprofessional. The food was mediocre at best.

I really don't see what's five about the stars this hotel has

Went for the afternoon tea. Excellent food, tea and service.

We came here for the Sunday brunch buffet after buying a Groupon. Having participated in many groupon buys I was sure to read the instructions prior to buying and visiting the establishment. As the Groupon stated online that displaying the purchase on our phone was adequate, we did not print out a physical copy of the coupon.

When greeted by the hostess she asked for a printout of the groupon. As no one had instructed us to do so when the reservation was made, nor did the actual deal state a printed copy was needed, we replied with no. Her response was rude and condescending, making us out to be idiots for not printing out the Groupon. Thank goodness she did US the favor of allowing us to email the Groupon to her.

The actual service inside the restaurant was good. The wait staff were all friendly and attentive. We thoroughly enjoyed the pianist who played during the entire time we were there.

Food in general was all cold. Although all the serving stations had burners under them, none were being utilized. The only things that were served hot were the made-to-order eggs and also a bread pudding that was freshly placed on the serving table half an hour before closing.

Overall, I would say it is not worth it at all to come here for the brunch buffet at regular or the currently discounted price.

Afternoon tea here is famous. Enjoyed the blueberry black tea.

We went for high tea, the snacks were ok. The tea is the best part! The servers made up for experience. They tried to elevate the snacks given the price. Honestly, they could have done better in that department with something more simple. Except for the scones! They were great. Atmosphere was wonderful. They acknowledged my wife's birthday. That was very nice.

Went to the Windsor Arms Hotel for a wedding a few weeks ago. Had a drink at the bar and saw NHL celebrity Brendan Shanahan. Reception area for the wedding was a little too crowded and noisy. Dining room was very elegant and the food was great. Seating arrangement was a little snug, but not too bad. Servers could have done a better job coming around with the wine as we waited a very long time for a refill.

I visited the Windsor Arms for High Tea, it was such a fantastic experience. The service we received was great, they were patient and helpful with our decision making. The room was gorgeous, filled with white and deep purple. The SCONES.. Delicious!

Went for high tea. The sandwiches weren't anything special and the desserts were overly sweet. One tea selection for each person, but they give hot water refills. Service was good though.

We stayed at this hotel for anniversary, I read a lot of reviews before going and was surprised over how many bad reviews there are. We had a great time. I thought the hotel was beautiful. We weren't able to use any of the amenities because of the coronavirus so everything was closed. But they are still offering room service partially through the day which was nice, it was not available for breakfast unfortunately but at least you could order lunch or dinner which is nice. They upgraded our room and I'm not entirely sure why but it was absolutely beautiful. I found the room to be very clean and I loved the decor. I chose this hotel also because they have jetted tubs which is hard to find. It was deep and very relaxing. The front desk man was very helpful and friendly. The girl the next morning seemed a little less friendly or maybe she was just tired, but that's okay we didn't have to deal with her very much. I thought this hotel was very beautiful and I would definitely come back again.

We came here to use the spa for the first time today; usually we go there for the tea. The spa is small and outdated but clean. The front desk staff was polite but not very thorough or informative. We ordered a glass of prosecco before going into the pool area. There were maintenance workers fixing lights, their stuff laying around and random swimming shorts on the chair and a cold sauna. We felt uncomfortable swimming there so we left and was offered a salt cave treatment instead. At this point we are still waiting on our prosecco almost 40 minutes later only to receive two sweet, flat glasses of cheap bubbly. We were not even given a menu to look at so this is what we got. Our body treatments were done well and we were happy with the staff members who provided the services. On the way out of the hotel, we decided to give some feedback to the manager. Straight away he was rude and speaking quite arrogantly and would barely give us a chance to speak. He also claimed he knew that there was maintenance to be done in the pool yet failed to let the staff and clients know. We were very disappointed in our experience and the way management handled these issues.

We have stayed here twice and it was amazing both times. The rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable but it was the staff that made our experience so great. Sal is wonderful. He always goes above and beyond . And the cookies at bedtime, who doesn't love that?!

Beautiful hotel. Attended afternoon high tea. All the food and tea selections were excellent. Valet service was fabulous.

Dining in the Living Room was comfortable and the food was decent

The decor is beautiful and I really like that it is organized as smaller rooms as it makes the experience more intimate. I did not like that no one informed me of the Mother's Day pricing, so it was a bit of a surprise when I got the bill. Considering I called 3 times prior to the visit it would have been nice to know that was $15 more per person. The tea itself became too strong too fast. The food was average. Not my favourite high tea experience, but still enjoyable for the moms, which is what truly mattered.

High tea at the room on the left side from front door. Love the food and tea. Tried the Once Upon a Tea and loved the taste

Went for high tea to celebrate my aunts 70th. We had a great time. Excellent service.

Beautiful dining area for a wedding with great decorations, food, and dance floor. Bartenders underserved at the open bar all night though

Had my wedding there. Beautiful hotel, but snotty management and ridiculously expensive.

I love The Arms. A magnificent building with an extremely mediocre bar. The night I went was cold so the room was barren except for a few brave souls and the pianist and flutist. The bartender lacked the experience necessary to effortlessly create amazing cocktails at astronomical prices. Instead of bar nuts I got about 5 wasabi peas. My cocktail was made with Real Lemon juice instead of real lemons. The room is poorly designed as the backs of the musicians were to the bar. When you decide to go into hospitality you must make the conscious effort to "sweat the small stuff". This place strikes me as a hotel that is someone's vanity hobby and not their true passion or competency.

Amazing ambience. Perfect for a catch up date with your girlfriends. Slightly on the pricier side but it's definitely worth it for a one time experience.

Fabulous lounge, definitely a touch of class. Thank you for still being there:)

Service was poor and afternoon tea is very mediocre. Expected more, not impressed.

Honestly the service was horrible. We went for a family members birthday celebration. The tea was ok, assortment of desserts again was ok. Nothing spectacular. I ve been to other places where the selection of mini sandwiches and petite fours was by far amazing, as well there usually is a small ting of a few teas. Was a bit taken aback with only having to pick one tea and whether or not I like it. I d be stuck with a big pot.
Now as for the service. Very disappointing our waiter was quite rude. I brought two of my children both under 3 yrs old. I asked our server if the children are free or if I have to pay for them. He smiled and said don t worry about it I ll just bring a tea for them. No charge. Sounded ok.
At the end of our time there. We were told that my 3 yes old would be charged full price. I was taken aback by this since our server said no charge. She didn t eat anything. Barely drank one cup of the tea.
We asked to speak with he manager. An older man came over and said there is nothing he can do. He can t refund the charge, (which by the way I find ridiculous) I had explained to him that even if you charge for a child should only be half price, but never full adult price. But even though both the birthday girl who booked asked if children are free and we asked in the beginning still told no charge. Then to charge full price. That s insane. Then the manager goes to say he should be charging for a 6 month old infant who doesn t even drink or eat any real food yet and my 2 year old son. That s crazy. The customer service was horrible. What happened to the consumer is always right. Not here I guess. Makes me want to tell everyone to boycott this place.

Very disappointed

The service was great. Jenny made the afternoon very special. She went out of her way to make sure my family and I had a wonderful time. The teas was excellent, and they Give more than you can ask for. The food was a bit dry and didn t really fancy it.

Beautiful place for high tea. Amazing service..great attention to details. Scones were amazing..had to get more clotted cream! Jams were great compliments to the scones too. Finger sandwiches were tasty as well. Desserts were beautifully made and tasted just as amazing as it looked!!! Great selection of teas.

Atrocious customer service: ball point pen exploded when my friend was signing the "high tea" bill, took 4 days to send her blouse to dry cleaner, refused to pay her money to replace blouse when stain didn't come off; then turned around and blamed my friend for doing this on purpose and told her to talk to the pen manufacturer! This hotel takes no responsibility, and has no accountability. Frankly, I don't see why anyone would go to the Windsor Arms when the Shangri-La, for example, offers way better service, food, and, yes indeed, high tea.

My Daughter & I took her friend and the friends daughter to their FIRST Tea experience, we picked the Windsor Arms as we had been there before and had a lovely time, good service, fresh sandwiches, and lovely tea and desserts, unfortunately that can not be said for last night. Our server was usually no where to be found, we had to ask another server for help. The sandwiches seemed stale and dried out. For our friend and her young (12) daughter it was not a good incentive to go again to "Afternoon Tea". Was expecting more from the beautiful surroundings
.

High Tea Experience: This was a very disappointing experience. Although the tea selection was excellent, the food was not good. The sandwiches were clearly pre-cut and had been sitting out for a while (the bread had started to go hard and stale). The petit fours were uninspiring, the scones satisfactory. The best thing was the strawberry jam. It's not really worth it for the price.

Was here for a wedding reception. The food was fantastic. Great selection and taste. I did think the front staff, desk and coat check, needed to be more customer service oriented. The waiters, waitresses, waiters, bartenders and valet were great.

Have been at this location for Mothers Day Brunch many times and the other day for Christmas Dinner Buffet. Each time the experience has progressively became worse. The Christmas Buffet was the last straw. They are always late to open the room and seat people, yesterday was no exception. Not all the food was ready or out for the Buffet, there appeared to be one wait staff who was doing the entire room, so poor service at the table. Not the person fault, they tried, but when we needed water I had to go find the person and make the requests. I had a pile of plates at our table of 4, they were slow or next to non existent to come take away empty plates. I had to ask one of the persons bringing out the food if the Buffet could have more plates as they ran out? I did see many people go up to who seemed to be the manager of the restaurant and complain, they had every right to do so, it was a poor experience all the way around, the food, well let me just say that the $85.00 per plate was the quality of a very low end buffet. Turkey, well they had Turkey loaf, no stuffing or any fixing of that nature.
So, we are finished out dinner, looking to get coffee, so I had to get up yet again and go find the wait staff and ask if we could get coffee. One came, but not the three lattes, had to go and ask again.
Shame on the person running this who could have done a much better job as it was a Christmas dinner and you could tell how many persons were not happy for one reason or another.
My last time going to this place and paying over $450 for a group of 4, even the association with the Windsor Arms lost its shine.

Visited during winterliscious and the hotel is awesome. Great art collection and a true preservation of the past and old Toronto.

Really lovely service, as buffets go this was a very good one!

My parents were in town visiting from London, England for Thanksgiving, so we wanted a fairly nice place to have our dinner. We chose the hotel's "Living Room" restaurant.

First, we ordered a Kim Crawford white wine, it took them about 20 minutes to get back to us to tell us they actually didn't have any in stock. Then we ordered our second option, which, after about 10 minutes, was also determined to be out of stock, so we were forced to order a more expensive white. Turns out they don't even chill the wines that they DO have in stock, so we had to wait about 10 minutes for the wine to come, having already waited 30 minutes from ordering our first option.

Our waiter did not know anything about the menu she was working with. Maybe she was new, but she never said so.

I ordered the 8oz Tenderloin ($36) with a side of Fingerling Potatoes ($6) and Market Vegetables ($6). The vegetables arrived first before anything, already lukewarm. 5 Minutes later my beef arrived - also lukewarm - and the vegetables had gone cold. After telling the waiter, he took my vegetables, and was not seen for about another 10 minutes. When a second waiter came out and asked if I'd gotten my vegetables back, I said no, and was promptly delivered the same vegetables at a lukewarm temperature. When asked if they were microwaved the waiter said no, and then continued to fumble over her words, not saying anything in particular. I will bet my life those vegetables were microwaved - and they couldn't even get that right.

My mother ordered the Salmon ($26 - if I remember correctly) which was not fully cooked and was also lukewarm.
When my sister asked for a Hoisin sauce with a vegetarian wrap that she ordered, the waiter recommended a spicy mayo sauce, and my sister said that sounded great, but she'd also like the Hoisin sauce. The waiter left and a few minutes later another waiter came back with the Spicy mayo sauce. When my sister asked where the Hoisin sauce was, this new waiter told us they didn't have it. At that moment, our original waiter walked by the table, directly past my sister and never apologized for promising to deliver on a sauce they didn't even carry.

On top of all that, there was a secondary waiter (the one that took my vegetables away) that refused to crack a smile. I felt like I was in trouble whenever he came around. He felt almost like a security guard or a bouncer.

At the end of the night, when I asked for the bathroom, these were the directions given to me:
Just walk out of here from where you came in, into the hotel lobby, on your right is an elevator. Take it to the second floor. Out of the elevator take a left, and then cross the bridge on your right. The bathrooms are on your left.
Yes. You have to take an elevator to get to the washrooms.

IF you ever find yourself in this restaurant, get a vegetarian cold dish to avoid disappointment.

Gorgeous hotel! We went for the salt cave but will be going back for other treatments at their spa soon. This hotel is decorated impeccably and staffed by some of the modt pleasant people in the industry.

Enjoyed a beautiful afternoon tea at the Windsor Arms with my BFF, service was exceptional and the food exquisite

The room was very smelly like there was excessive diarrhea. I do not recommend this to anyone that is looking for fine dining or any kind of customer service.

Very nice buffet brunch but the room was a
little dark and oppresive for my taste. Pretty
expensive also.

Lovely brunch buffet, with mimosas and great tea selection.

Great staff. Great decor. Loved the entire experience.

Afternoon tea in a boutique hotel with some historical character. Go on a weekday if you can.