Windsor Arms Hotel Reviews

Been here a number of times for brunch, which was excellent. Came this evening for Christmas dinner and it was AWFUL. Service was terrible. We had reservations and had to wait another twenty minutes in a room they left us in and forgot we were there. The food was running out and it was cold and the cooks seemed so clueless I think they were high. They would be asked to replace something that was empty or appeared stale and they would say "OK" and just stand there staring at nothing and not get the item! And manage the was fighting back when people were complaining!! So disappointed.

Worst service ever experienced at a first class hotel. Cannot accommodate allergies and Owner, George Friedman does not care about his customers. Cannot look at anyone in the eyes and unfortunately his ego will be the downfall of his shabby empire.

Kosher Restaurant here is great, which it should be given its price. Service is friendly, the seating area is intimate, and the apitizers and entrees are delicious. You probably won't have room come dessert, and that's ok, since the desserts are the only part of the menu thats lacking.

Although beautifully decorated, there are a number of places that are nearby and well worth the 5 minute walk. Highly recommend the bar.

My wife and I were at the Windsor Arms for our anniversary. Its old and run down but we decided to make the best of it, as the pictures on the website are not representative of what we experienced. We valeted our new car overnight, and when we called in the morning to have it brought up from parking they claimed it no longer worked. Whoever tried to start the car had pushed the ignition button so hard it broke, then they used a screw driver to try to get it out (which didn't work and caused further damage). I ended up losing the whole day of work waiting for a tow truck to take it to the car dealership for repair, which cost $500. I also had to rent a car for 4 days as the car was being repaired, which cost another $400. We spoke to the owner and he denied any and all responsibility. The dealership told us they have never seen this before and that the amount of force that must have been used to break the ignition button would have had to of been dramatic. The very least the hotel could have done is offered a complimentary night, but all they did was lie to us. It definitely took a lot of fun out of our celebration. I would never recommend that hotel to anyone.

A delightful hotel for an overnight, short or long stay. Located in Toronto's most exclusive boutiques and stores of Bloor/Yorkville area.

The hotel is very small, 4 floors, all 28 suites have a butler's pantry, which allows for placement of your meals, laundry, serv8ce trays etc., without you being disturbed. The hotel is also pet-friendly, and a musical instrument, ours was a harp.

Dining, tea room, spa, screening room, there's a lot , you can even have an intimate wedding ceremony. Truly a beautiful place to relax.

Beautiful lobby. Nice guy who opens the door for you. I like the film related pictures in the hallways. I saw Dustin Hoffman, Elvis!

I'm rating the Tea Room. After seeing some very polarizing reviews before attending, I knew I'd want to write my own review after my visit.

The tea was very nice, as were the mini-sandwiches, scones, and petit fours. The service didn't stand up to the price point we're dealing with. The server came to each table in turn, recited a script, then moved on. The script included very firm rules on only getting to select one type of tea. After our tea arrived, and had been drank, hot water arrived on her schedule, each table in turn. Attempting to flag her down to get more hot water earlier was for naught. At the end more trouble getting her to come back to run our credit card.

As a minor note: the tea came infused in the pot, with a strainer you would pour through into your cup. I would have preferred a strainer in the pot I could use to remove all the leaves at once. Some teas become quite astringent if left too long.

The atmosphere was nice, the hats were fun (my mother and grandmother took one for the tea), and the snacks were tasty. The service was quite weak for the price point.

This is based on the afternoon tea. It was ok. Not impressive. Scones were smaller and over the top sweet. Jam was nice and tea was hot. Waiters couldn t really care much I waited 15 minutes for more milk. It was 6/10.

very convenient location for afternoon dessert after shopping around here, better to make a reservation before you go there

It was a nice Sunday brunch, but previous experiences were much better. A few years ago it was held in the grand courtyard room/area and there seemed to be more food options. I hear that it's still held there from time to time. This day however, it was in a smaller space, and with fewer food options compared to what we recall. We also noticed no one in the room got their eggs benedict despite having ordered them. But on the plus side, we got the highchair we asked for, and the staff were very friendly.

Romantic
Nice and professional staff
Amazing short rib

I went to Windsor Arms high tea for a bridal party. The waitress who served us was very professional. We were seated in one of the 3 rooms, the Tiffany green room, although it wasn't possible to choose which room to reserve when we booked it. They were mixed in helpfulness over the phone. I'm from Vancouver and I wasn't able to get a hold of them every time I call and they didn't respond to my voice mail. The staff who picked up my call was informative and cheerful, but when my friend called to book, the staff wasn't very friendly. The food would not be the reason to go to this high tea. Price and decor definitely would be great reasons to consider Windsor Arms if you're planning bridal party, but not the food unfortunately. Tea was great, but much like all other high tea places. I unfortunately broke a teapot lid as I was getting up from the table, and they were very nice about it. Lemon zest scone was my favourite.

Rude old front desk guy has no manners when dealing with a customer . He needs to be replaced and would not be coming back

Pretty good. Really like having the sound system in the room we stayed in. However don't lift the plastic cover for the tub pump. Really gross and nasty underneath.

Excellent is every way other than the price and the parking.

The Food, Atmosphere and Service are all splendid.

Very nice hotel. One of the last old style hotels in Toronto. Large suites, updated, but still a little rough around the edges. This is the hotel to go to if you want privacy and to be away from gawkers and loud people. If you want to travel like a rock star, without the groupies bothering you, this is the place to go.

Came for afternoon tea, the tea was great and the service was accommodating the whole time. Felt like I went back in time to have a tea party with my girl.

a nice hotel, very good spa as well as salt cave, high tea and brunch. one particular staff member named Ben at brunch was quite rude and kept poking fun at our expense far beyond the point of acceptability. highly unprofessional.

the room was good, however the first room we had reserved had a quite pungent odour similar to mothballs. the desk staff was very amicable and moved us to a better room free of charge. all in all a decent experience. the location is good for tourists who intend to walk places.

Great ambiance. Excellent service. A little disappointed in food.

Did an event here in October of 2017. If you are an event/wedding planner, Don't bother checking it out. The owner was micro-managing the entire day, and was breathing down the backs of my tech staff the entire time.

Most definitely the worst venue I have worked in the past 10 years.

The only saving grace was a French gentleman who was the floor manager. Too bad I can't remember his name, but if I owned a high end hotel in the downtown core I would steal him in a heartbeat!

Great place to have afternoon tea
Coffee at the piano bar is nice too

I took my girlfriend here for afternoon tea, thinking it would be nice experience and the tea itself would be top notch. We were very disappointed. Our waiter was not great. He was rather cold to us throughout. The tea itself is not worth the money. Sad to say, they increase their prices during the holidays, which made it even worse, as paying full price was bad enough. The sandwiches choices were lame and the desserts were okay. I wouldn't recommend coming here for tea.

Went for tea service on a Friday afternoon. Staff were very accommodating, even when we called to say we'd be a little late. The decor is beautiful and fits the theme. The pastries and sandwiches were very fresh and tasty! Would recommend :)

For the afternoon high tea seating, the tea selection was quite varied and the room and decor was intimate and classic. The trays however were lacking, especially the sweet tier. The petit fours were not made in house and you can tell they were mass processed. They reminded me of the desserts you can get at a Japanese ayce. The scones were made in house and were quite good. All in all, I don't think the quality was worth the price.

Came here for high tea. The staff were very friendly and nice. It was a quiet afternoon, perfect for spending time with friends while munching on the delicate pastries. Beautiful teaware!

Attended a whisky tasting there, it was very interesting and fun, even though I'm not a whisky drinker myself. Very beautiful building, great service.

Afternoon tea previously has been such a treat to indulge in with my daughter on Mother s Day. Unfortunately, this year the Windsor Arms was disappointing for several reasons. It felt like being on an assembly line and being in a mechanized cash grab of a day and given the sharp increase in pricing for Mother s Day service, one would hope they could maintain the high level of service befitting a five star hotel. The service was cold and impersonal and there was little attention paid to us as customers. The food was stale and a step down from previous years. Their afternoon tea service used to be the best in the city. Can t say I would ever return for tea. Definitely put a bit of a damper on a special day.

Awesome venue for parties and work events! Really enjoyed our company's holiday party here.

Pretty much food, very nice facilities, ok staff, terrible pricing, small kosher selection.

Terrible experience. I booked a facial which started roughly with 1/2 hr of delay. Also, there was crazy loud noise inside the spa - not the ideal environment. It happens that half the spa was booked for a female group of friends to celebrate a bday (yes a party inside a spa - they were celebrating like it was a bar) indeed it was so loud that I had to interrupt my facial and ask for a quieter environment. My point: you can't sacrifice the experience of a customer which if paying $$$ just because you didn't want to loose a large female group's business. You go to a spa precisely to relax.

My husband and I were at the Windsor Arms Hotel for high tea in their tea room. Service was great. Food was good.

Amazing venue!! Host a company party there and it was stunning!!

Terrible experience at this hotel, we had a high tea event for my cousins baby shower and we left extremely disappointed and frustrated. My cousin left her car with the valet and upon the completion of the event Valet Manager Jason Friedmann told my cousin that her car had been in an accident. Jason did not notify us of this incident right away, and instead waited until the event was over. The car was severely damaged and Jason told us that the valet driver was taking the car to park it and a guest had bumped into it. The event was 2 hours long, so Jason's decision to wait until the end to inform us boggles my mind. When we asked for the insurance information of the second party, he responded by saying "I don't know". My cousin waited 2 hours at the hotel to get the insurance information only to be told that they couldn't find it. While waiting, a staff member named Kal was particularly rude, disrespectful and condescending. Would not expect such lack of customer service, respect for paying customers and overall apathy from such a well-known and expensive hotel.

Spent my birthday here - very classy hotel. Beds are comfortable, the spa bath is lovely, and the Nespresso machine is a nice touch. Also had cocktails in the Cafe and High Tea in the Tea Room, and would highly recommend both. Service is top notch, I cannot wait to stay here again!

The only reason I am giving the spa 2 stars is because the RMT I had was a sweet lady.
The pool is that of the hotel. No sauna, no hot tub. I felt like I was in my condo pool - very conventional.
I won't complain up a whole ton, but the cherry on top was the towel, actually, all of the towels my sisters and I used had knots of hair tangled in the fibers that ended up on my body when I wiped down.
I complained to the 4 ladies at the front desk, and all I got was, "where did you get the towel?"
It was my birthday! I won't be returning and do not recommend this spa to anyone. Sorry!

My friends and I attended High Tea. It was a beautiful and we were very impressed with the food and tea provided. We stayed for about an hour and a half. Great atmosphere. Our only complaint was that our server was very short with us so our feelings were that service could have been better. Have already recommended to a friend.

We went to the bar beautiful decor the staff at the door and seating you are great . Th bar staff are lacking a little, they are quite slow in terms of service . Clearing the table takes too long too . The wine selection is phenomenal .
Washrooms are upstairs and are very clean.
The tea rooms look great. I would give it 3.5 stars not quite a 4 not quite a 3. I have been there over Christmas and it is lovely.

Gorgeous hotel. Very friendly staff. I was only meeting a friend, so I was only in the hotel for about half an hour, but the front desk made sure to say hi and wish both of us a good day. The rooms are nice, but pricey. Again, if money isn't a problem, this hotel is great.

We have been going here for Christmas brunch a very long time and the decline in quality and service this year was very disappointing to experience. White wine served warm being just one 'highlight'. Sad really.

Friendly staff and good in room food is all I would say worked. The entire experience is missing the details from what I expected as an upper scale hotel. The corner suit, said by staff to be the best room, had many issues. The toilet was in a separate room, which was great, but the sink in that room didn't work. The shower let a lot of water out of the stall so I had to wipe up a lot of water each time I took a shower. The shower faucet was crazy strong and you couldn't adjust it. Light switches were all messed up. I had to turn off each one of the eight lights manually. I would have expected one or two main switches max. Large tub was nice, but it would have been great to supply bath salts or bath soap. I know these are very picky details, but like I said, for a higher end hotel I would of expected more attention to these things.

Beautiful place. Fantastic service... food could use a bit of salt.

I am never going near this establishment based on experiences I have had with the staff. Obnoxious, entitled, not deserving of patronage.

Home away from home for many. Friendly staff and great location. Interesting design that is not to my taste, but if you want to stay away from the be seen crowd, yet get the same service this is the place.

Second time going to the Tea Room, went with some friends on the weekend. The waiter was extremely helpful, and polite. Food and tea was lovely as usual.

Ergun (front desk/room service) made my night very unpleasant. He was very unprofessional while taking my room service order which I ended up cancelling due to his lack of knowledge about the food being served. Obnoxious women at check out added to this experience.

Had a great massage at the Windsor Arms spa. My therapist, Susan, was very good at working out my knots. Enjoyed swimming in the toasty warm hotel pool but it clearly needs a refresh. Paint is faded and there are a lot of missing tiles. Change rooms need to be better maintained. Shower amenities are not being checked and refilled regularly enough. The spa at the Windsor Arms used to be one of the best luxury spas in Toronto, but that was many years ago. I'm not sure that they would even be in the top 10 now.

Beautiful place, great food and outstanding service. Visiting there from time to time, its quality just going up

Don't do high tea here! Was quoted $40 on the phone, was charged $70 in person, spoke with management and was told nothing could be done. Another table received the same information as us on the phone. Floor was also filthy. NOT WORTH IT

The Tea Room was small, but quaint. Very quiet and lovely.

I would not recommend spending your money to have tea or stay at this hotel. The front staff are extremely rude and unhelpful. Unprofessional service, almost like they are not trained to deal with paying costumers.

Great location, really cool look and feel to the place. Glad I had a chance to visit

Have been for few times. Looking forward last week
November with my lively sisters

We came for high tea on the long weekend. I called in advance to inquire (1) if the hotel was serving and high tea and (2) if the price was in fact the weekday price or not. I was told yes and yes the price was as shown on the website, which was $40pp. When we received our bill it was $55pp almost 40% higher than I was quoted (even higher than the weekend price. I note no "holiday pricing" is listed on the website). I was told there was nothing that could be done and to pay full price and call back the next day. The owner of the hotel spoke to me the next day, was rude, implied that I did not hear correctly as "that is not what would have been communicated over the phone" and would not refund the money. What started as a nice experience ended in disappointment - especially over the unnecessary rudeness. We will not be returning.

High tea was delicious and well worth the price. Only issue is the shrimp sandwich...not as tasty as it should have been.

The servers were exceptional. I stayed for their tea service, and wasn't disappointed. Did not feel

Has a great little bar, live piano most nights makes for a nice atmosphere

Visited for afternoon tea. Seating was 1-3pm. Server kept asking to bring us take away containers starting around 1:45pm. After multiple repeated requests and our continuous declines the server finally said we need to leave because our 2hrs seating was up. I check the time and it was 2:15pm. I reminded her that our seating was 1-3pm and that she was extremely premature and rude for the multiple interruptions and for rushing us to leave. She apologized claiming she didn t notice the time. Server name is Jessica. Apart from the rude service, the food was dry, stale, and the sandwiches were extremely over seasoned with black pepper. I don t mind paying more for good food, ambiance, and service but this was just a complete joke. I visited Windsor arms for afternoon tea back in 2011 and their food and service was definitely better then. Now it s just a waste of time, energy, and money. Avoid at all costs!

Went here for their afternoon tea experience. The front girl guided us to the wrong room. Thankfully a server noticed saw us and brought us to the right room. She was also our server for tea and her name was Suri. She was super pleasant during our time there. Attentive but not overly and was always smiling.

Went for high tea. The venue was elegant, food was alright, and the staff were wonderful. Not too sure I'd go again, but overall, I had a pretty good time.

Beautiful and traditional! Always feel nostalgic in this Staple toronto hotel.

I did not enjoy my experience at this hotel whatsoever. I went for high tea and the hotel management was rude and condescending. I had to wait over 40 mins just to talk to somebody about my reservation. I would never recommend this place to anyone. Before I even had my high tea I wanted to leave because the people were so miserable. There are much better places to go around the city!

Went for a special event. It's classy but surprised that their bathrooms were only accessible on the 2nd floor and could only use the elevator.

Perfect spot to cap off a bachelorette party weekend! We went for afternoon tea - it was elegant and delicious! Great selection of tea and the scones were absolutely delicious! Would recommend :)

Just rent there to pick up a guest but to what I have seen its really a nice hotel

We went for afternoon tea with the Groupon deal. The service was exceptionally slow and the quiche arrived cold. We did not receive our food until an hour after arrival.

Top Notch. Excellent service by Jenny. Beautiful tea and wide selection. The scones light and tasty. The mini quiche warm, to die for and beautifully baked and cakes and desserts. Excellent presentation and to top it off a very lovely Happy Birthday plate for one of our party.will come again.

The Christmas buffet was quite possibly the worst food I have ever witnessed in any restaurant, irrespective of cost. Every single dish was nothing more than a picked-over joke. Every patron was complaining, yet no attempt was made to rectify the situation. Some people were confronting the staff on the spot, demanding an explanation.There wasn't even a turkey on the buffet. As a long time customer of the Windsor Arms, they have now seen the last of me.

Previously had brunch and high tea at Windsor Arms Hotel. Brunch was great! It was buffet style, with delicious items to choose from. For high tea, there were interesting tea selections, and filling tea sandwiches. I was able to have opt for dairy free food items, which was very pleasing. Glamorous decor. Highly recommend!

First time visiting and we had a great time. Would love to go back and visit. The tea was great and the finger foods amazing.

Disappointing...

I was invited here for high tea for a friend s birthday. My first impression of the place was quite nice and the staff was very professional.

However, this didn't last too long. After asking the table for allergies and confirming twice that I was extremely allergic to fish (anaphylaxis) all fish products and entrees were still brought to the table - they were never removed, despite bringing up this up to the staff.

Then...

Paying was an absolute nightmare, after asking to split the bill, there were several circumstances of overcharging. Because the servers mixed up who was splitting and who was paying together.

For $80 this place isn't worth it. It can be nice upon the first impression but crucial mistakes like the ones I experienced make sure that I will never visit this place again willingly.

I've had other people ask if they should have high tea at the Windsor Arms only to reply only if you want to go into anaphylactic shock and then get charged twice

My friend and I went to the Gatsby Room for their Winterlicious offering. The service was very appropriately friendly and respectful of our space (never interrupted us during our conversation). I loved it when the waiter joined into the conversation offering his own experiences on his travels. The food was very well done. I loved all my choices. The Thai green curry sauce was so tasty that I wish there was more of it. The apple crumble was perfectly made. It really was a great overall experience.

Afternoon tea was so much fun! The hats were a great bonus. Excellent food and atmosphere. A great time had by all.