Windsor Arms Hotel Reviews

5 stars out of 5 stars
August 21, 2020
My friend and I came to the restaurant for dinner, we order the salmon with beets sauce and quinoa, it was amazing! we paired it with a Rose wine to die for! The portion was not big, but after the appetizer and the main dish we where so satisfied, we didn t even need dessert. It s a really beautiful place and we really enjoy the service.

Along the side booths there was a vent that was blasting air directly on us while seated

Beautiful experience from the moment you walk through the door. They have afternoon tea. My room was spectacular and the service was outstanding. Absolutely Brilliant.

My friends and I went here for the afternoon high tea. It was very nice. The building and decor were beautiful and the tea and treats were delicious and nicely presented. The two hour time limit is unfortunate, but understandable. I would recommend this, especially for special occasions!

High tea was lovely. The service and tea selection was great. The only thing I would say could be improved were the savoury petite fours - they were good but I have had better at other hotel's high tea. The sweet (desserts and scones) were fantastic.

Went for afternoon tea, nice but not worth the money

The service was great and the waiter was sure to ask us about dietary restrictions. The meal seemed small at first but it filled us all up by the time we were gone. everybody got to choose a tea that they wanted and they got a pot of tea to enjoy for the meal. The first part of the meal was sandwiches. Everybody got 4 sandwiches which were all delicious. The second part was scones served with a raspberry sauce, some clotted cream, and some other kind of fruit jam. The scones were delicious and everybody got 2. The last part was the desserts. Personally I didn't enjoy the macaron in the lactose free meal. Each person gets 4 assorted desserts. Some of them were extremely chocolaty but the other ones I tried were fruity. All the desserts were quite sweet. Everything was clean and the staff was understanding. It's quite expensive but we got a Groupon for $140 for 4 people. You do have to leave a tip for the price it would be without the groupon (because great service deserves recognition) our tip was around 20% of the original price (250-ish) so we ended up tipping approx 50 dollars. Overall I quite enjoyed this experience but I didn't enjoy the price.

It was nice. Good wedding venue. Would attend a wedding there again. However, toilet paper was only 2 ply.

Service at afternoon tea was wonderful. Can't wait to go back.

Great hats. Great high tea. Great fun. Washrooms on second floor.

Went for my very first High Tea, for a Bridal Shower for a friend's Daughter. The food selection was lovely. Scones, mini sandwiches & chocolates & mini cakes.

Customer service is absolutely terrible would not recommend this place to anyone! Rooms are very smelly and dirty with bugs!!!

Classy Hotel, well situated for social events, in the heart of Yorkville, Toronto

Location is great. Near shopping district. Love how the hotel has a very vintage feel. The tea room was very elegant and chic.

absolutely disgusting.
The front desk team ( are they a team or a bunch of random people picked off the street ?) is a joke! The way they speak to you is shocking for a place that claims to be 5 star. i should have known better to look elsewhere from the time i called to book. A man answered very rudely and i felt rushed. i did not feel valued. house keeping here was a joke. i found hair in my bathroom, what looked like cookie crumbs on the carpet, dirty dishes in the night stand ( why why why ) unflushed toilet from the person before or maybe even the housekeeper! only nice thing was the nespresso machine ( very old though ) and the fully stalked mini bar fridge. the prices were way to high. more than double the price if you just go to the corner store. my bed looked like someone slept in it, no crisp sheets. my sleep was nonexistent. the bed was very old and uncomfortable. when i called at night a man answered who sounded like i woke him from his sleep. he said he could not do anything and hung up. you do not hang up on a guest! i wanted to visit the spa but the receptionist was painfully unhelpful. i ended up going for a short swim before realizing what a dirty pool they have. in the morning i went down to speak to reception and a very nice lady was there. Caroline ( ?) she was very nice. she asked me how my stay was and when i asked her for the contact information for her manager, she hesitated. i found that to indicate either the manager wants to be paid like one with no accountability or worse! no manager! well windsor arms, what is it?
a nice young man helped my luggage to the front where my uber was. another worker from what i think might have been an express cafe smiled and said good morning on my way out. where is the hospitality through out the stay? only in the morning does it exist? only when you leave?
go to hazleton. thats where i should have stayed.
Since my stay, i tried to reach out to the hotel to speak to someone about my stay. a very rude man answered after i was on hold for several minutes. when i asked " is this the front desk manager or the hotel manager, " he laughed and said " a manager. what did you want? " disgusted i just hung up. what a joke!!!

If I could give this hotel a ZERO I would.

My husband and I were celebrating a milestone in our new marriage as to why we chose to stay there at your hotel. In addition to take our celebrations even further, I booked high-tea and a spa day the following morning. That is when our experience took a dramatic downturn.

I booked a couple's massage and both of us were getting treatment in the same room. There was one major difference in the way our therapists treated us - my husband's therapist did not wear gloves was pleasant, while mine did not and found her to be extremely rude.

I ve travelled the world at 5star plus hotels here and abroad and have had massages in nearly every country I ve visited - and never once - once - did I have a therapist wear gloves. On top of that the massage was horrible because she wore gloves!

I ve done my due diligence and have contacted various high-level massage therapists/masseuses in Toronto to find out if this is normal practice and protocol to ensure I m not getting ahead of myself and give your employee the benefit of the doubt.

They said THIS IS NOT NORMAL or ACCEPTABLE , which were my initial thoughts and feelings. The therapist is supposed to disclose if they plan to wear gloves and why. She DID NOT do this in any regard nor did I see her put the gloves on. The massage felt odd and lacked any sort of depth, technique as I can t imagine how that can be done while wearing gloves.

I even asked the lady at the front desk of the spa if this was normal practice and she said no and was just as shocked and surprised as I was...AND I took it even further and asked the front desk staff at check out if this was normal and again - they were in disbelief your staff wore gloves to massage me.

I m offended, disgusted and feel dehumanized because of this experience.

My husband looks Italian and I m a brown-skinned Afro-Caribbean woman. This can only be a result of one thing. I don t see what else could be the cause of this especially that she wasn t pleasant in servicing me.

We were so disappointed, confused and upset with the experience and that it put a bitter taste in our mouths we cancelled our high-tea/lunch at the hotel and left immediately after the massages.

This is certainly not the experience we were thinking we would in encounter in this day and age, at your high-end hotel and in the city of Toronto. I m appalled.

On top of it, I lodged a complaint at check out where your staff at the front desk took my name and number and promised that someone would follow up the same day because you weren t around to talk to in person. It s now Tuesday and haven t heard a word from your establishment. This speaks volumes about the value your company places on its customers and their experiences.

I want to be fully refunded of the cost of this awful experience immediately. I will take this complaint as far as it can go if this is not handled with the care, respect and dignity a human deserves - especially when paying for a service in a free country like ours!!

Best afternoon tea by far in Toronto. Rivals the icons of England.

Very accommodating, but the food could be better. Very cozy.

We got together with some friends for dinner here and had a fabulous time! I liked the live piano music, and the decor and ambiance is incredible with the chandeliers. Servers were personable and polite, very accommodating, and staff had impeccable etiquette. Food was delicious and beautifully served. This place is classy. We will definitely come here again.

Great High Tea experience ! Very knowledgeable attendants and all the desserts are to die for ! Attended a group meeting and was very pleased with a high standard of service. The rooms are lovely and really give you the illusion of having a tea in an old British establishment. Loved it!

Tea room was beautiful and service was amazing, pricey but worth it for a special mothers day treat

The high tea was really delicious, the food was nice and there were a lot of teas to choose from. The room felt like I'd imagined a high tea room would, pretty traditional.

Great experience, food, tea and atmosphere wonderful. Our waiter seemed awkward.

Tried to make reservations for their brunch buffet with unlimited mimosas that they advertise on their website. Turns out they no longer offer this and haven't offered it since the summer, despite them having literal months to update their website with this information. Very disappointing.

Their lunch menu is limited and the choices uninspiring.

We had high tea and the service was great and we all had a lovely time

Came for brunch. The hotel is classy and the food was ok. Most of the staff members were nice except while walking towards the bathroom, an old lady claiming to be the owner s mother was making two young women uncomfortable. She told them to leave and never come back. They didn t seem to be disturbing anyone so from my perspective it felt racially motivated. It s disappointing to see this kind of behaviour in 2019.

I have attended high tea here 3 times. The tea selection is great, as is the service. The food is decent: scones with devonshire cream and jam are excellent, as are the desserts. Sandwiches were a disappointment this time, as they tasted like they'd been sitting on the plate a while.
The atmosphere is lovely, and makes for a fun ladies afternoon as an annual tradition!

Garbage place, garbage service. Dont waste your money.

I've been here twice for afternoon tea. The first experience was lovely. The second experience thoroughly ruined my memory of the first. I brought my infant daughter with me. I informed them of this when I made the reservation. They did not tell me that they would be charging full price for my INFANT daughter, even though she would not be eating. They said that I could bring the food home. I asked to speak to the manager but apparently that was not possible and the ladies at the front were not at all accommodating. I was so disappointed and wanted to leave but I made a date with 3 friends and they were looking forward to it, so we stayed. In hindsight, I wish I didn't. Needless to say, I will not be returning EVER. If I could give 0.25 stars, I would.

Had an amazing time with my sweet husband . I loved it!

Been here twice for high team great experience both times. Diverse tea collections, fresh scones, and because we were close to the last sitting, we received some extra servings. Our wonderful server also served us some sparkling wine for free for the special occasion!

Beware of their online spa service reservation system. Booked a couples massage for my parents 40th anniversary and the day of the appointment we get a call that the slot we booked (clearly marked Couples Massage) is actually in their system for only one person and they have no other availability. Attached a screenshot of our confirmation email as well.

Perhaps my understanding of couple is wrong but by default I would think that means two .

Thankfully my parents aren t staying at the hotel, who knows what other goodies they would have in store for them.

Afternoon Tea is a charm at the Windsor Arm's. Not to be missed.

I went for afternoon tea. Scones were some of the best I've had. Service was excellent. Overall a good experience.

Literally as good as it gets! We checked in for a weekend get away once again, and decided to upgrade to the floor with food service all day, buffet style. They served breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and desserts. It was pretty amazing. We spent most of our time by the pier, so we didn't have a chance to go swimming or explore the rest of the hotel! We are making plans to visit again soon. The Overall experience was Great!

Amazing atmosphere and service. Excellent choice for art enthusiasts

We were very excited to attend the Christmas Dinner buffet at the Windsor Arms on December 25th. Some family members travelled from Collingwood to attend. The menu on-line looked amazing, unfortunately the buffet in reality was very disappointing and not worth $85/person. The Courtyard room was filled with over 75 people when we arrived; when we went to the buffet I could tell there was not enough food.
We have attended a number of buffets in Toronto over the years, i.e. The Royal York, the Old Mill, etc. so we had a reference point.

The meat station was the most disappointing; I didn't see ham but it was supposed to be offered. The turkey was there, I didn t have a slice because they ran out of cranberry and one of the staff behind the counter said there wasn't any more. The roast beef was so rare I could not eat it (see attached picture). Our son complained and they finally brought out another slab but it was no better. Every condiment offered was in a small dish, not enough for the number of people there.
The other offerings that were there were substandard; the kale salad on the menu was plain kale in a bowl with dressing on the side, nothing added. The grilled vegetables offered were gone when we went up to the buffet and it did not get refilled even after I made multiple trips. The shrimp offered was good, as was the beet salad, but again the salad was not refilled when empty. Everyone around me was upset and complaining. I had a side plate and a butter knife but I only saw small pieces of baguette at the buffet. They ran out of trout (on the menu) and again it was not replaced. I did not eat from the pasta station but one of our party said they ran out of that as well. We complained to the manager on duty (Jason) but he refused to do anything and didn t offer us anything as a token. He offered to cook us more food but at that point we were ready to leave. I did not try the desserts because at that point I was so disappointed.
If you are thinking of attending this buffet in future, DON T, go anywhere else but here. They don t know how to put on a buffet for a lot of people. The poor staff was doing their best but they appeared untrained and struggling.
When my sister spoke to the front desk about the parking they were not pleasant. All this spells something is wrong with the management/ownership which is George Friedmann; the buck stops with you George. I suspect the hotel is in financial difficulty. This had turned us off going out for Christmas dinner.

Very nice decor...and a nice place for a business gathering. Acoustics were good... even with everyone speaking, it was easy to hear the individual one was conversing with.

Such a gorgeous hotel with some lovely restaurants. The decor is romantic and quirky. Highly recommend a visit!

Not a good venue for Christmas parties. Washrooms on second floor (needed to take an elevator) and the staff weren't friendly. Wouldn't recommend

Location was quaint, off the beaten path. Lovely brunch and delicious mimosas! Service was super friendly although the accuracy of the service paled in comparison to the decor and atmosphere. Would go again.

Stayed here for the weekend, on my first night I ordered room service and the Butler didn t listen to my direct instructions for how to prepare the steak ie gravy on the side and instead of saying sorry and that he
will make it again. He argued saying I m lying, I didn t tell him that, and was extremely rude. When I told him I don t like his tone of voice and that he was being aggressive, he then apologised and came to take the tray. When he came to the room he was extremely passive aggressive and said to me, I am wrong and that I did not tell him as such. Then he left and brought the replacement.

Other than this incident, it was a great stay!

Great customer service and food was worth the price.

Varied menu of many favorite foods. Great service and great food.

Very rude and disrespectful customer service from manager and his employees. I will never recommend this place to anyone....not even to my worst enemy!!!!

The rooms were absolutely delightful. The small hotel seemed tucked inbetween large buildings with great shopping and resteraunts nearby. The staff was absolutely wonderful and very accommodating. I look forward to staying there again if I return to Toronto.

Great afternoon tea, with a wide selection of teas to choose from.

They seem to think the street in front belongs to them and try to make you move.

Their valet smashed my car and the owners response was "I was not party to that transaction". Had to pay for the damage out of pocket.

Based on the star rating have decided to give it a try. Got a 90 min massage by someone who had no clue what massage is, she had no technic and didn't know massage therapy. Don't let the glitz and glamour of this place fool you!

They changed us the Holiday rate for full tea service, even though the website said January 2 Monday was the 38$. The service was poor and the waiter said they were understaffed. Spreads were old and congealed. We didn't have a proper settings laid out for our reservation. Management apologized but never addressed our grievance.

The beef wellington was delicious! Friendly staff too. Great central location.

Made a valentine's day reservation, over a month in advance for high tea; two vegans. Was told the price was 35$/ea and they did have vegan options. They called to confirm the day before and I was advised of the holiday pricing of 50$/ea. When we got there, they sat us at the worst table IMO, along the servers' path through our dining room wedged by a wall on the side of the table, which is not a huge deal of course but it also had dirty/crumby linen on it's big side table and we were the only ones in that room. Also they had the regular menu on the table which doesn't have any vegetarian or vegan menu in it. Our server, although kind and informative, did take almost 5 minutes to come greet us, which gave us time to notice our dirty table and how our room was not quite as nice as the next one which had a different more elegant decor. Even our tea cups and dishes weren't as nice as the other table-settings in our room. Another table (possibly of 2 was sat at a 4 person table and greeted before we were) When I asked the server about a vegan menu (I was hoping there'd be a detailed list of courses like the regular menu) he said the vegan options would be up to the chefs discretion, but would probably going to be something along the lines of tempura battered peppers, avocado and hearts of palm, vegan scones and desserts. We asked for a minute and eventually decided mutually to leave fearing being underwhelmed for close to 140$ after tax and tip. Nothing in particular turned us away but a lack of attention to detail at every single step of the way left us wary and unimpressed.

Very nice high tea service - wide selection of teas with an assortment of traditional scones, sandwiches etc.

Christmas brunch was very nice as usual but not extra special as you think it would be on Christmas Day. Still, I love the elegance here and the oysters always make us happy even though the tray sat empty for longer than it should have.

Stopped by for a colleague's birthday celebration. The initial thoughts after entering was that the surroundings looked and felt dingy. U could see obvious dust build-up all around. Service and food (bar) were horrible. I sat there and waited to be acknowledged. Still was told to wait, without being offered a menu to peruse in the meanwhile. Ordered the bison burger with sweet potato fries. Fries came soggy af and dripping with oil. Burger patty tasted like it has been frozen for decades. Would not recommend.

It has a beautiful environment, amazing service but I can't say I enjoyed the food.

A beautiful boutique hotel, the five-star Windsor Arms is tastefully decorated in a very traditional style. You ll find lovely antiques and artworks on show alongside fabulous furnishings, lending the place a very English look and feel.

The hotel has two splendid restaurants for guests to try, as well as an indoor pool, fitness centre, and business centre. Its European-inspired spa is the highlight.

Location: The Windsor Arms is a five-minute walk from the Royal Ontario Museum and Yorkville Avenue shopping district. Guests can hop on the metro and find themselves in downtown in just 15 minutes.

I went for high tea and the food and service was great

I went here for afternoon tea with my sister last Sunday. It s a wonderful high tea menu with very filling options included with your tea. My sister has a no sugar diet and the waiter and kitchen was extremely accommodating with that! They had a decent savoury selection that she could eat. For myself, I found the scones sooo tasty and well made. Just a bit too much icing sugar on top.

I had ordered the Cake Walk because I was looking for a nutty type of tea (I had a fantastic hazelnut one at Prince of Wales in NOTL & wanted something similar). It was kind of what I wanted. My sister had ordered the Tibetan Tiger which was a great selection.

The only downside was the lack of drink options. I suppose they want you in and out, so we ended up wandering Yorkville for some more sparkling wine haha!

Beautiful location, we had brunch here. My husband never got his drink that he ordered and I was never offered a refill on my coffee. Great food variety beautiful place but service was... distracted in our view.

Went for high tea. Everything was delicious and appropriately fancy.

Beautiful tea room with great service and delicious food. A cute idea for a date or friend get together. It is not cheap, however, so go in with the mentality of treating yourself

Quaint boutique hotel with lavish decor. This historic gem is hidden on a quiet side street conveniently located in Yorkville downtown Toronto.

Very courteous staff, excellent service, beautiful ambiance

OMG What a night! George Clooney, Emma Stone, James Franco, Cuban Gooding Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and many others. All in one place. Feeling excited to see them all.

I went for afternoon tea to treat myself on my birthday, and am very disappointed with the experience. I had requested no seafood in my reservation. The server went over the "sandwiches" so quickly and had an accent, that I didn't realize they gave me seafood. When I asked to replace it, he was annoyed and said they will have to throw them out. I mentioned that I had already requested this in advance, and then he begrudgingly asked me what I want instead. I asked for the chicken and ham, and about 10 minutes later he returned with two veggie options.

Overall not a great experience and I will choose another place for tea next time, as they do not meet the standards they claim to have.

Went there for a bowling league Daytona style event and it was a banger. Yorkville subs nearly blew the roof of the place. So old it's cool but also neauvo cause it's all suede. A+

What a shady establishment. Don't come here or have your car parked by their incompetent staff. I would give them half a star if that was an option.

Did not really appreciate the brunch during my visit. Was pricey for its quality and had to wait over 25 minutes even with reservation with no seating.

Went for high tea food was wonderful tea was delish. Bathrooms are on 2nd floor which was annoying but ok.

To sum it up...ABSOLUTLY TERRIBLE IN ALL ASPECTS!!!!!

It is 1 week before Christmas and my family and I booked a reservation to go for brunch at the Windsor arms. We all had high expectations based on the popularity of this hotel and expected a wonderful afternoon brunch.

We were sat at our table and quickly noticed an omelette bar which we were all excited to try. Our server came over and also gave us the option of eggs Benedict. In the process of waiting for our eggs Benedict (20 plus minutes) we decided to check out what they had to offer.

We started at the bread and cheese....
The bread was rock hard and could knock someone out if tossed at them. The cheese plater looked like the cheese was sweating and left out over night.

We then were brought to the salad bar which had multiple bowls of Brown lettuce sitting out. We then reach the breakfast portion of the buffet which didn't have very many options. When there was bacon and sausage to be found, it was cold and over cooked. The pancakes were also cold and dry. Then there was the French toast....it looked great from the outside until you actually got it to your plate. It was soaking wet and soggy, on the inside and not even cooked through at all.

When we finally got our omelettes, they were very under cooked and not even mixed together. That was the first attempt. The second attempt included an ommlette with ingredients that were never asked for. Finally on the 3rd omelette attempt it came out over cooked and burnt (one bite was taken from it)

During all of this the server and manager were spoken to about the poor quality of food and lack of it. The food manager then told us that we consumed some of it and there was nothing he could do. We then proceeded to ask for a higher up manager 3 times and was told there was nobody else to speak to. The manager continued to tell us there was nothing he could do and proceeded to bring us our bill charging $70 per person.

Now the best part....

As we were leaving this disaster of a place and letting the front desk know about our experience. They then proceeded to tell us that the owner was sitting in at brunch as well. The ENTIRE time we were sitting in that hell of a dining room and letting them know about our experience, GEORGE FRIEDMANN the owner sat there and did absolutely nothing, other than tell his staff to say there was nothing that can be done. Once we told the food manager we knew the owner was in there, he proceeded to say no it wasn't him. Well, Google images sure does help with that!

Attended this venue for a VC and tech company symposium. Beautiful bar, lobby and grand ballroom. The pre-dinner appetizers were top notch as was the dinner (though produced at mass scale - there were 100 attendees). I don't know how much this cost, but I'm sure it was expensive. But if you need a large "old school" venue for a fancy event, this place is quite classy and well run.

My girlfriend and I went to the Windsor Arms for dinner. We chose this place because she is vegan and I am not. So it's difficult to find places that cater to both of us. This place was great! I throughly enjoyed my meal, while my girlfriend had what she said was "the best vegan meal I've ever had at a restaurant!" The dining room was cozy and the staff very attentive. We would definitely visit again and recommend the Living Room for anyone looking for somewhere with great omnivore options.

The service& food were amazing! I'll definitely go back next time!

The staff and environment they created was absolutely marvelous. However the clientele seems to be very the classless snobby type. Prices were well placed considering area and surrounding competition. Parking is a bit scarce but staff make it worth no matter what the price for parking is. I would not return only because of its clientele.

I got married in this hotel many years ago. Good location.

Had a family brunch for my sons baptism. Great service, elegant atmosphere and the food was excellent.

We went for twilight tea for the 8th year in a row. Wonderful as always.

The Windsor Arms is top notch! The location of the hotel is absolutely prime you are close to so many great spots. I d recommend it to anyone who is looking for a high end hotel experience in Toronto.