Windsor Arms Hotel Reviews

High tea was awesome. Great value compared to others offered in the city. Service was good too.

Enjoyed the brunch with a Groupon. There was a good variety of seafood which was great and some of the staff were very accommodating and understood that bottomless mimosas means keep coming back to refill our glasses please. One of my favourite things was the live singer who sounded like Luther Vandross.

An experience but very negative. Little to no business in order .... really faded glory.

I enjoyed the kosher dinner dining at Windsor Arms Hotel. Excellent service, delicious food and a jazz band was playing, for a very nice evening.

My review is solely about the Tea Room. Service was an unfortunate combination of snooty and incompetent. The food was indifferent. It was grossly over-priced. It was unbelievable what we had to go through for a bowl of fruit for one of us, who has special dietary needs. "Tea" for 3 was $127 before the tip. No refill of the hot water, a chef who screamed at the thought of providing a bowl of fruit for one guest, and virtually non-existent service. I will never return and never recommend that anyone else go there.

Great room... Amazing service!!
Great experience all around!

Fantastic holiday brunch. It's been a family tradition for years.

I came here for afternoon tea with a friend and it was a bit too quiet but the food was great and we still made the most of it.

A real favorite For a short stay in Toronto for a luxurious brunch on a Sunday this is the place to be.

It is Old World charm and reliable Professional Service in truly elegant settings with a a noxious crowd. Highly recommend.

Beautiful boutique hotel with a lovely event space. Very accommodating.

Went for high tea. Tea itself was fantastic, I went with the Arms Chai, although it was a bit cold on the first pour. The tray of food was far too sweet centric and would have preferred more savoury offerings on the tower.

Great service and food. Made for a fantastic Christmas get together

We had an amazing visit at the spa. For sure will go again.

Had my wedding night there. What a mistake (the hotel that is)! I don't know where to start but i'll always remember overhearing the waitress asking the bar manager whether she could comp the glass of cab sav and my bride's soda water. (The manager said no as we sat at the bar with our best duds on.) Regardless of this, the hotel was half empty. The room was ok bit should be for 500 dollars. Lots of attitude with no class. Stay away.

We had afternoon high tea in the purple dining area on Monday July 2. The food is was wonderful as usual but the service was surprisingly not very good. I say surprisingly because this was a long weekend, so it wasn't busy because many people were out of the city but somehow, we still had poor service. It took a long time to get the attention of a waitress to refill our table of 4's teapots and also for us to get the bill. I've been to Windsor Arms Hotel many times for their high tea, and I think that it is a much better experience when the restaurant is busier as the wait staff are on their toes and the dining area is livelier with many conversations.

Waste of money, stay somewhere else. Horrendous service.

First time and last!
Terrible food selection / not worth the price at all!!
On top of that, terrible service.
I shared my experience with the GM but he simply felt my experience was unique despite the many negative reviews on trip-advisor.

If you're going to spend the money, Go to the Ritz or Shangri La where you are guaranteed delicious food+ great service !

Enjoyed Afternoon High Tea at the Library Room of the Windsor Arms Hotel for my wedding anniversary. Our infant daughter joined us and the service staff was very accommodating. The atmosphere was elegant and the service exceeded expectations. The tea, snacks and drinks were exquisite. With it's location so close to Yorkville we will likely return again with more friends.

Went for pre mother's day hi-tea. The scones were delicious, pastries were average. Service was impeccable.

Unimpressed! Went here for a 40th birthday and ordered from the summerlicious menu. The following is what Majority of the party ordered and what the majority got.
1. Starters - watermelon salon con: No watermelon and no pickled onions
2. Entrees- Crispy steak sandwich
- con: no crispy onions. option sides salad or fries (waiter assumed we all wanted fries and didn t present the options)
3. Risotto- very bland (had better... much better)

When we voiced our concerns about the lack of ingredients the waiter said that there was a big party of 40 and they ran out. Like really? Why not tell your customers or take items of the menu. Felt shorted changed . Smh
Pro: - 1.the meals were almost done when the waiter brought a side of crispy onions and apologized on behalf of the chef. ( sandwiches were already done at this point. A for effort
2. At least were not paying full pop since it s summerlicious

I did not stay at the hotel, I had Hytea there twice in one month and the service by Jenny was exceptional, she was above and beyond. She was amazing, we had a huge group and she was very good with all of our needs and taking photos for us when we asked. She made sure all dietary restrictions were 100% before serving us. I highly recommend having Hytea here, and Jenny is phenomenal

Nice afternoon having tea with friends. Great taste of teas and sandwiches.

Horrible customer service!! Loved the ambience but I would never go back. So many better spas in Toronto.

I made a terrible mistake of purchasing Groupon for brunch at Windor Arms. Food was stale and pathetic. Definitely not worth the price.

Attended a birthday event. Venue bar was welcoming to 30+ people on a Saturday night. Fair priced drinks and cocktails. Good ambience.

Came for sunday brunch very happy. We waited 20 mins for a table that didnt exist. Every hostess blaimed each other. Then they redirected us to the tea room where 2 omlettes came in exactly 1 HOUR. The server repeatedly mentioned her being new here. Maybe she should spend less time repeating the same thing and more time memorizing the menu.

This place is cool first 5 star hotel in Toronto in 1929 at least that is what the great bartender said. Very funky decor amazing staff, my new favorite in Toronto!

Excellent suites and wonderful service from check-in to check-out.

Pleasant place to meet as well with an elegant tea room and lounge despite the somewhat substandard actual food.

Booked a birthday celebration weeks in advance and was quoted a price by employee. Two hours before the event, I was called by staff member and informed the cost was more (a difference of ~$175 out of my pocket). Unfortunately, this left me no time to make alternative arrangements, as guests were travelling in from out of town and were already en route. I found this extremely unprofessional and management did nothing to rectify the issue.

One of the best place for High teas! Scones literally melt in your mouth

Went there for high tea with foreign friends and the service was very poor. As for the food selection it is ok and not worth $45 + tax , way too overpriced. However the main issue arose when my foreign friend paid the bill without tipping. The server just stood there and loudly said, " You didn't tip, gratutity is not included" - what a complete embarrassment. Then I told my foreign friend that its customary to tip here even if service is terrible, so he asked for the machine but now apparently the machine was unavailable so the server said loudly " You can tip in cash" . None of us had any cash on us so now as we are fiddling our pockets the server says " There's an ATM round the corner". At this point I just got my friends and walked out before I punched the server. What a complete disaster. Food medicore (for $50 high tea) and service terrible.

Went here for afternoon high tea. They have a large selection is tea which is great. I tried the passion envy green tea which was really light and refreshing. The scones were flaky and warm. Overall, I enjoyed most of the food. The only thing that I didn't really enjoy was the shrimp eclair and bed Wellington I thought they were a bit too soggy for my tastes.

Great service and staff, boutique feel with traditional old feel charm

Interesting experience. $15 old fashioned. So I probably won't be going back

My friends and I went to celebrate my birthday on December 30th. Our server Jenny was extremely rude and curt with right from the beginning. She told us as soon as we arrived that we had to be out in 2 hours and kept reminding us of this the entire time while we were trying to chat and enjoy our $75 tea and snacks. She was annoyed when we asked her for sweetner and dairy free milk. The tea became cold and it took her forward to come back with hot water and the scones were very dry. I ve never been treated so poorly and the worst part after splitting the bill Jenny came after us in the lobby of the hotel to tell us rudely she was missing a payment. Everyone took out their receipt and showed her we all paid the bill. She kept insisting loudly that someone didn t pay instead of double checking if she had made a mistake or not. It was very embarrassing and just ruined everyone s experience. There are much better places to have high tea like the Royal York and Shangri La in Toronto. Very disappointing. Poor customer service.

This might be the worst meal of my life. Poor service, inedible food, service awful. NEVER AGAIN

Came for to the restaurant at the Windsor Arms hotel. Extravagant old world decor, top notch dining and excellent service from the waitstaff. Great place!

Had a great time at high tea! Delicious tea, amazing food and professional staff!

A neat destination for afternoon tea. The atmosphere was nice but not the most memorable overall.

Today I had brunch at the Windsor Arms Hotel and I must say I was deeply bothered with something I witnessed.

A couple of young ladies where checking out the grand piano they have on the upstairs by the bathroom when they were encouraged but the staff and patrons to play some music.

They proceeded to play for a few minutes to the delight of a small crowd until they were approached by and elderly woman claiming to be the mother of the OWNER.

The older lady asked the young ladies "Who said you could play here" to which the informed the lady that the staff at the hotel had no issues with them being there.

The woman replied "Well I'm the mother of the owner and you can't. You're not allowed to be here and you're not welcomed here. If you don't leave we will have you charged".

I was in complete shock when these words came out of the woman's mouth as it appeared to have some racial undertones. I wish I had recorded the whole incident. The young ladies were polite and got up and left. But I must say I was completed disgusted with the actions of this woman and disappointed that nobody in the staff stood up for the young ladies.

Needless to say I will not be returning to the Windsor Arms Hotel and I discourage anybody that believes in equality from staying or dining here also.

Tea was almost cold and the server J was fully cold. At these prices, one could drop the attitude. The sandwiches and sweets were lovely. If you re going to telephone customers to reconfirm a reservation, it would be nice to advise of the higher rate being charged for the service. After we re already seated and ready to begin is not the right time!

Historic hotel which features a beautiful tea room for high tea.

Giving it 1 star just because the scones were so good. The afternoon tea was decent but the service was not what you would expect from a high end hotel. There was a long hair in one of our cups and when we asked our server for a new cup, he didn't even acknowledge it properly. Just looked at us awkwardly and brought a new one without saying anything. Our seating was for 12:30pm and we got our tea and food by 12:55pm but before we started to eat, we were taking photos and during a group photo the server walks over and says "just so you know, you have a two hour limit here"... but we still had an hour and a half to go. His behaviour was dry and awkward which made us a bit uncomfortable. We were here for my mom's birthday and his demeanor towards us just made us feel unwelcome and rushed for no reason. When we made management aware, they didn't really seem to care about it. Would not go back here again to be honest.

Attended for a High Tea party, as always great customer service, delicious food, beautiful ambience. Looking forward for a future visits

I went to meet my wife at the Windsor Arms Hotel for dinner awhile ago on a weekday. I arrived first and asked for a table. The hostess looked at me, up and down, and then said they were too busy but would ask the manager. The manager came over, looked at me as well, up and down, took a quick glance at his bookings and said they would fit me in.

When I got into the restaurant it was completely empty and virtually remained that way throughout the whole meal.

When my wife joined me I told her about the exchange and we had a good chuckle and suggested my scruff combined with the old weathered brown leather jacket with shearling collar I was wearing was probably the culprit for the "vetting" that took place. As funny as we thought this was (I am Caucasian and doing well in Toronto) we realized it was quite disappointing that they use these 'vetting' tactics at all and suspect a person whom is a visible minority may not have brushed it off like me.

I hope they read this review and correct this type of behaviour.

I gave them 2 stars instead of 1 because the steak was excellent.

Very rude, unhelpful and condescending staff. I would never recommend Windsor Arms Hotel to anyone I know. Save your money and stay at any other hotel in the area!

I decided to take valet service, it resulted in the valet driver being involved in a hit and run with my car.

The valet driver Ronnie and Manager Jason Friedmann failed to follow through with the code of highway traffic act. They did not write down the second parties information.

Kal at the front desk was very disrespectful and condescending! Staff was not cooperative, supportive, or sympathetic while I was dealing with this situation. I waited 2 hours at the hotel for Jason Friedmann to locate the second party involved in the collision. He was still not able to assist in locating the guest who hit my car! Moreover, his employee Kal decided to provide customer service by telling me I should go home, things like this happen, this is why we have insurance, deal with it Monday!

I would not recommend this hotel to anyone due to lack of customer service I received!

Manger Jason Friedmann and his staff need to review their policies and procedures on such incidents as they were not knowledgeable in regards to any questions I asked them! They should also consider learning about customer service skills!

Me and my friend went there for high tea: a beautiful experience in a regal atmosphere. Vast selection of teas, tasty food and staff very courteous and helpful. The ambience transmits a strong British feeling. I would certainly recommend it.

This was our annual Windsor Arms Christmas family high tea A little early this year but still Christmas We went to ROM to see Wildlife Photographer of the Year which was excellent. Tea was enjoyable although some of the High Tea decorum is transitioning to match the age. Children 4 and 5 ran around the Purple Room while other adults treated the occasion as a photo op. I didn't see anyone stand on the chairs to photograph the table but it wouldn't have surprised me.
It is the best High Tea in Toronto but can it remain so

Was there for a high tea party yesterday. Our server was terrible. Very snobby, slow and ignored us when he could clearly hear me saying "excuse me" several times. The food was nothing special either. My tea was not that hot (I had waited a long time for it so I will assume it was sitting there for sometime before it was brought over). I didn't give it only 1 star because the decor and set up were very pretty. Overall, very disappointed.

Server did not know the luncheon special. My friend salmon plate was supposed to come with mash potato and it had boiled potatoes instead..

The front desk staff are extremely rude! Unwelcoming and unprofessional environment. I did not feel comfortable nor welcomed during an event at the hotel. Please do yourselves a favour and stay at another hotel as the staff will fail to treat you with respect and dignity and we deserve nothing less and everything more in terms of customer service especially with the money we spend.

Marvelous light dinner before a show.

Lovely architectural details. Tiny lobby with velvet wallpaper, coatcheck and stunning chandelier. We were in the Gatsby lounge at dinner time - the place was empty. Were made to feel welcome by our attentive Albanian waiter. The Caesar salad dressing (with real anchovies) was very good. Really good too was the warm and crispy bread. We ordered off 2 menus. Desert was a shared, nicely presented Tiramisu. If you're looking for a cosy, refined space just steps south of Bloor....this is perfect. We'll be back.

My absolute favourite for High Tea! Just went back for my 4th time and have booked a hotel stay for a night in the fall after a function!

The service was very slow. Not that the servers were rude. They just barely came by and for a place that gave all you can drink mimosas, that's a pretty big deal. The person serving the meat was very rude. Never smiled and seemed like he hated his life. The guy bringing the machine for credit threw the machine on the table. The food was good though

While high tea with my wife in the purple was a lovely event where we enjoyed each others' company. The food and the tea could not have been more disappointing.

Our server was friendly and courteous but not the most attentive nor approachable.

Won't bother going again.

The gluten free version of snacks (while a nice thing to have) was basically just a cruddy version of tempura... though the chocolate discs were okay.
My wife's 'regular' snacks were no better... pretty awful.

Amazing afternoon high tea menu with a truly elegant space and ambiance. Great for bridal showers and any upscale semi-formal gathering with friends and family for high tea.

Beautiful venue & room - was there for a wedding and the service was terrible.

Service was amazing. Great for a bridal shower or meeting with the girls for some high tea.

Classy place with fine food, service and atmosphere.

Really poor service, brunch experience, valet took forever, reservation at 1030 not say till 1050. Could not get coffee refills. Had to wait 5 mInutes to get my coat. Brunch selection was not great. No direction on having option to order eggs

Lovely space, food and tea were nice but not all fresh.

We went for brunch, my first time. I was pregnant at the time, couldn't enjoy the mimosas that were bottomless- great idea! The actual atmosphere with the piano player songing above, outstanding! The buffet was delicious, but was quite pricey. Great for special occasions!

I came for high tea and the spa with one of my friends. It was a lovely day. The only downside was the hostess at the front desk when we arrived was curt and rude. After that negative start the rest of our day went off without a hitch!

Great atmosphere. A bit crowded and our table was tiny. Sandwiches not as fresh but lovely presentation. House blend black tea pretty good.

Was at a function at the Windsor Arms. The service was great and the caterer was good.

Royal York and King Eddy were totally booked. There was a space available here and now I understand why. The tea room was quite lovely and the staff were nice enough but I believe the Windor Arms is not quite worth the price of admission. In addition all of the other tables were served tea in elegant pots - it was my first time there so I was hoping that I might take a quick photo of my table. Not quite - my table was served the ugliest whitest pots that they had in the place I have a hard time believing they were out of teapots. I was pretty put off by that. Waioter was ok. Seemed annoyed when I asked for a fresh cup. Really?! Scones were amazing but everything else was just meh and most of the edibles were tuna based. All of that for 150 bucks. If you really want to enjoy high tea and get your moneys worth I suggest making a reservation in advance at the Royal York or the King Edward or even Shangri la.

Enjoyed a fantastic Sunday brunch at the courtyard cafe