Fairmont Royal York

The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald (with Sproatt and Rolph) and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway across the street from Union Station. With 28 floors, the Château-style building was the tallest building in Toronto at that time, and the tallest building in the British Empire until the construction of Canadian Bank of Commerce tower on King Street the following year. On October 28, 2014, It was announced The landmark Royal York Hotel in Toronto will undergo another round of renovations following a reorganization of its ownership.^[5]

A fund managed by the KingSett real estate company will acquire a 60 per cent interest worth an estimated $111.9 million and InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:INN.UN) will pay $37.3 million for a 20 per cent stake in the hotel.

The Caisse de depot's real estate subsidiary Ivanhoe Cambridge will retain a 20 per cent stake in the 1,363-room hotel as a joint venture partner through a $186.5-million deal announced Tuesday.

History

Royal York circa 1930

Royal York exterior

The former Queen's Hotel, demolished to make way for the Royal York.

The Royal York is the third hotel to occupy the site. In 1843, the Ontario Terrace opened at this site and was renamed Sword's Hotel in 1853. The hotel was renamed again in 1860 as Revere House and finally as the Queen's Hotel in 1862.^[6] Prior to its demolition in 1927, the Queen's Hotel had been one of Toronto's most prestigious hotels. It was billed as "One of the largest and most comfortable hotels in the Dominion of Canada".^[7] It was owned by McGaw and Winnett. McGaw and Winnett were the hoteliers of Upper Canada at the turn of the 20th century also owning the Queens Royal Hotel in Niagara on the Lake and the Tecumseh House in London, Ontario. Henry Winnett acquired Thomas McGaw's interest in the hotels after his death in 1901. Henry Winnett died in 1925. His estate eventually sold the Queens Hotel to the Canadian Pacific Railway, then under Sir Edward Beatty, who demolished the Queen's Hotel and built the Royal York. Both Thomas McGaw and Henry Winnett are buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with several members of their families.

The Royal York was a state-of-the-art hotel upon completion in 1929, with ten elevators, a radio in each of its 1,048 rooms, and a private shower or bath in each room. Other features included a large Concert Hall fitted with an impressive Casavant Frères pipe organ. With five manuals and 107 stops, it was the largest pipe organ in Canada. The telephone switchboard was 66 feet long and required 35 operators. The hotel was enlarged in 1956-57 with the addition of the east wing to a total of 1,600 rooms and was the largest hotel in the Commonwealth for many years. From 1988 until 1993, the Royal York Hotel underwent a $100 million restoration.

The hotel has been the residence of choice for Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Canadian Royal Family when in Toronto. The Queen usually has an entire floor reserved for her and her party, occupying the Royal Suite herself.

After Canadian Pacific Hotels acquired Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and chose to use the Fairmont name on all its hotels, there was a public outcry when it was announced that the chain planned to take down the historic “Royal York” sign and replace it with a new “Fairmont” sign. As a result of the protest, a new sign with both names “Fairmont Royal York” was erected.

One of the hotel's more famous features was the Imperial Room, a nightclub that attracted major-name talent from the 1940s to the 1990s. Management closed the Imperial Room during the major renovation in the 1990s, and it has been refurbished to become a large ballroom and meeting hall.

The PATH underground walkway system connects the hotel to the Royal Bank Plaza and Union Station.

Honey bees

In July 2008, the Royal York installed three beehives on its 13th-floor rooftop terrace to serve its in-house garden, which already provides its nine restaurants with fresh herbs, vegetables and flowers. Three queens and their 40,000 workers provide the chefs with up to 700 pounds of honey. The hotel named the hives the Honey Moon Suite, the Royal Sweet and the V.I. Bee Suite.^[8][9]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal York Hotel.

• Monarchy in Ontario
• Hotels in Toronto

References

External links

• The Fairmont Royal York official website

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