The main lobby of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto Ontario. Once dubbed the "largest hotel in the British Empire" the Fairmont Royal York (usually referred to as the "Royal York"), formerly known as the Royal York Hotel, 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 Toronto’s Canadian Bank of Commerce tower on King Street one year later.
It was a state-of-the-art hotel when it was constructed, 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 1959 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.
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.
The PATH underground walkway system connects the hotel to the Royal Bank Plaza and Union Station.
Organic green tea from Japan is the house specialty, and is found in every room.
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. The queens entered into their 14th-storey triple-hive apiary.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the info.
This was our "home away from home" this past weekend when we had a date with King Tut, Martha Stewart and the Anglers and Hunters :) Oh and the wedding we crashed...well not really we just signed their guest book after consuming some wine at the lounge next to where they were having their reception LOL
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek. I hope you all know that I appreciate your comments however, awards and invites aren't necessary.
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