A few years ago, if you wanted a luxury hotel room in Toronto, ON, you had two choices: make a reservation at the Hazelton, at one time Toronto’s only five-star property, or just forget it and head for Manhattan. And for or Vancouver, BC, it was settle or hit San Francisco.

Not any more. Both cities are poised to transform the luxury market and the skyline itself with 1,000 new rooms slated for these two cities in the next year or two—with good reason.

“It’s a logical progression, particularly with the recent additions to convention facilities here,” says Jean-Luc Barone, chair of the Vancouver Hotel Association. “We can now hold our own beside cities like San Francisco or even London. And you’ve got the sheer beauty of this city, too.”

Says Terry Mundell, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association: “New cultural facilities and a wealth of great events throughout the year—Toronto International Film Festival is one example—are marking Toronto as a world-class city. And visitors are increasingly looking for five-star accommodation.”

According to Tim Terceira, general manager of Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton, due to open this summer: “Two components comprise ‘luxury’ accommodation: design and physical infrastructure. Those extra touches come first. We’ll have 22-in television screens embedded in the bathroom mirrors, heated floors and designer furnishings.”

But service is equally important. “We’re hiring from among the top 1% of the service industry,” says Terceira. “And we’ll have a high guest-to-staff ratio.”

Nancie Hall, director of Public Relations for Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim, which opened in February just in time for the 2010 Winter Games, concurs. “We have an amazing staff that is the crème-de-la-crème,” she says.

Then there’s location, location, location.

“The business district, the entertainment district and sports venues are all an easy walk from the Ritz-Carlton,” Terceira notes.

“Our location is key to our success,” echoes Hall. “The Fairmont offers gorgeous views: North Sound, Stanley Park. And we’ve capitalized on that with a rooftop pool and suites that ring the pool with their own outdoor fireplaces.”

So service, location and the building itself are all hallmarks of a high-end hotel. Consider the Shangri-La Hotel, opened in Vancouver last January. The smallest room is 42 sq m (450 sq ft); the place boasts the biggest bathrooms in Vancouver, dark walls, gold trim and B&B Italia designer furniture.

In Toronto, the building—along with its architecture—is a central feature of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Toronto, due to open in 2011. The structure itself is free-form glass curtain and granite wall, rising up to an articulated spire sure to transform the skyline.
Inside, it’s no different. The rooms will have stone flooring and wood finish, designer furniture, bathrooms with flat-screen TVs, marble flooring and rain showerheads.

The Thompson Toronto embodies both high-end workmanship and great location. Slated for a June debut, this property will boast a private rooftop bar and pool, three restaurants and easy access to sporting and cultural events—all with an edgy modern theme.

Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver—slated to reopen in 2011—hearkens back to a time when elegance was key. They are completely refurbishing the old Hotel Georgia, a premier Vancouver hotel in its 1920s heyday, having played host to the likes of Elvis and Katherine Hepburn. But all those other luxe must-haves are still there: it will feature a spa, nightclub and signature restaurant run by David Hawksworth.

Shangri-La’s newest property, due to open in Toronto in 2012, will occupy the first 17 floors in the historic Bishop’s Block, one of Toronto’s oldest remaining buildings. But here, too, old meets new with a sky-reaching sleek tower design. The theme is billed as contemporary classic with Asian highlights—and minimum 46.5-sq-m (500-sq-ft) bedrooms.

What’s up with this sudden wealth of luxury, anyway?

“Vancouver has the beauty of the mountains and the sea, plus the exposure we received as a result of the Olympics,” suggests Barone. “And we’re part of the Pacific Rim. That alone will feed the luxury market.”

“The money is starting to come back to Toronto,” says Mundell. “There are great financial opportunities here. I think we will fill these luxury beds quite comfortably.”

But no matter how luxe the properties, filling those beds is also a matter of having something else to offer the discerning traveller.

One factor affecting Toronto’s appeal is the perceived resurrection of the economy. “A lot of business clientele are coming to Toronto, the engine of Canada’s economy,” says Mundell. “And those people want luxury. Then you’ve got Toronto’s investment in culture,” he adds. “State-of-the-art opera house, the Gehry-designed addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario.”

To top it off, well-heeled visitors can sample the wares of a newly-revitalized “Mink Mile,” Toronto’s answer to Rodeo Drive. And with the most cosmopolitan population in Canada, gourmets can find haute cuisine restaurants representing almost any ethnic fare in the world.

Vancouver boasts similar appeals. In addition to the sheer natural beauty, it has its own opera and ballet companies plus a symphony orchestra. Amenities for the ultra-rich are growing by leaps and bounds here, a logical outgrowth from the fact that average house prices here now top a million dollars and the influx of Asian money is nothing short of phenomenal.

But what about that economy? Are these ventures too risky?

The short answer is no. Most of these properties have “hedged their bets” by adding a residential component to the mix.

The Rosewood Hotel Georgia has plans for a separate 48-storey residential tower. Toronto’s Trump will offer residential units beginning at around $2 million while the Ritz-Carlton will boast The Residences. Fairmont Pacific Rim offers luxury residential suites branded as “Estates.” Toronto’s new Shangri-La will include private residential estates. But the company may not even need that buffer.

“For some reason Toronto, in particular, hasn’t has a full complement of luxury properties, so it was just a matter of time,” Terceira says.

That’s also true of Vancouver. “The availability of luxury accommodation is relatively low for a city of this size,” says Barone. “We hold great hope for Vancouver’s future as a destination. We are ready to fill those beds.”

Says Terceira: “The time has come for luxury.”

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