Canada Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Toronto

Radisson Admiral Toronto Harbourfront review

Toronto Harbourfront has been a 40-year redevelopment project of Toronto’s downtown port and warehouse district into a cultural, entertainment and residential district.

A sign on a pedestrian bridge at WestJet Stage says the Radisson Admiral Hotel opened in 1985.

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Pedestrian Bridge at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Radisson Admiral Hotel is upper right with glass windows.

These days the Toronto Harbourfront lakeshore property has been nearly completely transformed into a multiple recreational use playground with the canoe and kayak centre, WestJet Stage with free concerts, museums, cafes and boat tours.

This month the new Amsterdam BrewHouse is scheduled to open in the building adjacent to the Radisson Admiral Hotel. I had to get by with The Beer Store, my favorite shopping place one block to the west of the hotel. They even take U.S. currency.

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The Beer Store, 350 Queens Quay West, Toronto.

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Radisson Admiral Hotel  on Toronto Harbourfront.

I was a walk-up guest at the Radisson Admiral on a sweltering day the Toronto news said was the hottest day of the year at 30 C degrees with humidity feeling like 36C. I had spent hours outside on a walking tour of Rouge Park, north of Toronto.

Upon returning to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, I asked the women at Tourism Toronto to tell me which brand hotels were nearby so I could book a room with points. InterContinental Toronto Centre is actually connected to the MTCC complex, but I already had that hotel booked for three of seven nights in Toronto and I wanted to try a different hotel. So Radisson Admiral by default of proximity and a short walk was my choice for the night.

This Club Carlson category 5 hotel cost 44,000 points or CAD$159 + 16% tax. This is a lower rate than I like for using points, but I reminded myself that I earned the 44,000 points for $80 in summer 2012 from the Park Inn 1+1 promotion. Radisson Admiral was my +1 free night.

The hotel is eight floors. The lobby is currently being remodeled and I was told by someone who has seen the design plans that the interior is going to be spectacular when it is unveiled. There was little to see in the lobby during my stay.

I was given a room on the top floor facing Queens Quay. The lake view is probably the preferred side of the hotel.

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Recently remodeled room.

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Desk area at Radisson Admiral.

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Bathroom with shower stall.

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Shower with no soap holder.

My only complaint about the room is the shower stall has no place for soap and shampoo, except the ledge about one inch off the floor. That is a first in all the hotel rooms I have stayed.

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Plenty of space for purchases from The Beer Store.

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Stairway from conference room level to 5th floor restaurant and bar.

Watermark Restaurant

My busy schedule kept me from dining at the 5th floor hotel restaurant.

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Radisson Admiral Hotel Watermark Restaurant.

“A man must have designed this space.”

My wife Kelley frequently uses this comment when she sees something with poor functionality.

I thought to myself that this can’t be the only way to the pool, but the front desk staff said pool access is only through the hotel restaurant. A family in swimwear walking through the restaurant seemed to confirm my reservations about the hotel layout.

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Radisson Admiral large, but shallow pool.

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Pool deck view overlooking Toronto Harbour Police Station and Toronto Islands.

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Radisson Admiral pool deck view of CN Tower.

My room had the CN Tower view. One notable issue with staying at the Radisson Admiral Hotel is the current construction on Queens Quay road to build a multi-use path for cyclists and light rail. Currently this project scheduled for completion in 2015 is in Phase 1. The jackhammers were running at 7am on a Friday morning below my window.

The redesigned Queens Quay will be a wonderful asset to the area when completed, but for now, the construction noise is a continuous assault on the ears for the mile of harbourfront from Radisson Admiral Toronto Waterfront in the west to Westin Harbour Castle in the east.

One of the nice features of the Radisson Admiral location is a variety of restaurants across the street of Queens Quay with Indian, Japanese, Thai, Mediterranean, Italian and a 24-hour supermarket.

TripAdvisor offers mixed reviews of the Radisson Admiral Toronto hotel. Apparently the rooms that have not been remodeled have bathtubs. The hotel is ranked #32 of 138 Toronto hotels on the date of this post. Most ratings are 4 to 4.5 circles out of 5 with 76% favorable.

I enjoyed my stay and the pool views are fantastic. This property will be better appreciated once the Queens Quay construction outside is complete. And hopefully there is a plan to provide alternative access to the pool without routing guests through the restaurant.

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Radisson Admiral Toronto Harbourfront behind the yacht in photo center.

Ric Garrido, writer and content owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests.

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9 Comments

  • The Weekly Flyer June 4, 2013

    That room looks really nice. Curious, what was the beer of choice at the Beer Store?

  • Ric Garrido June 4, 2013

    I’ve been buying Poland brewed beer. Zywiec Brewery last night, but I prefer the other Polish beer I bought. I don’t recall the name. I’ll be back at the Beer Store today and write it down next time.

    I had several good Toronto microbrew Mill St. Brew Pub beer called Tank House Pale Ale at the TBEX opening night party. That brewery is in the historic 1870s Gooderham & Worts Distillery complex on the eastern harbourfront.
    http://www.millstreetbrewery.com/

  • BothofUs2 June 4, 2013

    Try Sleeman’s beer-not avail in the USA last I checked. It is awesome! They have a honey brown lager that is to die for!

  • Ric Garrido June 4, 2013

    @BothofUs2 – It will have to be another trip, although I think I might have had it in Vancouver two years ago at TBEX.

    I found a different beer place, LCBO, by St. Lawrence Market, the cool neighborhood based on my eight hours of walking around the city today. I laughed when taking a photo of a sign and a woman stopped to question me about what I was photographing. She told me to photograph landscapes. I didn’t bother to tell her that readers are going to think Toronto is all woods since I have primarily been taking landscape pictures all week.

    So I have a six pack of Amsterdam Brewery Boneshaker IPA at 7.1%.. And I leave tomorrow around noon. I have to get an Indian roti meal and start working on the beer.

    If the blog posts I write tonight get fuzzy, wordy, sentimental, and incomprehensible, I’ll blame the beer.

  • BothofUs2 June 4, 2013

    @Ric LOL – yeah…it’s the beer talkin’ – enjoy!

    I enjoyed the posting, esp since we’ve got an upcoming trip to Toronto and coincidently will be staying at that property. Thanks for scoping the beer store out ahead of time!

  • Ben June 5, 2013

    Funnily enough, The Beer Store and LCBO are both owned and operated by the provincial government. LCBO stands for Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Those are the only two ‘brands’ you can purchase beer at in Ontario. The LCBO is the only wine and spirits shop as well.

  • Ric Garrido June 5, 2013

    LCBO gave me an even better exchange rate on US dollar purchase than The Beer Store. There seemed to be a much larger selection of beer and local microbrews at LCBO.

  • […] Shower stall (with spots to place the soap and shampoo bottle). […]

  • Marek June 25, 2013

    Ric, thank you for locating Zywiec Polish beer – I am a big fan! We will be staying in Radisson 2nd night free in August.

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