Windsor Arms Hotel

Hotel

A nice hotel, very good spa as well as salt cave, high tea and brunch. One particular staff member named Ben at brunch was quite rude and kept poking fun at our expense far beyond the point of acceptability. Highly unprofessional. the room was good, however the first room we had reserved had a quite pungent odour similar to mothballs. The desk staff was very amicable and moved us to a better room free of charge. All in all a decent experience. The location is good for tourists who intend to walk places.

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.

It is a very clean establishment. The staff is very personable and is there to help you. The hotel itself is an attraction of its own with beautiful architecture and unique decor. Recommend!

Very disappointed after getting good recommendations. The service was poor and we waited more than 20 minutes after sitting to even be acknowledged and we had to go and track down someone to come. The quiche pastry was not cooked and the filling was runny. The croissants tasted like Pillsbury ones from a can and could not have been made in house. The scones were heavy and the 4 we had differed in size by more than 50%, which is careless and resulted in some being over baked and some under. The jams were tasty but extremely runny. The sweets were terrible in flavour other than the truffles, which were overly sweet. The tea was fine and plentiful. Would not recommend for the price unless you are really invested in the prestige name, which is really all the place has going for it.

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.

Stuffy, old and dated with archaic lunch menu. Slightly better menu for dinner. Great for a quiet private business meeting. Tea room remains as good as ever.

Went for my very first High Tea, for a Bridal Shower for a friend's Daughter. The food selection was lovely. Scones, mini sandwiches & chocolates & mini cakes.

This place has history and atmosphere. And class. We went for high tea recently and felt perfectly Royal! Delicious, on site cooking and prep. Classy unhurried staff.

Disappointing… I was invited here for high tea for a friend’s birthday. My first impression of the place was quite nice and the staff was very professional. However, this didn't last too long. After asking the table for allergies and confirming twice that I was extremely allergic to fish (anaphylaxis) all fish products and entrees were still brought to the table — they were never removed, despite bringing up this up to the staff. Then… Paying was an absolute nightmare, after asking to split the bill, there were several circumstances of overcharging. Because the servers mixed up who was splitting and who was paying together. For $80 this place isn't worth it. It can be nice upon the first impression but crucial mistakes like the ones I experienced make sure that I will never visit this place again willingly. I've had other people ask if they should have high tea at the Windsor Arms only to reply ”only if you want to go into anaphylactic shock and then get charged twice”

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

Had tea about 3 weeks ago and never again. I phoned even to speak with the careering manager, Kim, and she didn’t have the decency to call back. Had a allergy to fish, let them know well in advance, yet still got served fish 2 times! When I explained it to the server twice, I was met with attitude and went on about how he is short staffed and informed me not to blame him. He was visible annoyed and brought the tea and food to our table and walked away with no explanation. Had to eavesdrop on another table to know what anything was. Clearly we were not a priority table or even visible. Had to ask 5 times for water and recieved it with the bill. At 60.00 per person, it is outrageous how we were treated. Unprofessional and awful experience. Will not be back and have been vocal about the experience to my network.

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

Gorgeous hotel! We went for the salt cave but will be going back for other treatments at their spa soon. This hotel is decorated impeccably and staffed by some of the modt pleasant people in the industry.

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.

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

The only reason I am giving the spa 2 stars is because the RMT I had was a sweet lady. The pool is that of the hotel. No sauna, no hot tub. I felt like I was in my condo pool — very conventional. I won't complain up a whole ton, but the cherry on top was the towel, actually, all of the towels my sisters and I used had knots of hair tangled in the fibers that ended up on my body when I wiped down. I complained to the 4 ladies at the front desk, and all I got was, "where did you get the towel? " It was my birthday! I won't be returning and do not recommend this spa to anyone. Sorry!

For the afternoon high tea seating, the tea selection was quite varied and the room and decor was intimate and classic. The trays however were lacking, especially the sweet tier. The petit fours were not made in house and you can tell they were mass processed. They reminded me of the desserts you can get at a Japanese ayce. The scones were made in house and were quite good. All in all, I don't think the quality was worth the price.

We went to Windsor Arms for afternoon tea. We had to book it pretty late because it is a popular venue and only the 3:30 and 5:30pm times were left. When we got there the front desk took our reservation and someone took our coats, before leading us to one of their tea rooms. The room was lovely to say the least I was in love with the different colours of each of their tea rooms. The China was fine and sanity, and their tea selection is honestly amazing. I had the Black Velvet which was spiced perfection, each person gets their own pot of tea which they will top up with hot water. Their scones are hot and fresh and their jams are not too sweet. Honestly one of the best times of my life.

Went for a wedding. Lovely venue. Food was tasty, although it is not as hot as I'd expect. Service was generally good, with a few instances where I observed servers were a little curt towards guests, probably because they were under stress, not really sure. But overall it was a beautiful and intimate venue.

The service at the Sunday brunch buffet was excellent, but the servers seemed a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people there that day. The food was not as good as I expected it to be for the price, but the included coffee and mimosas were a nice touch. In the end, the person I brought to brunch really enjoyed the experience. I think most people will enjoy themselves here due to the posh atmosphere of the courtyard cafe and the butler-like service, but don't expect the quality of the food to match the quality of the decor or you'll likely be disappointed.

Beautiful tea room with great service and delicious food. A cute idea for a date or friend get together. It is not cheap, however, so go in with the mentality of treating yourself.

Had a high tea here over the holidays and frankly it could have been better. The clotted cream had been sitting out for so long it was pretty much solid. The sandwiches largely lacked flavour and attention to detail. And some of the snacks looked a lot like frozen cocktail snacks although I'm sure they weren't. Our server didn't bother to run down the items that were brought to the table leaving us to guess what was what. Finally the desserts came out in odd proportions so that sharing amongst 4 was impractical. The highlight were the tea, which was rather nice though plain (I'll fully admit it maybe just I chose a boring tea), and a few items on the menu were passible. On my trip there happened to be a rather audible family sitting nearby who made the atmosphere a bit less enjoyable as they didn't have the nicest things to say in general. But otherwise we enjoyed the room and the rest of the atmosphere well enough and the staff was very friendly.

Second time going to the Tea Room, went with some friends on the weekend. The waiter was extremely helpful, and polite. Food and tea was lovely as usual.

Had the High Tea. Lovely selection of savoury and sweet treats. The scones are very fresh and come with an assortment of jams and clotted cream. Nice selection of teas all in a gorgeous location.

Friendly staff and good in room food is all I would say worked. The entire experience is missing the details from what I expected as an upper scale hotel. The corner suit, said by staff to be the best room, had many issues. The toilet was in a separate room, which was great, but the sink in that room didn't work. The shower let a lot of water out of the stall so I had to wipe up a lot of water each time I took a shower. The shower faucet was crazy strong and you couldn't adjust it. Light switches were all messed up. I had to turn off each one of the eight lights manually. I would have expected one or two main switches max. Large tub was nice, but it would have been great to supply bath salts or bath soap. I know these are very picky details, but like I said, for a higher end hotel I would of expected more attention to these things.

We got together with some friends for dinner here and had a fabulous time! I liked the live piano music, and the decor and ambiance is incredible with the chandeliers. Servers were personable and polite, very accommodating, and staff had impeccable etiquette. Food was delicious and beautifully served. This place is classy. We will definitely come here again.

I went to Windsor Arms high tea for a bridal party. The waitress who served us was very professional. We were seated in one of the 3 rooms, the Tiffany green room, although it wasn't possible to choose which room to reserve when we booked it. They were mixed in helpfulness over the phone. I'm from Vancouver and I wasn't able to get a hold of them every time I call and they didn't respond to my voice mail. The staff who picked up my call was informative and cheerful, but when my friend called to book, the staff wasn't very friendly. The food would not be the reason to go to this high tea. Price and decor definitely would be great reasons to consider Windsor Arms if you're planning bridal party, but not the food unfortunately. Tea was great, but much like all other high tea places. I unfortunately broke a teapot lid as I was getting up from the table, and they were very nice about it. Lemon zest scone was my favourite.

Went for the High Tea and it was delicious! Everything was impeccable and our server super friendly, very nice experience in a beautiful environment. We rented the hats which is for charity, and the hotel concierge staff was snobby and unfriendly. At a boutique hotel and high-end property like this, you should have nice staff, always smiling at any of your guests — otherwise their annoyed faces impact the entire experience.

Last year's visit Included this wonderful place. My cousins took me here for high tea and it was amazing! I love tea time, and I love all the goodies that come with it. I will definitely be taking my aunts here if we make it up! Inside still had the Victorian feel and the chandelier was fantastic!

We were part of a wedding party over 2 days and found the facility to be very fresh and wonderfully representative of the period of old movie stars. The staff and last minute questions and requests were answered and resolved with efficiency and care both personally and for the full wedding arrangements. I would have no hesitation recommending the Windsor Arms to anyone.

Rooms for high tea is pretty small, and I dont know why they didn't prrpare enough pretty tea pot for every customer. Food was just okay.

Came here for drinks with some coworkers after work. It was very quiet and intimate, perfect because everyone go could hear each other. The servers were also great. Drinks were reasonable for Yorkville.

We went for high tea for mother's day. The quality has gone down from the last few times I've been there. I've been there 4 times in the last 5th years. The scones are still delicious and fresh.

I recently booked the Russian Red room for high tea for my birthday for a group of 15 girls. Prior to my booking I paid the balance in full as requested by the agent. I specifically requested that no beef or pork be served due to religious restrictions. During my conversations with the booking agent Harriet, I did let her know that there would be little girls attending and she told me that it would be a lovely experience for them. I was told that the grilled cheese would take the place of ham and cheese sandwiches. Upon arrival of the booking day, everything seemed lovely. Everyone was in conversation and we had placed the smaller children on the smaller table in the room to sit together. Once food arrived and my mother checked to see that there was no pork/beef served she then noticed that there was meat in the ‘grilled cheese sandwiches’ and she immediately shouted for none of our family to eat it. But unfortunately, one of the little ones had already reached for and taken a bite out of a ham sandwich. My aunt slapped it out of her hand. I immediately asked the server to remove them but he did not. He asked us to stay away from them. It was very upsetting that my request had been disregarded and was now being belittled. We made the best of the remainder of our sitting and then just as we were about to leave the restaurant manager apologized and left. To my dissatisfaction, I paid for ham when I do not even consume it.

Ambiance was beautiful. Food was mostly great. Although I ordered a steak and it came too well done. I didn't try to get it sent back though. Pricey meal. Overall a good experience.

I am giving no star to their management and service on Christmas day (today), December 2014, and suggest no one should deserve such an awful and disrespectful experience with President George (hotel, restaurants etc. ). Our relatives from Austin, Texas are visiting us during this holiday season, and we decided to revisit The Courtyard Cafe for their Christmas brunch at 1PM sitting. I personally walked into the hotel reception and paid in FULL ($866.71 including gratuity) via my MasterCard for a 10 people booking on November 19th for today's meal (mind that this is already ridiculous requesting a client to walk into the building and complete a monetary transaction before the event date, instead of doing a basic reservation via the phone). An official physical invoice was issued at the reception area that day, and our card statement just arrived a few days prior and showed that this transaction has been completed. When we arrived, our table was reserved under my name for 10 guests, and had no problem at this point. The meal and service itself was already not as good compare to our prior experience 3 years ago (back then it offered crab legs). When we decided to leave around 2:20PM, we ordered the bill and mentioned that we have already completed our transaction back in November, and would pay the extras if there was a difference. Since we did not bring the paper invoice, we suggested the management to check their database for the transaction.

Do not plan your wedding or special event here you will lose your deposit. I lost several thousand dollars when they refused to return an event security deposit by making up fake charges and damages that never occurred. Later on I learned they are notorious for doing this on a regular basis it's part of their business plan to rip you off on your special day. Be Warned.

Went to the Windsor Arms Hotel for a wedding a few weeks ago. Had a drink at the bar and saw NHL celebrity Brendan Shanahan. Reception area for the wedding was a little too crowded and noisy. Dining room was very elegant and the food was great. Seating arrangement was a little snug, but not too bad. Servers could have done a better job coming around with the wine as we waited a very long time for a refill.

My parents were in town visiting from London, England for Thanksgiving, so we wanted a fairly nice place to have our dinner. We chose the hotel's "Living Room" restaurant. First, we ordered a Kim Crawford white wine, it took them about 20 minutes to get back to us to tell us they actually didn't have any in stock. Then we ordered our second option, which, after about 10 minutes, was also determined to be out of stock, so we were forced to order a more expensive white. Turns out they don't even chill the wines that they DO have in stock, so we had to wait about 10 minutes for the wine to come, having already waited 30 minutes from ordering our first option. Our waiter did not know anything about the menu she was working with. Maybe she was new, but she never said so. I ordered the 8oz Tenderloin ($36) with a side of Fingerling Potatoes ($6) and Market Vegetables ($6). The vegetables arrived first before anything, already lukewarm. 5 Minutes later my beef arrived — also lukewarm — and the vegetables had gone cold. After telling the waiter, he took my vegetables, and was not seen for about another 10 minutes. When a second waiter came out and asked if I'd gotten my vegetables back, I said no, and was promptly delivered the same vegetables at a lukewarm temperature. When asked if they were microwaved the waiter said no, and then continued to fumble over her words, not saying anything in particular.

Unfortunately, I have to include my stressful experience of booking a wedding ceremony and reception here. I now understand why the Windsor Arms is not exactly known for weddings. Kitchen messed up 2 out of 3 entrees at the reception (the fish and vegetarian dishes) by substituting cheaper ingredients. We had this in our contact and also sampled what was supposed to be served at the tasting. 2 days before the event they asked for more money for alcohol claiming they would stop serving alcohol at the event if we didn't pay. The original agreement was a consumption bar, with us paying the extra if we went over our estimate. We paid the extra $2000 up front and they were supposed refund us the extra back whatever was left over. They have not provided us an account of what was consumed and ignored emails/phone calls for the past 2 months. The staff we have dealt with have been very passive-agressive, I can't believe the business practices of a hotel held in such high regard. We dealt with no fewer than 4 catering managers from the time we booked until the day of the wedding, with no continuity whatsoever. Many complimentary things which were agreed upon at the beginning were not honoured, such a room to get hair/makeup done in, use of the hall for a rehearsal, tasting for 4, cake cutting fee, and tealights at each table. I ended up having to book an expensive suite for the night before just to ensure I would have a hassle-free place to have getting ready photos done.