Hotel Victoria

Walk past Hotel Victoria and you just might miss the Grande Dame of Yonge Street, a tucked-away reminder of what used to be. First opened in 1909, it was built after Toronto's Great Fire of 1904 and was originally designed by Canadian architect J.P. Hynes as the first fireproof building in Toronto. Initially named Hotel, the hotel was an emergency hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic, was renamed Hotel Victoria when it sold in 1927 after Prohibition-era liquor restrictions slammed its bottom line. As a reward for surviving it all, Hotel Victoria had its original innards ripped out in the 1980s when the lobby was transformed into an airy atrium of steel and glass. Purchased in 1997 by the Silver Hotel Group, the lobby and guestrooms were totally renovated in 2011, preserving the charm of its original marble pillars and crown molding next to a new, sleek urban design. Each of the 56 rooms run a bit small but the building’s location and historical past simply can’t be beat. Found near Union Station in the Financial District, it's just around the corner from tourist attractions like the Hockey Hall of Fame. Starting at $174 per night