Located in Toronto’s annex neighborhood, the Annex Hotel, is thought of as a reimagination of what a modern day hotel could be like. Designed by Toronto’s StudioAC, the hotel is chic, fresh, and inherently local - which is increasingly becoming a key driver in the hotel industry, and something that’s of high importance to me when I travel. With a philosophy of guests all of what matters and none of what doesn’t, this property is a standout among others in the city, likely a more comfortable competitor of Airbnb than, say, Hilton. First described to me as the “un-hotel,” I was excited to get a feel for what this rethinking would look and feel like, and - as you’ll see - it had both it’s ups and downs. Booking As this is an independent hotel, we booked directly with the property at www.theannex.com - rooms in the hotel are also available on Airbnb and other sites. Given that we had a brief one night stay, we opted for a Medium room with one queen bed as we intended on being out and about in the neighborhood for the duration of our stay. Our total for one night, with taxes and fees, came out to a reasonable $135.98 US which we charged to my colleague’s Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card. Arrival, Check In & Lobby After landing at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport from a flight in on Porter Airlines, we attempted to take public transit, but after getting on the wrong train and subsequently realizing they were cash or token only, we opted to call an Uber given its affordability and speed. Arriving at the hotel was a bit of a confusing process as the hotel’s address is off of what is essentially an alley - causing our driver to get lost. It was clean, and in the evening well lit, and also had a great sequence of street art leading up to it which we would spend time exploring later. Once at the property, we followed signs to the lobby; however, when we arrived, there was no one to be seen. As I mentioned earlier, a part of this hotel’s concept is a reimagining of staff roles and physical spaces - this sounds good in practice, but in reality it made for some confusion. Eventually we found a friendly barista in the adjacent coffee shop space who was able to store our bags until check-in time. Once 4:00 PM rolled around, we headed back to the hotel eager to check in using the room assignment and door code that had been emailed the evening prior. This time, upon entering the lobby, there was a hotel attendant as well who was able to bring our bags up to the main floor and see us on our way. From there, we started the trek up three flights of stairs to our room - no elevator here. The lobby space at this hotel could most politely be described as...petite. Upon entering the main doors, you arrive in a cafe-like space with a coffee counter, a full bar area, a decently sized lounge area and a patio that looked like it would’ve been a great place for a drink in warmer months. In all honesty, it felt a lot like a coworking space - from the excellent design to the flexible staff - which I don’t think is a bad thing at all, I’d have been equally happy working from here or grabbing a cocktail with friends. The downfall of this all is that there is no true check in space other than an incredibly tiny desk and chair set up near the stairwell, it was a cold and awkward arrangement that was in contrast to the lobby and didn’t leave a good impression. However, it should be noted that if we were not dropping bags, we’d have never needed to interact with that area as we’d have proceeded directly to our room. Guestroom / Suite When we received our welcome email with our room number and entry code, we were also notified that we’d been updated from a Medium Room (one Queen Bed) to a Large Room (one King Bed), which was a welcome surprise as it’d mean we’d have much more room. Upon walking into the room, we were immediately struck with how beautiful it was. It was light, bright, clean and contemporary with a beautiful and simple palette - the white painted brick offered beautiful texture, the black metal a cool touch and the birch wood just the right amount of warmth. Once through the door, a thin shelf pulls your eye to the end of the corridor, around the volume that makes up the bathroom, and into the main space. A large portion of the room consists of a raised platform that holds a King Bed, which backs up upon one of the exterior walls, as well as a corner sitting nook. The bed itself was absolutely fantastic, allegedly the same used in Ritz-Carlton, and the linens were incredibly soft and high quality with a mix of plush and firmer feeling pillows. A continuous shelf running the length of the room makes up the nightstand as well as a desk area once it clears the raised platform. A small touch here, that I absolutely loved, is how curated all of the accessories felt - everything was placed flawlessly. A full closet was located across from the bed. The same shelf that runs the length of the room also serves as the vanity for the bathroom - where the sink sits on a metal plate to demarcate its purpose. A lighted vanity, towels, and glasses were found in this location as well. Behind the vanity is a sliding glass door leading into the wet area of the bathroom. A continuous tile floor runs the extent of the area with a frosted glass plane dividing the toilet from the shower area. Within the shower, bulk amenities by Grown Alchemist were provided - they smelled so good, in fact, that my colleague filled a small bottle to take home! The water pressure from the rainfall shower head above was excellent, and now there were no water overflow issues, which I’ve seen at other hotels with layouts like this. Within the room, there are a few notable absences, you will not find a TV here nor an in room phone - rather, you’ll find a large iPad with streaming services and a number to text from your personal cell phone should you need anything. Each room also features an in room library sourced from a local bookshop as well as records from a record shop in the neighborhood. I truly enjoyed grabbing a book to flip through and putting a record on the turntable to play through the Harmon-Kardon sound system while we unwound from our morning of travel. Additionally, each room features work from local artists and galleries, a really nice touch in my opinion. The mini-bar in the room was also clearly curated to be local, and quite reasonably priced. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all smooth sailing - the space was stunning, but there were a few major issues: first, the beautiful brick walls offer virtually no insulation, which as you’d imagine isn’t ideal in a Canadian winter. Placing the head of the bed up against them is also far from ideal as we were cold most of the evening, and woke up with sore necks despite it being a fabulous bed, which leads to the second issue. The mechanical system cycled on and off incredibly often given the cold, and each time it sounded like a combination of an '80s Buick backfiring and a jet roaring down the runway - it woke us up each time and severely impacted our ability to rest. Amenities & Features Let’s clear the air right away, there aren’t any amenities in this hotel, but that’s okay, it’s not intended to be a full service hotel nor are you intended to stick around, the annex wants you out in the neighborhood. However, for those looking to exercise, free passes to local gyms and yoga studios were available. Given the lack of staff, the hotel also has a unique approach to in room requests as well - storage closets with towels, pillows, etc are located on each floor. However, when we went in search of extra towels, we found our floor’s closet to be empty. Food & Beverage The Annex features two food and beverage outlets: the Cafe and Wine Bar, which pulls double duty as the lobby, and the Commons which sits across from the outdoor entry to the hotel and serves a crafted pizza menu as well as pop-up features - food could also be ordered to go in lieu of a traditional room service. The Commons was closed during our visit, but we did pop down to the Wine Bar for Happy Hour to start our evening. The prices were excellent, and while wine was half off, we opted to try a few cocktails which were quite good. In the mornings, this space also functions as a cafe serving locally sourced beans. Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed this stay. I think in part that was due to me being a hotel guy who was eager to experience what a totally new concept looked like, but while there’s a lot of great things going on here, I do think it needs some fine tuning. It’s not quite style over substance, but it can feel that way at times due to the lack of staffing. I get the appeal of this staff light approach, but I’d love to see a few more dedicated to really add the human element to an otherwise great product. Beyond that, I’d love to see house phones installed, I know they’re seldom used in this day in age, but they provide a sense of connection and safety that I feel still validates their presence - especially given I was having roaming issues on my own device. The location is also fantastic, it’s in the middle of an incredibly dynamic and rapidly evolving neighborhood; and also situated as a springboard for exploring the rest of Toronto, which we greatly appreciated. Now the hard question: would I return? Yes, BUT, and that’s a HUGE but, only if the mechanical issues we saw were resolved. They really prevented our ability to sleep peacefully, and even relax, which at the end of the day really is the sole purpose of a hotel in the first place.
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