Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/City Centre

The seven-floor exterior of the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/City Centre -- a flat beige facade topped with a loud red sign -- is underwhelming and even a bit budget-looking. But inside, the hotel is surprisingly modern with polished white and gray tile floors, tray ceilings, and drum chandeliers. The look is business-friendly if a touch corporate, with an imposing front desk in granite. However free baked treats set out by check-in add a homey touch. Stylish lounge areas are placed throughout the lobby, including a sitting area of streamlined gray benches by a fireplace with a mounted flat-screen TV flanked by topiaries. The same light blue polka-dot wallpaper found in rooms also lines hallways, but it clashes a bit with the brown patterned carpeting.

The hotel’s downtown location is convenient for both travelers in town on business and tourists eager to see top sites. The surrounding streets are safe, but there are some panhandlers and homeless in the area. It’s a five-minute walk to the Toronto Eaton Square shopping mall and the outdoor concerts and theater at Yonge-Dundas Square, which is also located beside a subway station. It’s 15 minutes by subway to Union Station, which is near the Hockey Hall of Fame, Air Canada Centre, and St. Lawrence Market. The Royal Ontario Museum in the Bloor-Yorkville area is a 10-minute drive, as is the Financial District. The CN Tower, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Rogers Centre, and Ripley’s Aquarium are 20 minutes by subway. And the Distillery District can be reached in 20 minutes by tram. The Toronto Pearson International Airport is a 30-minute car trip. Toronto Islands can be reached in 35 minutes by car and ferry. 

Dark-wood furnishings set against blue polka-dot wallpaper creates a modern and warm atmosphere in rooms that offer homey conveniences such as microwaves, mini-fridges, and Keurig coffeemakers. Overall, the look is polished, although a few details, like the granite countertops and wall-to-wall carpeting, betray a generic, chain-hotel attitude. Blue-and-brown striped curtains frame windows that open up to provide fresh air, but there’s also air-conditioning. Other in-room amenities include safes, free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, irons/ironing boards, and beds with adjustable firmness controls. Sinks provide ample vanity space and come stocked with Neutrogena toiletries. Standard rooms have shower/tub combos. One- and two-bedroom suites offer sofa beds in separate living rooms and some have clover-shaped whirlpool tubs. Deluxe Suites offer two floors of space. The ADA accessible junior suite has two bathrooms. 

The Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/City Centre stands out from the competition with its convenient 24-hour facilities. The 24-hour business center -- with three PC computers and a copier/printer -- and 2,500-square-feet of meeting space are convenient for business travelers. Its mustard-yellow pattered carpet and padded office chairs have a certain '70s throwback design. There’s also a 24-hour gym that has cardio machines and free weights, though it's windowless and a bit small. The lobby houses an ATM and a 24-hour market that sells snacks and sundries. A laundry room is also open 24 hours a day. The Great North American Grill is bright and modern, offering a breakfast buffet (not included in most room rates). Casey’s Bar and Grill serves lunch and dinner in a casual setting with bar seating and mounted flat-screen TVs. The indoor pool and hot tub aren’t fancy, but they’re clean and bright thanks to a skylight. A free shuttle transports guests within a mile-and-a-half radius of the hotel. Airport transfers can be arranged, for a fee, through the front desk.