Trip Report: May 3 - 18, 2001
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
Through the Pacific Northwest and Canada
by Amtrak, BC Rail and VIA Rail Canada
TORONTO UNION STATION
AND THE ROYAL YORK
Friday, May 11, 2001. We arrive into Toronto a little behind schedule. The sun has set and as we approach Union Station the red neon Royal York sign atop the hotel across the street reminds us that we will be stopping over at this conveniently located hotel for the night. The Royal York was formerly the Canadian Pacific Royal York, but CP recently merged with Fairmont Hotels and for some reason believe that the Fairmont name has more cachet than Canadian Pacific. Now this property, as well as other famous Canadian Pacific hotels, including Banff Springs and Chateau Lake Louise, are under the Fairmont banner. Naturally we are curious to see if there are any changes as a result.
But we must get there, and this is not as easy as it should be. First, one must go down one level below the tracks to reach the tunnel that leads you into the station. There is confusion on the platform as passengers with their luggage are looking for the way into the terminal. We, like most travelers today, use wheeled luggage in order to save our backs. We ask employees on the platform, "Where is the escalator?", and they wave us down platform to an escalator moving upwards endlessly and uselessly. We find a stairwell and begin rolling our wheeled luggage down the stairs, crash, slam, bang. Our Service Manager helps with our bags, and agrees with us, "Yes, we do need an escalator."
Following the signs to the terminal, we seek some indication of where the baggage room is. One sign leads us into a side hallway which is a dead end. Eventually, as we wander on towards the street exit, we find the baggage carousel. We have pre-checked our bag from Vancouver, so don't have to wait for it to be off-loaded. The baggage man mutters, "You advance checking people are driving me crazy!", adding, "But that is the smart thing to do."
After claiming our bag and rechecking our laundry back to Vancouver, we seek the tunnel to the Royal York. We have been here before, but many years ago, before wheeled bags. The tunnel is an up and down fun house maze with stairs and revolving doors eventually leading to the lower lobby of the hotel, where you can take an elevator to the reception level where there are five desk clerks on duty. We receive our room key, find one of the ten elevators, and go to the thirteenth floor to find the bellman has already placed our luggage in our room.
Our room is small but has all the amenities, including a view across the street of Union Station. I set up my work station, but the desk lamp is burned out. Maintenance sends up two burly workmen with a set of tools and replacement bulbs. As we have been prohibited by Bell Mobility to retrieve our messages by cell phone since yesterday when we crossed the Ontario border, there is much work to be done with telephone messages and e-mail.
We order room service breakfast for 6 AM and retire at one. Breakfast is delivered promptly at six. The Mail Desk accepts a letter and 60 cents and promises to find a stamp later and mail it out to a client in Seattle . They also send a fax to a client in California. We are ready to check out by 8:15 AM for our 9 AM departure of the westbound Canadian.
Determined to find a route to Union Station without stairs, I consult the Bell Captain, who advises us that the way to exit the hotel without encountering steps was to find the silver door handicapped elevator near the South Entrance and take that to the parking garage entrance which is at street level. From there we can walk across the street to Union Station without encountering stairs or curbs. Once inside the station there is an easy walk to the escalator which takes us up to trainside.
The Royal York is the closest hotel to Union Station and one of the finest hotels in Toronto. In addition to its convenience, it offers every amenity one may imagine in a world class hotel, and at a price most travelers will find quite reasonable, especially when compared with first class hotel prices in major US cities. The only evidence of its pre-Fairmont identity is the Canadian Pacific Store on the shopping arcade level, where one may still find gifts and memorabilia of the great days of Canadian Pacific history.
While the staff does not yet appear to be completely comfortable wearing their new Fairmont caps, perhaps with time they will settle into their old routines of providing the fine service that Canadian Pacific has always been known for, for after all it is still the Royal York, whether it is CP or Fairmont.
Note: Oddly enough while CP hotels have given up their time honored name in favor of the relatively recent Fairmont name, Canadian Pacific Corporation still owns these hotels. As we understand the business side of it, CP Hotels actually purchased Fairmont Hotels, but decided to terminate the CP identity in favor of the Fairmont identity in the belief that the Fairmont name was more well known and respected worldwide than the CP name. Those in the know tell us that in one twenty four hour period all of the property in these hotels carrying the CP name was removed and replaced. However, we know one item which was overlooked, as our breakfast was served with a CP Hotels dinner knife mixed in with the generic silver and china. There was nothing with a Fairmont name or logo.
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