Hotel Riu Plaza Toronto

We booked this hotel for 5 nights as visitors that have been to Toronto multiple times wanting to try somewhere new. The hotel is in the entertainment district of the city which is a great place to stay. Pros: * The location worked well for us - lots of the bars and restaurants that we like to visit were in short walking distance. A little further away from places such as St Lawrence market and the distillery district, but still walkable if you don't mind getting your steps in! * The room was very comfortable, modern and clean. This is still a relatively new hotel and it felt that way. There was a walk in shower which had decent water pressure and toiletries etc. in there which were of good quality. The bed was comfy and night time noise was minimal, meaning we got great sleep. * The team were all very friendly and helpful. Always welcoming you back to the hotel and happy to answer any questions. Room for improvement: * The hairdryer was terrible. It's one of those that's attached to the wall with hardly any power to it (meaning I had to stand in the small bathroom for 30 minutes to get my hair dry). I would have preferred a plug in option that I could take to the desk to sit down at and something more powerful wouldn't go amiss. * Our room was pretty small. I'd definitely pay more for a larger option next time as we were travelling with 4 suitcases due to the length of our trip, and they took over most of the room. Having stayed in similar priced hotel rooms in the area previously, this was certainly the smallest room we've had. The same goes for the bathroom, although perfectly functional, it was small and felt very cluttered once we had our toiletries in there. I'd recommend for people staying for a short period looking to be in the heart of this district!

Beautiful hotel, terrible check-in experience. My stay at RIU Plaza Toronto began with one of the most frustrating hotel experiences I’ve ever had. After an overnight flight, we arrived at 3:30 a.m. with written confirmation from the hotel outlining early check-in fees. Miguel at the front desk refused to honor that information, insisting we had to wait until 7 a.m. unless we paid approximately $350 for the previous night, despite the advertised rate for the following night being just $134. We were left waiting in the lobby for hours, only for Miguel to suddenly make an exception shortly after 6:20 a.m. Then came another disappointment: my reserved king suite with a sofa bed was replaced with a standard room, followed by an additional $35-per-night charge for our guest. The entire experience felt like an exercise in squeezing more money out of exhausted guests rather than providing basic hospitality. Even worse, when I complained, RIU’s response was to redirect me to Expedia instead of addressing the conduct of its own staff. To be fair, the hotel is beautiful and the breakfast was excellent. Unfortunately, great breakfast cannot compensate for poor customer service, inconsistent policies, and a complete lack of accountability. This check-in experience overshadowed our stay and is what I will remember most about RIU Plaza Toronto. Think twice before booking.