A Mother-Daughters Getaway at The Grand Hotel & Suites in Toronto
  

A Mother-Daughters Getaway at The Grand Hotel & Suites in Toronto

We had a few surprises for my mom for her birthday this year. First, the party was a surprise. Second, we flew my sister, Hilary, to Canada to be here for the party. It had been 2 years since she was here last so we were really excited to see her! Third, my sisters & I took her on a girls' getaway to Toronto for a couple of days while my sister was in town!

My mom has often mentioned how she would love to do a "girlcation". We only had a few days with Hilary in town, so we packed them full with the party, Father's Day, more visiting with family, and this two-day getaway!

On our first day, we drove in to Toronto early to do some shopping at the Eaton Centre Mall. The mall is a 7-minute walk from The Grand Hotel & Suites where we would be staying. Parking fees in Toronto can really add up so we were really happy to be able to park at The Grand's underground parking earlier in the day, before we even checked in to our room.


If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I love to share photos and details from the story of our experiences. Here's a glimpse of the entry when you walk into the hotel. I wish I could've shown you a wider view because the ceilings were very tall and it was just gorgeous!




Here's the lobby where I was able to get set up for parking before our little shopping trip. They let me know that if you arrive early and your room is ready, they'll allow you to check in early. We were several hours early though, so we just got our parking and headed out.


I think my mom was excited to be together with all three of her girls. She took this photo of us on our walk to the mall. :)


After our trip to the mall (and stopping for some Gelato- yum!), we headed back to check in to our hotel. I grabbed this photo to give you a look at some of the interior of the hotel- I loved those chandeliers!


Here's a glimpse of what our 2 Room Suite looked like (it had two floors!). I didn't think a collection of photos would quite do it justice, so I did a little walk-through on video which I will share below.



This was a really unique suite! I had never stayed in a hotel and found my room to have two floors before! On the main floor were the kitchen, dining area, living area, and a full bathroom with shower. On the second floor were 2 bedrooms and a full bathroom with tub and shower. There was a desk in one of the bedrooms as well as the living area downstairs.


After getting settled and checking out our suite, we went downstairs for dinner at the Citrus Restaurant in the hotel. We found someone who could take a picture of all four of us together (I'm so happy we have this!).



Our dinner at the Citrus was so much fun and so delicious! We ordered two appetizers: the Tacos Al Pastor and Zucchini Feta Fritters. We all LOVED the Zucchini Feta Fritters!  They were plated so nicely with the little purple flowers- I loved it! Having a husband who lived in Mexico for two years, I have tried several Tacos Al Pastor over the years and while these weren't quite the same as the authentic ones I've tried before, they were very good.

For our main courses, my mom had the Steak Au Poive which was very tender (we all sampled each other's meals). Hilary had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken which isn't really my style, but she said it was really good. She really liked the slaw that came with it and said the chicken was great dipped in the gravy. Amber had the Spelt Linguini Primavera with Lemon Pine Nut Basil Pesto Cream which was excellent! I wish I hadn't been so full because I would've snacked on hers more than I did.  I had Shrimp Crusted Chilean Sea Bass which was AMAZING! I loved the way it was cooked and it was definitely my favourite meal!



We enjoyed Shirley Temples with our meals and then Hot Chocolate when the desserts came out- so good! Amber also tried a Spicy Caesar. I'll stick to the sweet drinks myself, but it did look pretty!


Below you can see a photo of the entrance to the restaurant (just off of the hotel lobby) and the beet puree that came with some breads before our appetizers arrived. I loved that pureed beet- who knew!

For dessert we ordered two to share between us because we were all getting pretty stuffed! We got the German Chocolate Cake with Toasted Pecan Icing and the Meringue Roulade with Raspberries, Rosewater Cream and Crushed Pistachios. German Chocolate Cake is not my favourite dessert but my mom loves it and said it was a really good one, with moist cake. The Meringue Roulade was totally interesting to me because I had never had anything like it before! It was really crazy how the rose cream really tasted like you'd imagine roses to taste- like it was kind of perfume-y. The meringue part was really good and I loved the raspberry. I'm still not sure how I feel about eating something rose-flavoured but I couldn't stop myself from going back for more tastes because it was so unique to me!


After our delightful dinner, we headed upstairs to our room and got cozy in our Grand Hotel robes. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the 4-person-selfie version of this photo, with my mom in it, too!


Now for my favourite part of the visit! We took the elevator to the top floor then took a separate little elevator up one more level, to the roof! The rooftop terrace was amazing!


The view was incredible and the sky was so beautiful as the sun was setting! The weather was just perfect and although we weren't the only ones on the roof when we first arrived, we were happy to see that there were two hot tubs on the roof, so we had one to ourselves!


The atmosphere up there was lovely! We sat in the warmth of the hot tub, taking in the view and listening to the music playing, As it started to get a little darker, we noticed that there was a video being projected onto a wall to the side of the hot tubs. We didn't stay until dark so we didn't get to see the video clearly, but I thought that was a really neat touch!


When we had had enough of the hot tub, we went downstairs to check out the gym. They had a good supply of equipment and a nice locker room with a sauna and steam room inside!


The indoor pool room was just gorgeous!! When you first walk in, you just have to take a moment to take it all in because the surroundings are beautiful. We were glad that the room was kept quite warm so it was comfortable to get into the water! There is a hot tub in this room, too.


After a delightful evening exploring all that the Grand Hotel had to offer, we went back to our suite to relax and chat before falling asleep. I tried to do a bit of work online before I went to sleep and found the WiFi in our bedroom was quite slow. I didn't get a chance to compare the WiFi in different areas of the hotel and the website did say that WiFi is available in "most" guest rooms and common areas. While this was little more than an inconvenience for us, it could be problematic if you need a fast internet connection.

In the morning we enjoyed a hot buffet for breakfast at the Citrus Restaurant. We returned to our room to pack up and checked out before setting off to drop Hilary off at the airport for her flight home. I am SO happy that we were able to get away as sisters with our Momma while Hilary was in town. This has never happened before! The Grand was a great place to do it, with its luxurious atmosphere, beautiful restaurant, and that amazing rooftop patio!


Thanks so much to The Grand Hotel in Toronto for hosting us for our girls' getaway and allowing us to make these unforgettable memories!

Aside from their website, you can find The Grand Hotel on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


Thanks for visiting my blog!

Please subscribe or follow to keep in touch.

15 comments:

  1. I keep hearing about The Grand. It looks like a beautiful hotel and the perfect place for a mother/daughter getaway. Sometimes we have to pamper ourselves :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is really nice. Agreed, it is SO nice to be pampered! ;)

      Delete
  2. Oh My goodness. You have convinced me that I need to visit Toronto and stay here. The rooftop terrace is beautiful and the food....well the food looks magnificent. My tummy is rumbling thinking of those zucchini fritters. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha You do! :) The rooftop was definitely my favourite part :)

      Delete
  3. Love the Grand Hotel - super convenient in location and the amenities are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like a fun trip! I would love to plan a getaway with my mom!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heather!! I could live there!!! OMG it's beautiful, I haven never been in a 2 story suite either, that's lovely. What a gorgeous place to stay and yummmmm the food looked drool worthy as well. Perfect place to create memories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha I would love to live there! :) Yes, the food was amazing. It was a lovely time!

      Delete
  6. WOW what a gorgeous hotel! I need to check this place out! The lights in the hallway... stunning.. the pool.. eep!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a gorgeous place! Your mom is so lucky to have the three of you! I want to visit Toronto sometime! When's the best time of year to go?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks Terri. It depends on what kind of weather you like. ;) I'm not a big fan of winters in the Toronto area, but if you're staying indoors mostly, it's not so bad- especially with access to a great pool! :)

      Delete
  8. Wow! This hotel seems amazing This must have been an awesome experience!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was so nice- we have great memories from that weekend! :)

      Delete
  9. Yea I have to Liverpool many times. It is a lovely city. Love this hotel. id review

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment- I love reading them! :)
~Heather Lynne

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *