These days, if you’re going to travel, that likely means finding accommodations for the kids as well. Luxury hotels that go above and beyond so the kids have lots to do will result in appreciative parents, first and foremost. But it will also mean separation from other luxury hotels from a competitive perspective.
“Business leisure, that’s terminology we want to see catch on,” says Matt Black, director of marketing and revenue for Hotel X Toronto. “Come in a couple of days early, before your event, so you can enjoy the hotel, and bring the family along. If you’re staying there with the wife and kids, they can go and explore the city while you’re getting getting work done. We see that a lot now. We have some special offers – if you’re coming in on a Monday, maybe one should come in on the Sunday. As a hotel, Sundays are typically lower demand, and you have our amenities.”
Hotel X announces CYBEX partnership
Earlier this summer, Hotel X Toronto announced a partnership with CYBEX, where families travelling with kids can take advantage of complimentary CYBEX strollers, high chairs, and learning towers. The CYBEX LEMO Highchair is something families can use for their kids when they are looking to have a nice dinner at the hotel’s two restaurant options – Roses Social or up on the rooftop at Valerie, next to the pool area.
For December, Hotel X has brought back their popular Breakfast with Santa & Mrs. Claus event, and a separate Brunch with Santa & Mrs. Claus event, where kids and adults can gather around and listen to Christmas stories, while enjoying breakfast and brunch featuring holiday-themed treats. The hotel also offers “Holiday Family Fun Packages” which bundles together luxury accommodations, tickets to the Breakfast with Santa event, plus access to other family-oriented amenities and holiday activities.
Starting on Family Day in February, and running through the end of March Break, the hotel has their retro arcade pop-up, with four player Mario Kart, Dance Dance Revolution, hockey, pinball, and a whole variety of games for the family.
Hotel X also offers up a 3,000 square foot Play Centre for the kids, and a movie theatre for scheduled movie screenings. The rooms at Hotel X are plush – with the one-bedroom suites offering up enough space so the teenager can have his or her own area, including bathroom. The multi-room suites and bi-level penthouse suites offer up more space, of course. Sometimes the kids want their own quiet area, with their own TV.
Resort in the city
Plus there’s the gym, tennis, squash courts, spa, hot yoga, pilates, ping pong and golf simulator (it also features baseball, soccer, and hockey) for the more active.
“We want to make sure that we’ve got everything that you could need,” Black says. “What’s important is really good WiFi as well, and good connection. We have Chromecast in all of the rooms. We made a conscious decision in 2017 – we saw back then a lot of people were travelling with their own devices, and wanted to be able to stream their own content, from their iPhone or iPad.”
Hotel X will even accommodate pets, if you want to bring the dog along.
“There’s a lot to do here, but it’s a little bit more elevated, and a little bit more luxurious,” Black says. “What really makes us unique here and for our city is we really are kind of like a resort, a resort in the city.”
Just close enough to the downtown, but still very much attached. If you and the family feel like a downtown experience you can always take one of the hotel’s house cars to get you there, within a five kiloemetre radius.
I am a 50-something Torontonian who loves everything about my city. It’s been my home, my playground, for my entire life. I went to school here. I met my wife here. I own real estate here. I love writing about the transformation of my city on the world stage, which hasn’t been anything short of dramatic. That continues on, as I write this. I write on the real estate scene. I write on travel and fashion. I like following the world of luxury watches.
But I love writing about cars – check that, luxury cars, a level of superior, engineering sophistication, high performance and style, that transports you not just from one destination to another but also out of whatever you are going through on a particular day, whatever mood you are in, all to another head space. It’s complete and total exhilaration, head to toe.
For me, driving a BMW, Porsche, Audi, Land Rover, and the like, is like a personal island, a respite from the frenetic pace that only people who live in the core of North America’s fourth largest city (and growing) can understand. That may sound dramatic, but it’s truth.
And I am not interested in writing Car + Driver-type stuff. When I get a car, I want to experience it. That could be a drive down the U.S. west coast from Vancouver to Los Angeles, down the Pacific Coast Highway, or a drive to the bright lights and energy of New York, or a weekend sojourn to the great city of Montreal.
Check out my stories, and email me direct at mkeast@regardingluxury.com
