Inside Hotel X, Toronto’s Stylish New Urban Escape

In downtown Toronto, hotels sit cheek to jowl by necessity, not choice. That’s not the case for Hotel X, a new 400-room luxury hotel built on a former parking lot at Exhibition Place. Hotel X has unencumbered views of planes taking off from the Billy Bishop Airport, and sprawling lake views of the Toronto Islands — even Niagara Falls can be spied in the distance.

Housing a giant 90,000-square-foot sports center/club for guests and members, which includes four indoor tennis courts so you can use your new men’s tennis shoes, nine squash courts and a spa, the hotel is designed as an ‘urban resort’ not just for travellers, but for Torontonians in desperate need of a staycation.

In the suites, floor-to-ceiling windows and a neutral palette with pops of color, such as plush navy velvet tuxedo sofas, keep the focus on the panoramic views of Ontario Place, for an almost resort-like waterfront vista.

The design by architect Stephen B. Jacobs and Andi Pepper relies on clean profiles, seen in this suite’s bathroom, and contemporary, often reclaimed materials.