Bathtub with a big-screen view at Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square.
Matching bartenders light up The Lobby Lounge at Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square.
From left, Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square GM Paul de la Durantaye, Groupe Germain co-president Christiane Germain, Tom Beyer, special assistant to the Mayor, City of Toronto.
Superior Room at Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square.
As a long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I can see the advantages of watching a game on a really big screen while soaking in a deep bathtub, preferably one filled with some calming bath salts.
That’s one of the experiences you can enjoy at Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square, which occupies several floors of a shiny new tower steps away from the Air Canada Centre.
The hotel soft-opened in November, and will soon have all 167 of its rooms and suites open for business. Open Jaw was there last week for a cocktail reception celebrating the new upscale boutique property, the second Groupe Germain hotel to open in Toronto and fifth in Canada. There are Le Germain hotels in Quebec City, Montreal and Calgary, while the original Hotel Le Germain Toronto location is just five blocks away from Maple Leaf Square, in the heart of the city’s Entertainment District.
Groupe Germain’s hotel concept is high on design and its philosophy is to combine elegance with authenticity. Despite being in the middle of a busy location (especially on game or concert nights) and set in a condominium complex that features everything from a grocery store to North America’s top-rated sports bar, the hotel offers an oasis of calm.
General Manager Paul de la Durantaye told Open Jaw that business has been very encouraging, despite a luxury market that remains a little on the soft side. He’s especially encouraged by response to the hotel’s 4,600 square feet of meeting space, where each room features floor-to-ceiling windows delivering loads of natural light. Playing off the hotel’s location, the meeting rooms are named The Penalty Box, The Offensive Zone, The Defensive Zone, The Neutral Zone and The Hall of Fame.
The sports theme is carried through to the rooms, though in a subtle way. Large photos of athletes – or more accurately athlete’s body parts – are mounted over the beds, and the ottoman to a comfy black lounge chair closely resembles a hockey puck.
Now back to that bathtub... Hotel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square’s suites feature deep, oversized tubs with a view... you can look out, but others can’t look in. And if you pick the right suite on a game night, that big-screen is all yours. Don’t forget the bubbles... and the bubbly... that Stanley Cup can’t be far away.
