The Traveling Steve's

Midnight Layover in Toronto

We arrived into Toronto Airport around midnight, and had a super quick time clearing immigration and customs. Toronto Airport uses all automatic kiosks (and there are plenty of them) for immigration, and it was quite efficient and quick.  You get a printed receipt, and then show it to the customs officer as you depart.

We took a cab from the airport to the Hyatt Regency Toronto, which is located close to the CN Tower.  At this late hour of the night/morning, there was no traffic, and we were there in about 25 minutes with a fare of $58 plus tip, which we rounded to $75.

Upon checking into the hotel, we were upgraded to a suite on the 18th floor.  Even though we were only here for a few hours, it was nice having a living room area to unpack and a separate bedroom.  The living room had a ‘dome car-like’ ceiling allowing light into the room via the overhead windows.  Here is the room shown at night when we checked in, and in the morning with actual sunlight.

  The bath was quite tiny however, with a small vanity, toilet and tub/shower.

The bedroom was large, and had a small terrace located adjacent to it; it was a nice feature we couldn’t use however, as it was sealed shut per the ‘local Police’. I’m sure it was due to security, and wonder if it was due to  the Las Vegas shootings this week, or just coincidental?  

Anyway, we would have had a decent view of the CN Tower at night if we could have walked onto the terrace, but I managed to get a not so great photo of the tower via the window instead.

After settling in the room and showering, it was close to 1:30am by the time we got to bed.  Even though there were some complimentary ear plugs next to the bed, possibly indicating noise, we both slept soundly, and didn’t hear any noise.  

We had breakfast at 10am in the hotel restaurant, a bit dismal looking as it was in the basement, but had a nice buffet breakfast.

After breakfast we walked around the area a bit, and over to the CN Tower.  We hadn’t planned going up it as we didn’t think we would have enough time, but we’re so glad we did.  Here are a few pictures of our whirlwind trip down and around the tower.

After touring, we rushed back to the hotel, only slightly late for our 12:30pm reserved car to the Airport.  

Now we are in the Admiral’s Club in Toronto, having pre-cleared US Immigration and Customs, so we don’t have to do that in Chicago where we connect for our flight to Beijing.  The flight is running about 30 minutes late due to Air Traffic Control.  So long to Canada for now, and on to Chicago, and Beijing!

 

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