What:
| Accommodation Type | | Hotel |
| Room Amenities | | Rooms Under $100, Balcony |
| Payment | | American Express, Visa |
Where:
| Neighbourhood | | Downtown |
| Getting There | | Queen streetcar |
| Cross Street | | Queen and University |
When:
| check-in/check-out: flexible |
Profile Last Updated: June 11, 2008
The Jazziest, Bluesiest Hotel Lobby of Them All
If you’re looking for the lobby of the Rex Hotel, don’t waste your time. Just walk through the front doors of the Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, past the swinging band and right up to the bar. Order a pint if you’re thirsty and ask for the hotel manager.
A Precious yet Thrifty Hotel
There are plenty of thrifty hotels in Toronto. Some tip the scrimping scales towards rooming house. Some tip to boarding house. But there are precious few where a touring sax player can finish a set, put the cap back on the toothpaste and bed down for the night – all in the same building. You can pay for your room at the bar. Then walk up the stairs – sloped at their centre by a million footsteps – at the back of the bar to your room.
The Amenities of the Rex Hotel
In 2006 the Rex Hotel began renovating its rooms on the second and third floors to upgrade its rooming house reputation. The renovated rooms are now described as “boutique,” with bamboo floors, a toilet, sink and shower. Rooms do not include a fridge, and televisions are a future project of the hotel’s owners. Expect a reduced rate if you’re staying for the week.
The Standards of the Rex Hotel
There are those who stay long enough to be called “tenant” rather than “guest.” That’s the rooming house legacy of the Rex. And anyone but a jazz or blues fan might wonder at the sanity of expecting a good night’s sleep over a bar that features live music. But insiders say the sounds don’t travel to the third floor. Besides, around midnight on a stormy Monday, whether you’re in a sentimental mood or a mood indigo, you can turn in for the night after Bessie’s blues and softly sing a lullaby of birdland at the Rex Hotel.
If you’re looking for the lobby of the Rex Hotel, don’t waste your time. Just walk through the front doors of the Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, past the swinging band and right up to the bar. Order a pint if you’re thirsty and ask for the hotel manager.
A Precious yet Thrifty Hotel
There are plenty of thrifty hotels in Toronto. Some tip the scrimping scales towards rooming house. Some tip to boarding house. But there are precious few where a touring sax player can finish a set, put the cap back on the toothpaste and bed down for the night – all in the same building. You can pay for your room at the bar. Then walk up the stairs – sloped at their centre by a million footsteps – at the back of the bar to your room.
The Amenities of the Rex Hotel
In 2006 the Rex Hotel began renovating its rooms on the second and third floors to upgrade its rooming house reputation. The renovated rooms are now described as “boutique,” with bamboo floors, a toilet, sink and shower. Rooms do not include a fridge, and televisions are a future project of the hotel’s owners. Expect a reduced rate if you’re staying for the week.
The Standards of the Rex Hotel
There are those who stay long enough to be called “tenant” rather than “guest.” That’s the rooming house legacy of the Rex. And anyone but a jazz or blues fan might wonder at the sanity of expecting a good night’s sleep over a bar that features live music. But insiders say the sounds don’t travel to the third floor. Besides, around midnight on a stormy Monday, whether you’re in a sentimental mood or a mood indigo, you can turn in for the night after Bessie’s blues and softly sing a lullaby of birdland at the Rex Hotel.
