I spent a full month in Gnocchi’s townhome and thoroughly enjoyed the immersion into one of Toronto’s unique cultural neighborhoods, Little Portugal.
The Space: The unit looks exactly as the pictures portrayed and the decor is vibrant, cool, stylish and minimal simultaneously. While not huge, the home is fully renovated, well laid out maximizing square footage efficiency and brand new everything inside. Found myself consistently saying, “oh I could live here.” It simply felt like a home. The bathrooms are on the smaller size for a bigger person, I’m just under 6’ and 230lb and managed to make it work. It’s a typical Toronto town home split level so it shares one wall with another unit plus tenants in the lower unit but sound transfer is minimal except on the living room level. The door separating units still allows for sound to cut through but that’s an easy fix which I’m sure will be addressed soon. It’s not loud by any means, you’re just aware that people are right on the other side of the door. The bed in the first room was exactly what was needed during my 14 day Covid quarantine. Slept like a baby.
The Street: This is not in Gnocchi’s control and if it was she’d have it looking like a garaged designed by IKEA, Apple and Tesla. Unfortunately, it feels more or less like an alley with garages and garbage cans neatly in place. It’s no big deal and grew on me as adding to the authenticity of the stay.
The Neighborhood: What a cool part of town. Highly walkable. Incredible Portuguese deli steps from the front door, LCBO and Dollarama a few blocks away. A myriad of chill bars, excellent restaurants within a 5 min walk. 10 mins away is Ossington Ave full of Little Portugal’s top restaurants, coffee shops etc. Two major grocery stores a 15 min walk south of you on the popular Queen West. The East/Westbound streetcars on Dundas pick you up right at the top of the street getting you anywhere you want in the city for $3.20/ride.
The Host: Gnocchi is a pro. Accommodating. Responsive. Fair. Full of information and eager to make sure your stay is excellent. She hopped through hoops to help resolve my need for very high speed internet bandwidth and checked in with me every few days to see if I needed anything or to drop off items for the place since I was the first guest to stay there. She’s cool, easy going, and settling. Couldn’t ask for a better host.
If you’re looking for a unique experience that’s NOT a hotel or condo, this one is clutch. Enjoy your stay!