Myself and my partner stayed here for our first two months in Canada after relocating from the UK. We honestly couldn’t have picked a better location, apartment, or host for our first experience of Toronto.
The apartment is on a picturesque and peaceful residential street in Riverdale, on the East side of the city. A two-minute walk to the end of the street brings you out at Riverdale Park which offers a breathtaking view of Toronto. This a great place to start your day with a coffee from Juliana Social or Rooster, both just another two-minute walk in opposite directions.
There is a regular bus and streetcar stop at the end of the road too, which allows for easy access to anywhere in the city. A twenty-minute journey West and you’re in downtown Toronto, near all the tourist spots such as; CN Tower, Ripleys Aquarium, Rogers Centre, Eaton Centre, etc. Twenty minutes further and you’re on the West side of the city, where you can explore; Kensington Market and the trendy Queen West neighbourhood, or you can escape the city with a walk around High Park.
However, with all that Toronto has to offer, we found ourselves spending most of our time close to the apartment. Leslieville and Greek town, where you can find amazing food and nightlife, are both within walking distance. If you’re visiting in the Summer, then we would also highly recommend a bike ride to Woodbine beach! If you need to go shopping there are plenty of supermarkets; No Frills, Loblaws, and Gerard Square shopping centre with Walmart and others, all close-by.
Whatever you end up doing for the day, coming back to the apartment is always a lovely feeling. It is a shared building with other guests adjacent to and above you, but the whole time we were there it felt like our own private home. Everything you need to cook, wash and clean is provided. The fridge and cupboards are already stocked with essential bits and bobs, we were even greeted with a bottle of wine, which we thought was a lovely touch.
The hosts, James and Michael live next door, which makes you feel very comfortable and at ease. Any problems that we encountered were handled straight away. A small issue with the door was quickly fixed by Michael. We had a fire alarm going off in the building, and James was there immediately checking everybody was ok. They even went above and beyond by keeping an eye out for my partner, whilst she was very ill for a few days and I was back in the UK for a work trip. James and Michael were wonderful hosts and they really make the place feel like a home away from home.
We were very sad to leave in the end but we couldn’t recommend this place or the hosts highly enough!