The Gateway Sheraton at the Toronto International Airport is a fantastic airport hotel. Actually, it’s the location that is fantastic – the hotel itself is so-so. My first stay here was way back in 2001, and based on that experience, I didn’t pause (not even for a second) to book it again for a recent trip.
A full review of my 6 hour stay at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel (at YYZ)
My incoming flight from Lisbon arrived in Toronto at 10 PM, but my connecting flight out of San Diego wouldn’t be departing until 8:30 AM the next morning. A hotel room was necessary (I’m too old to be sleeping in airports), so I thought it would be fun to get reacquainted with the same Gateway Sheraton I enjoyed so much way back in 2001.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have time to sit in front of the windows for hours watching and photographing airplanes this time. My only objective for this stay was to sleep.
The Gateway Sheraton YYZ is located adjacent to terminal 3.
Depending on what terminal you’re coming from, you might have to take the inter-terminal train to reach the Hotel. Don’t worry. It’s easy (and fun).
Welcome to the Hilto…I mean…Sheraton! If only there was a logo or something that made it clear as to what kind of hotel this is…
Checking in
Either my memory is pathetic or they’ve completely redesigned the lobby since the last time I was here, because right away it didn’t look familiar to me at all. There was definitely a strong “Sheraton” vibe going on though, complete with dark and moody lighting with muted warm colors slathered over everything.
Frequent business travelers will know exactly what I’m talking about. There’s something about the drab Sheraton decor that carries over from property to property and it’s hard to mistake it for anything else. This isn’t a compliment by the way – as a matter fact, I wish they would change things up a bit and add some local flair the way Hilton usually does.
View of the lobby, after coming up the escalators to the second level.
Ok, well, this isn’t anywhere near as fancy as other Sheraton Hotels that I’ve stayed at (more specifically, the Grand Sheraton in Dubai). By the way, the check in desks are along the back wall, and it took me a moment to spot them, as they blend into the decor quite well.
For some reason or another this lobby reminded me of all the business travel I did during my first job right out of college. These places all look the same, and little has changed over the years.
Getting to my room
If you’ve stayed at one airport Sheraton, you’ve basically stayed at them all. Although the walk to my room was less extravagant than it was at the CDG Airport Sheraton, the vibe was largely the same.
Hallways so dark they felt creepy…
Room 660. My home for the next 6 hours.
The room
The first thing I did upon entering the room was rush to the windows to check out that view. Yep. Pretty much the exact same view that I had on my last stay here, which wasn’t a bad thing at all. I wish I could have spent hours oogling over the scenery below, but it wasn’t meant to be this time. I had a lot of sleep to catch up on, which was going to be severely hampered by a painfully early wake up call.
The view that makes the Gateway Sheraton l totally worth it (I rate it just as highly as the view from the Marriott YYC). I wish I had more time to sit and watch!
Well, it’s going to be hard to top that terminal pic from here on out. Here’s the room. *yawn*
The bed. *double yawn*
One last pic of the bed since I was really jet lagged and it was starting to look just as a good as the view outside.
Interestingly enough, this room was exactly how I remembered it to be from my last stay here in 2001. The decor is nearly identical to the Sheraton at the JFK Airport as well, so it’ll be familiar if this is a brand of hotel you stay at often.
I’m almost starting to wonder if they’ve even updated the furniture at all!
I didn’t even have the chance to give this chair a try. I don’t think I missed anything special…
Desk. (Sorry, running out of clever captions to describe this room!)
The beside table on the other side.
I really wish I had some pics from my last stay at this place, as I’m convinced it hasn’t changed.
Despite my sarcasm, I’m not complaining – this was a perfectly good room and a comfortable place to sleep off some killer jet lag.
The bathroom
The bathroom. It was tight in there!
Let’s zoom out a bit so we can see the entire thing, shall we? Much better.
Don’t let that wide angle pic fool you though. There’s only room for one person at a time in here!
Typical Sheraton tub and shower (not counting the bathrooms in the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Hong Kong, of course). Nothing special.
It was very clean though, so no complaints.
Final thoughts
Thinking back on it, there was absolutely no reason for me to pay the inflated price for staying at this hotel other than the fact that it was conveniently attached to the airport itself. I certainly didn’t need the view this time, and there was really no point in paying the premium for the Sheraton name (if you can consider Sheraton being a premium brand).
I went to bed dead tired, and I woke up very early the next morning feeling the exact same way. I probably should have just slept in a quiet corner inside the airport and saved myself a ton of money.
That said, I can still highly recommend this hotel to anyone needing a convenient place to stay between flights. The Gateway Sheraton is the most convenient hotel option at YYZ, hands down. It is far from being the most luxurious though, so if that’s your highest priority I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere.
