Being an international man of mystery, I did not let this thwart my plans. Instead, I began looking along the Toronto Metro line and eventually found a nice little hotel named “The Wellesley Manor Boutique Hotel” right across the street from the Wellesley Metro Station, a mere four stops and two blocks from the customer’s building. With free high-speed internet and at only 120 CAD a night, this seemed too good to be true!
When I arrived at the Toronto Airport, YYZ, I paid 60 CAD to take a limo to the hotel. The driver had a very hard time finding the place and we stopped in front of the Opseu Sefpo building. I first figured something was queer when I saw the huge rainbow flags covering the windows of the Opseu building. Indeed, it was such a gaudy distraction that I barely noticed the delightful little house tucked away between it and the Fox and Fiddle Pub.
The lobby of the hotel was a small side room with fine furnishings and obviously decorated to appeal to an Aberzombie & Bitch clientele. Having just left a position where my boss constantly “dropped a hair pin” with his stereotypical and overtly homosexual mannerisms and appreciation of fine furnishings and all things feminine, I was able to spot this decorating style instantly. I will point out that it looks fabulous, but it is distinctly different than how a woman designs. A beautiful Middle Eastern woman checked me in and ushered me to my room.
The room was perfect. Crown molding, pedestal sink, fine soaps, no detail was over looked and it met my biggest requirements, Clean, Clean and Clean! The room was just a bed and bath, no desk, no closet, no couch, but everything I needed for a business trip. Although my window opened to the side of the Opseu building, I mentioned earlier, the window actually OPENED for fresh air and since I was at the customer’s location for 9-10 hours a day, the view from the hotel was inconsequential. Ask for room 23.
So, a beautiful, clean and great hotel room with easy transportation to downtown Toronto, what more of a reason do you need to go gay? The FOOD!
In my experience, the brownie queens know art and as you SHOULD know, good food is an art. One important piece of advice, when you leave the hotel make a right toward Church Street, NOT a left toward Yonge Street. Church Street is the gay village of Toronto and has approximately 375 Ab Fab intimate restaurants, pastry shops, tapas bars, specialty cheese shops, chocolatiers and bakeries (I personally recommend Café California, Sambucas, and Ill Fornello.) Yonge Street is more like a dirtier version of Ho Chi Minh City, brimming with boy bars and dirty holes in the wall, with an overall health and sanitation ratings somewhere around a high “F” and a low “D”.
Therefore, when in Toronto, for the location, food, atmosphere, service and accommodations, you just cannot beat going gay.
