taal said:
Is it just me or are they using different colour strips between the windows on either side of the building.

On the south side it's a beige type colour and on the north side it's gray/back/blue mix?

The North side looks way better! Why didn't they use that on the south side as well.

Or is the light in the picture playing tricks on me.
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the north side does not have any stone. that seems to be just tinted glass and metal frame. the south side, along with some of the east and west sides, is using a beige-coloured stone. it's interesting building, no doubt. i loved the renderings, but we'll have to wait and see how it turns out, especially given the 'bending' wall hasn't emerged yet.

the ritz has been given a unique situation in toronto. unlike the other skyscrapers which have been popping up in the city, the ritz has several different elements (form, shape, colour, materials) mixing together in an already dense area.
 
20 February 2009 photo update

I just realized, after taking this photo (before sunset today) of all the construction cranes downtown, that I will still be able to see RBC from my vantage point, as the RC is significantly separated from the bank tower.

Another thought: Where will all the construction cranes go to rest before the next building boom c.2020?

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Ritz Carlton's offer

I just received a promotional offer from Ritz via email. I think it is quite generous. Right now, the units are priced between $1.3 million to $8 million. If you bought one at low end, the bonus offer is equivalent to a 20% discount.

Here's the details...

For the purchases of next 10 suites between February 17, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Purchaser will receive one vacation per year, for up to 10 years. Purchaser can access account with initial value of Cdn. $250,000.

Account can be used to pay for accommodations (one room/suite per vacation, subject to availability) and other charges at participating Ritz-Carlton Hotels, as well as airfare. Other charges at purchaser’s expense. Vacations must be booked through designated travel agency. Account not redeemable for cash or transferable by purchaser, except to subsequent purchaser of suite. Any account balance remaining at end of 10-year period will be lost. Cannot be combined with any other offer or incentive. [See a sales representative for more details.]
 
FYI... but everything's good here in Toronto...

(from the globeandmail.com)
-----------------

Downtown Vancouver no longer puttin' on the Ritz
WENDY STUECK

February 25, 2009

VANCOUVER -- A luxury tower that was to bring the Ritz-Carlton name to Vancouver has been cancelled, leaving a yawning downtown pit as a symbol of a wider real-estate collapse and raising questions about the developer's ability to complete other projects in the city.

Vancouver-based developer Holborn Group yesterday told buyers who'd bought condominiums in the $500-million project that it was being cancelled. "To get financing, you need a certain amount of presales - and because we didn't have enough units sold, financing didn't turn out the way we wanted," Holborn president Joo Kim Tiah said yesterday.

Holborn had sold 62 of 123 condos in the project, which was to feature a 20-storey luxury hotel topped by 40 storeys of condos. Those sales didn't meet the threshold of 75 the company, and potential lenders, were looking for, so the project was put on ice.

The project had been rumoured to be in trouble since at least this past October.

As other projects were shelved or delayed, the high-profile Olympic athletes village staggered from one financial crisis to the next and lenders battened down the hatches, it seemed increasingly unlikely that the hotel would proceed.

The hotel company that was to put its high-end brand on the project was not an equity participant and so will not take a financial hit from it being cancelled, a spokeswoman said. Nor was Ritz-Carlton caught off guard by the news.

"We have been aware for some time that the owner was not going to be able to go ahead with the project because of financing difficulties," said Vivian Deuschl, a spokeswoman for Ritz-Carlton. "This is not uncommon in this climate."

A Ritz-Carlton project in Toronto remains on track, Ms. Deuschl said.

The homes in the now-cancelled luxury tower "set a high-water mark" for pricing in Vancouver, said Bob Rennie, whose firm was marketing the condominiums, which rang in at prices ranging from $1.4-million to nearly $30-million, or an average $2,300 per square foot.

The economic collapse means there may be fewer purchasers who are willing, or able, to pay that amount, he said.

The Ritz-Carlton cancellation means that the Georgia Street site, now home to a parking lot excavation, will stay vacant for at least several more years.
 
I can't see how the Toronto Ritz possibly could run into trouble at this point. The hotel (the risky part of the business plan), is already up, and now they're starting to work on the condo (the part with basically assured financing, given the presales).
 
Will this be Toronto's first (real) 5 star hotel? I read that The Hazelton was going to be a 5 star hotel (before it opened) but from what I've been reading online, Toronto still has no 5 star hotels. Does anybody know the truth? Who even decides what is a 5 star hotel?

What I find hard to fathom is that the richest city, in one of the richest countries in the world, has ZERO 5 star hotels while a city in a 3rd world country (Bangkok) supposedly has about 8,000 hotel rooms in the five star category. (From what I've read online) If that's true, I find that quite shocking. What's up with that? Is Toronto the only major city in North America to not have a 5 star hotel? :confused::confused::confused:
 
^I agree it is confusing. I may be wrong, but I thought there was more than one rating system for hotels and was part of the confusion. I have also heard we have no 5 star hotels, but that was before the boom, so who knows.
 
Toronto does not have any 5 star hotels. I guess this one will be the first one finished, meaning it will be the first.

Shame it was cancelled. It was a really nice tower.
 
What I find hard to fathom is that the richest city, in one of the richest countries in the world, has ZERO 5 star hotels while a city in a 3rd world country (Bangkok) supposedly has about 8,000 hotel rooms in the five star category.
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Not shocking at all, considering how much Bangkok relies on the tourism industry (and how little Toronto depends on that same industry). It's also a lot cheaper to run a 5-star hotel in Bangkok than in a First World city.
 
Won't the Shangri-La, the Trunp, and the Four Seasons also be 5-star. They are under construction, but soon Toronto will have quite a few. I thought the Hyatt Park on Avenue/Bloor was 5-star =S
 
What do stars mean when random hotels in Dubai call are pretentious enough to assign themselves more than 5 stars anyway? Do they even understand the whole concept of "stars" at all? Probably not. Stars have always been out of 5. You can't give more just because you FEEL like it. Just like you can never have more than 100% of something. It's just ridiculous.
 
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