Radio Royal York

A 360-degree view of the lobby of The Fairmont Royal York Hotel shot with the new Yellowbird technology by Toronto’s Zazz Media. To check out the 360 viewing just click, pull, drag and drop your mouse in any direction while the video is playing.

Yellowbird was started by Marc Groothelm and Rafaël Redczus, two Dutch innovators. The camera used to capture the 360-degree view uses six cleverly divided lenses and a surround sound microphone system. The technology is similar to what Google uses in Street View.

The Fairmont Royal York’s Executive Chef, David Garcelon, is proud to announce that the hotel’s late summer rooftop harvest was awarded third place in the Dark Honey category at the 86th annual Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The honey was judged in the Honey and Beeswax Competition and placed for the second consecutive year.

The dark honey was extracted from the hotel’s late summer harvest of September 25, 2009 and judged on November 8, 2009. The roof top bees have slowed their honey production for the season. Their hives will soon receive their seasonal jackets, in preparation for winter, this coming Sunday, November 22, 2009.

Weather has great influence on bees and their honey production.

“Honey production was down this summer due to the rainy weather,” notes Chef David Garcelon, Executive Chef at the hotel, “…despite the rain we were able to harvest nearly 500 pounds of honey.”

The 14th floor roof top apiary was established on June 4, 2008. Three new hives were added this season and have grown strongly in population and strength.

There are now a total of six hives on the roof: The Honey Moon Suite, The Royal Sweet, The V.I.Bee Suite, The Bee & Bee Suite, Stayin’ A Hive Suite and Home Sweet Comb. On November 22, all six hives will be winterized so that the bees may continue their rooftop residency throughout the coming winter.

A 500 gram sample of honey, contained in a regulation sized honey jar, was submitted for judging in the dark honey category. The color of the award-winning honey was determined using a honey classifier approved by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

“The honey produced at the hotel tends to be a light, early summer honey and a thick, dark late summer variety,” said Mylee Nordin, Toronto Bee Cooperative member. “The colour reflects the plants and green life that surround the hotel.”

Judges awarded points for flavour and aroma, uniform level of fill, density, colour, freedom from crystals, freedom from foreign material, freedom from air bubbles, uniformity of honey, brightness and appearance and uniformity of containers.

You can follow the excitement of this year’s honey harvest, including interviews with Chef Garcelon and Mylee Nordin, by tuning into Episode #9 of Radio Royal York.

On Wednesday, November 11, 2009, the public is invited to join The Fairmont Royal York for their annual Remembrance Day Ceremony.

A tradition for 64 years, The Fairmont Royal York’s staff and guests salute the achievements and sacrifices of our veterans who served our country in times of war during the 20th Century. The traditional ceremony begins at 10:55 a.m. and includes a memorial display, military music and two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. sharp.

The Fairmont Royal York invites all guests, colleagues and the public to join. A retired Fairmont Royal York employee, a war veteran who returned to work at the hotel after serving his country, will join in the lobby for the observance. Live piper, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Toronto Police will also be present.

They say all good “soles” go to heaven, and now shoes from the Fairmont Fit program will get a second life with Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization that collects gently worn and new shoes for redistribution to those in need. Starting this fall, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will donate footwear from Fairmont Fit, a program which offers members of Fairmont President’s Club, the brand’s exclusive guest recognition program, access to adidas athletic apparel for use during their stay. Guests and community members are  also invited to drop off gently worn and new shoes at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York, Winnipeg’s Fairmont Winnipeg, Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser, Edmonton’s Fairmont Hotel MacDonald and at other Fairmont hotels across North America from Monday, January 19 to Friday, January 23, 2009.

To launch this new partnership, Fairmont is providing a little incentive to begin the New Year on the right foot and stick with those resolutions to get in shape. In recognition of this support, Fairmont Fit partner adidas will offer each shoe donor an exclusive discount card for 15% off adidas merchandise, to be used online at http://www.shopadidas.com or http://www.shopadidas.ca.

Soles4Souls is an international organization that facilitates the donation and redistribution of shoes to people in need in over 60 countries. Donations from individuals, companies and other organizations help Soles4Souls fulfill its mission to impact lives with the gift of shoes. This simple act helps provide a basic need; quality shoes help protect feet from cuts, scrapes and contaminants that can lead to potentially serious health care issues. Started in 2004 in response to the Tsunami disaster, Soles4Souls has grown rapidly, resulting in over 3.3 million pairs of shoes being given away to date.

Fairmont Fit, which has proven extremely popular in its first year of operation in North American hotels, will be expanding to all international locations later this year. Fairmont President’s Club members can order adidas shorts, t-shirts and athletic shoes, all delivered to their room, for use during their stay.* As shoes slowly become worn in, and as seasonal changes of styles are provided by adidas, hotels are left with items that are suitable for donating. Fairmont, long a leader in environmental stewardship and responsible tourism, continually seeks ways to minimize the footprint of its hotels. In support of these efforts, Fairmont will donate footwear to Soles4Souls, and hotels will also donate the gently used apparel to local charities.

“We’re proud to support Soles4Souls’ efforts. The partnership makes sense; with locations around the world, we can provide sizable quantities of a much needed item, but we also mitigate our impact on the planet,” noted Brian Richardson, Fairmont’s Vice President Brand Marketing and Communications.

“We are very pleased that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and adidas have joined forces with Soles4Souls to make a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people in need,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Inc. “This program will not only benefit victims of natural disasters and those living in extreme poverty, but it will help reduce the vast number of shoes that end up in our landfills,” he said.

Fairmont President’s Club is the hotel company’s premier guest recognition program, providing frequent guests with certain benefits and privileges during their stay.  Membership is complimentary and guests can enroll online at http://www.fairmont.com, by calling 1-800-663-7575 or at any Fairmont location worldwide.

*The Fairmont Fit program is complimentary for Premier and Platinum level members of Fairmont President’s Club. A $10 fee per stay will apply for Club level members, for unlimited use of apparel during their stay.
 

During the festive season the spirit of giving comes alive at The Fairmont Royal York.  The hotel is once again making Room at the Inn for out-of-town families visiting hospitalized relatives in Toronto. The program, now in its 16th year of operation, will run at The Fairmont Royal York from December 1 to December 30, 2008.

Room at the Inn is designed to provide short-term, complimentary accommodation to families in need. The Fairmont Royal York has once again partnered with St. Michael’s Hospital, Casey House Hospice and Hospice Toronto.  The hotel will provide up to ten “Room at the Inn” guestrooms per night. A maximum of seven room nights will be made available to each family in need.  Eligibility is determined by the medical partners based on assessments of individual family needs.

A previous guest of the Room at the Inn program at The Fairmont Royal York wrote, “the program offered by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a true example of corporate involvement within the community.  I congratulate The Fairmont Royal York for bringing comfort and concern to both the patients and their families as they experience difficult situations.”

This is the 16th consecutive year of the program at The Fairmont Royal York.  Since 1993, Room at the Inn has provided thousands of complimentary room nights for families across North America.