She has substantial hips, copper highlights and bedroom eyes.
She is Toronto’s Grande Dame – The Fairmont Royal York Hotel – and she turns 80 on June 11, 2009.
Famous across the nation for her iconic silhouette, there are still a few surprises up her sleeve.
This year, she has decided to give a gift on her birthday and offer rates reminiscent of days past, by offering guests their second night’s stay (on all regular leisure rates) at a reduced commemorative Royal York 80th Anniversary Rate of $80 (excluding taxes) from June 4 through to June 11, 2009.
On June 11, 1929, Toronto’s Grande Dame officially opened under her maiden name as The Royal York and quickly set the hospitality standard of the day.
The magnificent hotel was born a Gemini, and it is no wonder that it grew to be a city within a city. It consisted of 28 floors of architectural splendor replete with the mechanical genius of 10 ornate passenger elevators. It had 1048 rooms, each with radios, private showers and bathtubs.
In her thirties, she put on a few extra rooms and now weighs in at a total of 1365 rooms. The original 1.5 acres of public rooms included a 12-bed hospital, 12,000-book library and a glass-enclosed roof garden. Her warm heart held the largest hotel kitchen in Canada with a bakery that could produce over 15,000 French rolls a day, a 66-ft.long switchboard manned by 35 telephone operators, its own bank and a golf course (now known as St. George Golf & Country).
Today, after welcoming more than 40 million guests, The Fairmont Royal York (her name by way of a 1999 corporate marriage with Fairmont) continues to epitomize gracious hospitality.
Over the years she has received a few nips and tucks to retain her classic figure, and many distinguished features remain thanks to several capital injections. The magnificent hand-painted ceilings, the Travertine pillars, ornate furnishings, crystal chandeliers and wall hangings are still some of her greatest assets.
To this very day, The Fairmont Royal York is no wallflower, as she will continue to rub shoulders with the legendary and famous, including celebrities, heads of state, and royalty well into her eightieth year.
The Fairmont’s Royal York 80th Anniversary Rate offer visitors the second consecutive night’s stay at a rate of $80 (excluding taxes) from June 4 through to June 11, 2009. This does not apply to negotiated rates or for reservations that have already been made. For reservations please refer to rate code 2U8ANN and call 1-800-441-1414 or visit http://www.fairmont.com/royalyork.
