by Martha Sutton

Created on: April 25, 2008

Now, I was born in Toronto and lived there most of my life before moving to Texas 12 years ago. Toronto is a very expensive city and even in the rest of Ontario, prices will seem high, certainly to Americans. Let's try to find the very best value for our dollar in Toronto!

I checked the current prices for downtown Toronto hotels, and the price for a quality hotel where a person would feel safe is pretty much in the $400. range. (The Canadian and American Dollars are very close right now, so I will not differentiate.)

If you look at a map of the City of Toronto, you will see that "downtown" is not the center of the city, but rather the south. Toronto is on the north shore of Lake Ontario. (So, you will not see any reference to "South Toronto".)

When staying at any hotel (anywhere), there are two or three things to keep in mind. First, it is a really good idea to obtain a card for two or three large, well-known chains. Your card helps you reserve at the website, gives you a few perks and makes checking in and out easier and quicker.

I always look for complimentary breakfast and Holiday Inn Express does this exceptionally well, followed closely by Comfort Inn. Hampton Inn does it extremely well but does not yet have very many Canadian locations. Breakfast included in your room rate is an approximate saving of $10.00 to $15.00 per person. I also like to have at least a mini fridge in the room to keep snacks and beverages cold. (You can ask for these at most hotels.) These locations have free parking. Always check when booking a large metropolitan location about parking.

When looking at Toronto downtown hotels online, I found something I once heard about on TV. On the website, this is called a "direct Marketing fee" and was shown as 3%.

All Ontario hotels will have the 5% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (Goods and Services Tax Federal) added to the final bill. At one time, non-Canadians could claim a rebate of the GST but this has been eliminated since the tax was reduced.

We travel to Toronto approximately once a year and we never stay downtown.

I checked at various hotel chain websites to get current prices and the fact is that rooms to the north, west or east can be had for $130 to $140 per night.

Toronto is a very large city in area and so, most shopping and restaurants are repeated in various parts of the city. You really will want to have a car, either your own or a rental.

Guys won't care but Toronto is a shopper's delight! The Hudson Bay Company, with locations

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