Here are some Toronto hotels close to StartWell which we recommend considering for out-of-towners meeting at our campus.Toronto’s Drake Hotel – a short walk from StartWell along Queen Street West, steps from the Ossington strip where some of the city’s best new bars and restaurants draw evening crowds.

There are great hotel options very close to our campus on King Street West in downtown Toronto.  You can choose conventional options in the financial core, practical rooms across from the island airport, luxury boutique high-rises near theatres along King Street or something a little more artsy and funky a short walk from us.

Here are some Toronto hotels near StartWell which we recommend considering for out-of-towners meeting at our campus.

Artsy/Funky Hotels

The Drake Hotel – Toronto’s first true boutique hotel – located close to us on Queen Street West, was one of the first art-scene focused establishments in the neighbourhood to bring change without trying to be at odds with history. We love this hotel and recommend it for food, drinks and entertainment (their basement is home to a lovely venue that has music shows, comedy and all sorts of things happening through the year and they have a lovely rooftop bar for summer months.)

Ace Hotel Toronto – The Ace Hotel is a brand new (in 2022) build located a short walk from our campus in a bustling neighbourhood featuring some of the city’s best shopping, restaurants and cultural highlights. The hotel features great dining in options plus event programming.

Gladstone House – This historic property used to be ‘the other boutique hotel’ on Queen street – a stone’s throw from the Drake, with honest and simple offerings which honoured the city ‘s artistic community and neighbourhoods edgy vibe. Recently revamped, its great location makes it a consideration if you want to explore some of the city’s best dining and entertainment on Queen Street or Ossington Street around the corner.

Bisha – This ‘luxury boutique’ hotel is a short walk from StartWell towards the city’s financial core and its wealth of conventional hotels. The Bisha has great dining options and a fun nightlife atmosphere.

Luxury

Shangri-La Toronto – With an excellent spa and great restaurants (including Momofuku Noodle Bar) plus Toronto’s SOHO House Club, musicians in the lobby bar and a great location – across the road from Toronto’s Opera House (the Four Seasons Centre), there is a lot to offer here.

Ritz-Carlton Toronto – This recently built hotel is close by – walking distance from our campus and surrounded by the city’s classic theatre row on King Street. It features lake views from upper rooms and an excellent steak house.

Others

1 Hotel Toronto – Previously incarnated as the Thompson Hotel, the 1 Hotel Toronto has been completely renovated and now features lush plants and a tropical vibe.

Hotel X – A great option if you are flying in and out of the Toronto Island Airport, this large hotel faces the lake and is right next to the highway.

When you book meeting or event space at StartWell in downtown Toronto, you can choose the catering company you prefer.

You are welcome to use any caterer you prefer to work with when you book meeting or event space at StartWell – from UberEats for small gatherings to organising for served meals or buffets for full team offsites etc…

We’ve had great experience in the past with these companies and do recommend reaching out to them:

The Food Dudes (https://thefooddudes.com) – reliable service for individual meals or shared or served menus - of all types of cuisines. Great for complete catering solutions.

InWit (https://inwit.ca/) - honest food and pricing, with all types of cuisines arriving hot and fresh from local restaurant partners, in sustainable packaging. Best for per-person lunch solutions.

MadRadish (https://www.madradish.com/) - great options for healthy food!

Here are the top level rules that help us maintain a safe and clean space for members and guests.

While at StartWell, you must:

• Be respectful
• Try to be helpful
• Keep our campus as you found it – clean up after yourself
• Leave garbage and recycling in bins provided
• Not do anything illegal
• Not bring any animals with you or let them into the buildings (sorry – we love pets but don’t allow them due to allergies and cleanliness)
• Leave dishes which you can’t wash in the grey bins provided at wet areas (reception and next to sinks in large meeting venues)
• Never use our espresso machine or computer equipment without approvals – that includes not going behind the concierge/cafe desk
• Always ask for permission before filming or otherwise recording content of any media which captures the interior of StartWell. Typically, no content may be recorded in our common spaces (outside of rented/booked meeting rooms) and no furnishings may be moved to accomodate film or photo shoots without prior approval from management

Our campus on King Street does not have a parking lot, but there is plenty of street parking in our neighbourhood.

Free 1hr street parking and paid parking lots are available. Note - King St typically does not allow parking past 3pm (during rush hour.)

We are minutes away from the financial core and Union Station, close to the Exhibition GO station and just off Lakeshore Boulevard + the Gardiner Expressway.

Directly across the street from our King St buildings (entrance from Tecumseth, south of King Street) is a paid underground parking lot operated by Upark. You can drive into the lot and pay hourly, daily or monthly from meters near the elevator entrances in the lot itself. When you walk up to the exit at street level you’ll be directly across the road from our King Street buildings.

If you've booked our Event Studio you will however have 4 parking spaces on the lot included with rental - just in front of the building. Please note: unless you've booked this building you *cannot* park at this location.

Yes, absolutely! We're dead set on changing the way the corporate film industry works.

We can also tell you - its not been easy to build this amazing new studio model, but we've been improving things here in downtown Toronto at StartWell since 2017 and have a ton of experience that has informed how we operate our integrated studio model.

To book a shoot, simply choose the look you like from our 4 main studio setups; then select a shoot date and duration and check out - you can even select options for us to edit/post-produce the shoot for you.

Our creative planning team is available at any point - before or immediately after you book, to talk through your needs and wants, and this will help us make the experience smooth and fun for you.

On your shoot day - simply show up camera ready and our expert production team will make sure you look and sound great!

We have washrooms, green rooms, meeting and work space as well as barista service - so feel free to come early or bring members of your support team to shoots with you :)

Yes, that phrase can be confusing - but one thing we are *awesome* at is filming scenes and projects with one or more people, in conversation.

You can be in conversation with an audience on the other side of the camera lens, or with members of your team or partners or anyone else around a table. No matter who you need to talk to, we can apply cinematography to capture highly engaging videos that help you share your conversation.

That's a tough one to answer - we think it can be so many things... better put - companies can use video to tell all kinds of stories.

We think video has a unique power to enable your brand to be more relatable, characteristic and expressive. The video we produce here at StartWell empowers your team to be voices for your company - humanizing any area of your business that can help your mandate; from Investor Relations, to Marketing to Talent Acquisition, Staff Training and beyond.

At StartWell, we've brought together a bunch of things that are normally sourced from multiple vendors when you need to produce a shoot - physical studio space, a crew of film producers/directors/technicians and the equipment needed to light, stage and record video.

This type of integrated approach is rare for corporate content - and we've even taken it a step further by undertaking creative planning and post-production/editing, all in house here at StartWell in downtown Toronto!

This holistic approach to content production has a ton of value - including:

• Cost savings to client
• Clearer internal and external communication
• Agility (as soon as you're ready to jump in front of a camera, you can book your shoot here and we'll be ready to produce it!)
• Ability - because our staff producers all know each other, the environment they work in and the tools they use, they have super powers that crews who are hired for the day on rental equipment just don't have.